Anyone considering emigrating?

nitram100 said:
If you could emigrate to any country in the world, where would you go and why?
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Western Canada or southern NZ. Both places like the UK. If it were not for Brexit, I'd go to France. I speak the language passably after a few weeks there and it's a wonderful place to live.

But I'm retired, and none of those places will have me. Maybe if I win the lottery...
 
Some nice responses. France seems to get a lot of love as well as NZ/Aus direction.

Can UK citizens live in France anymore? Is it difficult?
 
My family are spread around the world and my partner is from a big local close family, so jumping country is not really an option for us, but if I could I would do France or NSW.
 
I suppose I have emigrated, though I still plan to spend about 4 months a year in the UK going forward.

We lived in SE Asia (Vietnam) for 9 years, and would have stayed there, it was a fab country to live in, but you have to have a job to get residency there, and when that ended, so did the residency... we would have loved to stay, but they wont allow it unless I married a local, and the wife may have had an issue with that.

So we moved to Greece where we now are and I have to say I am settling and loving it for 'retirement'. The pro's far outweigh the cons, but again residency is an issue for Brits now. There are only 3 ways Brits can live here now, or I think most of Europe;

1. Birth right
2. Marriage
3. Golden visa (here now a minimum investment in the country of 400k) and from what I read few Brits are having luck with that.

I am married to a Greek, so am lucky but just got 5 year residency a year after applying, with full market access (and I am a simple case apparently).

I hear Portugal is great too, and keen to welcome Retirees.
 
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I did, 9 years ago too the USA. Do not regret it at all. There are certain aspects of the UK I miss, but this is home now.

I would like to move to a nicer area of the USA, by that I mean more scenic, but the IT jobs are here.
 
nitram100 said:
Some nice responses. France seems to get a lot of love as well as NZ/Aus direction.

Can UK citizens live in France anymore? Is it difficult?
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Yes. If you’re not already a French Resident, you apply for a long stay visa leading towards residency.

You have to prove income, provide for your own healthcare until you’re in the French system, become tax resident in France with a French bank account and show evidence that you’ve paid all the taxes La France decides that you owe her.
 
throwaway4372 said:
Probably America, I like girls with southern accents and houses measured in thousands of square feet. And I'd earn about double as a software dev. But I'd probably just get shot. First world problems.
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You win some you lose some. America is definitely a great place if you are wealthy and can ignore the ******* bizarre things that Americans don't even question.

Personally I love the UK. I think that there are so many beautiful locations here that there are few places I would rather live. NZ being one of them but house prices over there are nuts. Coming back from a week in Portugal last week and seeing the English countryside again made me so happy.
 
The chances of getting shot are extremely low here. Don't be a muppet and go wondering about the hood and you will be fine.

I earn 4 times what I did in the UK. My biggest problems are to trying to make sure I pay the bills because I took a load of credit (two new cars, house, lowes/home depot cards, 3 dogs which ate 'luxury items' here, and charged accordingly etc.). I also put my daughter in figure skating (with an ex-Olympian !), Music school, film school, and in one of the most sort after school districts. That high rated school district also means a massive influx of new homes and semi-rich peeps buying here, so taxes are extreme high here. Sometimes it still feels like I am on a movie set lol. Like... I'm not sure how I ended up doing a music vid with a guy from wu tang LOL.

Since I have been here my salary has raised almost 50%. The biggest jump was swapping companies for a new challenge. Right now, with two awesome reviews under my belt I am about to pretty much ask for a higher position. They want me to take over from a potential retiring senior, but I have no idea when that will be.

I could talk about the differences for days between UK and US. A brit in the USA will automatically do well in a professional setting. They perceive you as smart purely because of the accent. Not joking.

The paperwork here is a PITA. We normally hand off our taxes to a CPA and pay them to do it for us.

I love the UK, but here in the USA there are just so many opportunities that I'm not sure I could come back. I would almost certainly have to live near London to get anything like a salary I would be happy with if I did, and I don't think I want to do that. I would be happy to recommend people that can assist with professional jobs in IT etc if anyone is looking.

Oh... And 10 hour drives seem like almost nothing these days to go on vacation. There is just sooo much to see here. Yellowstone, smokies, zion, acadia, beaches, California etc.
 
Scougar said:
The chances of getting shot are extremely low here. Don't be a muppet and go wondering about the hood and you will be fine.

I earn 4 times what I did in the UK. My biggest problems are to trying to make sure I pay the bills because I took a load of credit (two new cars, house, lowes/home depot cards, 3 dogs which ate 'luxury items' here, and charged accordingly etc.). I also put my daughter in figure skating (with an ex-Olympian !), Music school, film school, and in one of the most sort after school districts. That high rated school district also means a massive influx of new homes and semi-rich peeps buying here, so taxes are extreme high here. Sometimes it still feels like I am on a movie set lol. Like... I'm not sure how I ended up doing a music vid with a guy from wu tang LOL.

Since I have been here my salary has raised almost 50%. The biggest jump was swapping companies for a new challenge. Right now, with two awesome reviews under my belt I am about to pretty much ask for a higher position. They want me to take over from a potential retiring senior, but I have no idea when that will be.

I could talk about the differences for days between UK and US. A brit in the USA will automatically do well in a professional setting. They perceive you as smart purely because of the accent. Not joking.

The paperwork here is a PITA. We normally hand off our taxes to a CPA and pay them to do it for us.

I love the UK, but here in the USA there are just so many opportunities that I'm not sure I could come back. I would almost certainly have to live near London to get anything like a salary I would be happy with if I did, and I don't think I want to do that. I would be happy to recommend people that can assist with professional jobs in IT etc if anyone is looking.

Oh... And 10 hour drives seem like almost nothing these days to go on vacation. There is just sooo much to see here. Yellowstone, smokies, zion, acadia, beaches, California etc.
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This is reassuring to read. I'm currently in talks with a company to potentially go over next year, once the work visa application process is open again in March.

The main reason is for much opportunities career wise for myself and a significant pay rise compared to what I'm on over here.

How did you get on with the work visa application? I'll be applying for the H1B visa but read that I'd still go through a lottery process.
 
We have the itch to move to Llandudno, yeah I know it's only Wales but still a different country. Lovely place and not far from Snowdonia. I think it was the idea of starting up a B&B that made us really like Llandudno.
 
I had a chance to work for a US company, but I have to say the bias I hold against American culture and work/life balance is pretty significant. I guess it's the European snob in me, but it just didn't seem worth it.
 
I've considered moving to either northern europe, like in the Scandinavian countries, or Germany. Or if going further away, Australia or New Zealand.
 
Freefaller said:
I had a chance to work for a US company, but I have to say the bias I hold against American culture and work/life balance is pretty significant. I guess it's the European snob in me, but it just didn't seem worth it.
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Crazy hours, very little holiday, and now turning into the republic of Giliad. I think you probably made the right choice.
 
uber soldat said:
Are there any 10 pound tickets to convict land left? Or am I too late?
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Unfortunately not. A mate went over about 25 years ago, as a welder, he now works for a mining company as a maintenance manager and lives in a 5 bed detached with a swimming pool in Perth next to a golf club...
His brother had gone over as a bricklayer a few years before, and has now retired to Thailand.
Different world.
 
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