If you were to emigrate then which country would you go to, and why?

Narj said:
IMO the UK has so much to offer culturally, I'd never want to be too far away so I'd probably say France if anywhere.

Too many people don't realise what they've got here and think that USA/Oz et al are some sort of Utopia when in reality, those places have their own problems and are far from perfect.
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I have to agree with you on both points.

Everyone thinks the grass is greener on the other side. My advice is:

Take your family on a 2/3 week trip and find out. I had exactly the same dilemma 2 years ago. With my background I qualified on points alone (without securing a job, job would have been a bonus). I was all set to apply before speaking to a couple of Canadians (well educated) who were desperate to get out and come here.

It's not to be taken lightly! I've met people who have moved to New Zealand/Australia and moved back. They described the whole process as one expensive holiday having sold up all their earthly possessions here.
 
Narj said:
IMO the UK has so much to offer culturally, I'd never want to be too far away so I'd probably say France if anywhere.

Too many people don't realise what they've got here and think that USA/Oz et al are some sort of Utopia when in reality, those places have their own problems and are far from perfect.
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Speaking as someone who has moved away from the UK I would disagree. I never ever want to move back. I don't mind visiting for the culture trips, but then again I don't mind visiting India or other overcrowded countries. Living there is a whole different matter.

In NZ I get paid more, fuel is cheaper, tax is less, land is everywhere, I don't sit on a motorway for an hour a day commuting, shop workers are friendly, you hardly ever queue in shops, Xmas isn't a pain as the shops and queues are still fine, house prices are cheaper and I can actually afford a house here next to the beach for cheaper than a flat in Southampton, there isn't a chav culture, if I phone my doctor I can see them the same day and there isn't a hoarde of people in the waiting room, you can get cheap domestic flights to fly around the country which don't invole ryanair, you can be at the beach and drive a few hours to ski in winter, you can easily go hunting if you're into that in the middle of nowhere as national parks are everywhere.

Everything is just so much easier day to day. Phoning banks gets someone local with no waiting on the phones, sorting out car documents you can just walk into the equivalent of the DVLA in town and ask questions, setting up bank accounts is simple and sorted same day. It's just much more of a personal experience dealing with companies and all the staff seem friendly and genuine. I used to dread having to phone Natwest! I recently had to call O2 back in the UK to sort out an old account issue. It was press 1 for this, press 3 for that, hold for ages. Reminded me of what frustrated me about day to day living in the UK. I can call my current mobile provider and just speak to someone straight away, same for the power company, etc, etc as everything is on a much smaller scale.

There are disadvantages too such as tropical rain, but I feel moving to NZ was the best thing I did. I was immensely unhappy living in the UK renting and not having my own place. I loved Devon but there were no real jobs there. In NZ I get countryside 5 mins from work and the job market is much better. Love it here.

The only saving grace about the UK is family and the OCUK forums :D
 
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Scandinavia or America

Language mainly (from what I've heard, everyone's fluent in English in the North of America and in most of Scandinavia :D)
 
Its a good job people didnt think like this during the war.
Ze Germans might have got as far north as Birmingham :eek::D

My 2 brothers emigrated to NZ with their kids (who now have a kiwi accent) and both have no intention of returning to the UK.
I however have no intention of living over there, happy where I am :)
 
colzboppo said:
Sweden? High cost of living / high paying jobs / high standard of living / hot women / northern lights / cleaner environment.
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Sweden is actually quite easy to bounce off.

People are friendly, but all exist in their own little bubbles. Everything is well organised but painfully bureaucratic. The "everyone speaks English" thing is also, weirdly, a bit of a problem as people don't slow down and speak clearly, they just give up and speak English and while people in general are happy to do this, it does mean you'll find that the locals will just be acquaintances not friends.

The hot women thing is true though.
 
Cheap plentiful land, little restrictions and laws, especially building regs, legal to hunt (more than the uk) and speak English.
So basically certain parts of America or Canada. Neither are easy to get into.
 
Australia or NZ. Ooooh...actually, I'm already in Australia :D

As I'm already an Australian permanent resident moving between the two countries is an absolute doddle if I so please :)
 
MadFruit said:
Australia. Because my GF is Australian and I am currently going through the visa application process :)
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This is exactly what I did a year ago and I am absolutely loving it out here and I have never looked back if I’m honest.

I am earning twice what I did in the UK and that was a good wage too. I'm 10 mins from the beach and an hour from the City, the weather never goes below 20 degrees during the day and never really more than 35 in the summer. The work/life balance is also perfect, 38 hour weeks with completely flexibility on when I come to work and leave as long as I do my 38 hours.

Spunkey said:
Australia.

Good food, good people, good weather, good cars, same language. Almost :)
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I have to disagree about the cars that is one of the worst things about being in Aus they are far too expensive and a 6.3 litre V8 should always produce more than 400-450hp!! Give me a BMW, Audi, Porsche etc. any day! Saying that petrol is half the price than what it is in the UK. I love that you can drive anywhere and just park for free.

Totality said:
Speaking as someone who has moved away from the UK I would disagree. I never ever want to move back. I don't mind visiting for the culture trips, but then again I don't mind visiting India or other overcrowded countries. Living there is a whole different matter.

In NZ I get paid more, fuel is cheaper, tax is less, land is everywhere, I don't sit on a motorway for an hour a day commuting, shop workers are friendly, you hardly ever queue in shops, Xmas isn't a pain as the shops and queues are still fine, house prices are cheaper and I can actually afford a house here next to the beach for cheaper than a flat in Southampton, there isn't a chav culture, if I phone my doctor I can see them the same day and there isn't a hoarde of people in the waiting room, you can get cheap domestic flights to fly around the country which don't invole ryanair, you can be at the beach and drive a few hours to ski in winter, you can easily go hunting if you're into that in the middle of nowhere as national parks are everywhere.

Everything is just so much easier day to day. Phoning banks gets someone local with no waiting on the phones, sorting out car documents you can just walk into the equivalent of the DVLA in town and ask questions, setting up bank accounts is simple and sorted same day. It's just much more of a personal experience dealing with companies and all the staff seem friendly and genuine. I used to dread having to phone Natwest! I recently had to call O2 back in the UK to sort out an old account issue. It was press 1 for this, press 3 for that, hold for ages. Reminded me of what frustrated me about day to day living in the UK. I can call my current mobile provider and just speak to someone straight away, same for the power company, etc, etc as everything is on a much smaller scale.

There are disadvantages too such as tropical rain, but I feel moving to NZ was the best thing I did. I was immensely unhappy living in the UK renting and not having my own place. I loved Devon but there were no real jobs there. In NZ I get countryside 5 mins from work and the job market is much better. Love it here.

The only saving grace about the UK is family and the OCUK forums :D
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I have to completely echo this also, I feel very much the same about Australia and I am hoping to get over to NZ this year for a ski trip.

The only thing I am not so keen on where I live the internet is pretty average and I got a much better connection in my place back in the UK.
 
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