I expected that it might be quite hard to get that sort of time off initially as a new hire, but it sounds like it might be possible after I've built a little seniority. In all honesty Eagle is looking like my most viable option at the moment, so if successful with my application I'd be very interested in finding out how to bid to maximise my opportunities to get back to the UK. My Mom has chronic COPD which I think might be recognised for intermittent FMLA, it's something I need to look into a bit more.