It’s all very well having a dream of a life in a new location abroad – I mean, the dream can fill all your waking hours whilst you daydream about what it could be like, what it would be like – but surely far more satisfying would be if you could make that dream come true right?
However, there is more than just a small matter of planning involved in transforming a dream to relocate into the reality of expatriation, and because the seeming gulf between idealising a move and actually making it happen is so vast, many people seem to have to content themselves with just thinking about how much better their life could be overseas.
But…just when you thought you were going to have to content yourself with daydreaming your life away, along comes a comprehensive and timely Shelter Offshore report with a 10 stage plan for making your dream of a new life abroad a reality! Follow our 10-step path to your emigration and see yourself successfully transported from daydreamer to happy expatriate in almost no time at all!
Step One – Settle on a Destination
Some people decide to move abroad to a country they’ve never even visited – it’s not at all uncommon. Whilst we would strongly advocate taking at least an extended break in any nation before you consider moving to live in it, we know that for some people that’s just not possible. So, let’s make a compromise, can we at least urge you to do detailed and in depth country-based research before you commit to a move!
You need to buy or borrow books and any magazines available that cover your chosen country, you need to get on the Internet and research, join forums and find blogs by expats already living in your new nation. Learn as much as you can to forewarn and forearm yourself with the facts and the knowledge that will make your move a much easier one.
The more you know about a given country, the easier it will be to imagine it as your new home. The more you commit to making this new country home, the more likely you will be to successfully integrate. Once you have chosen your new nation you need to think carefully about where in that country you would like to live. Your choice may be affected or driven by aspects such as employment, where you can get the children in school, or where you can live easily as an expat if you don’t speak the local language for example.
Choosing a country is not enough – you need to know where in that country you can and will make your new home.
Step Two – Money Matters – Part One
The number one reason why some expatriates fail to make a new life abroad is because they don’t sort out their money matters and they simply run out of funds. So, you need to think and plan and prepare for your move with your finances in mind. You need to think about how much it will cost you to make the move – from shipping goods to buying plane tickets, from funding a visa application to stumping up X number of months rent in advance for your new home.
You will need to look at the cost of living, how much you can earn with your skills and experience in your new nation, or how much pension income you will be in receipt of if you’re planning on retiring abroad. Factor in a contingency fund for unforeseen expenses, and always have a small amount tucked away to get you plane tickets home if it all stacks up as a big mistake and you decide you want to repatriate!
Work hard at sorting out your budget for relocation and how you will afford to live a new life abroad – do this well and you will be secure against the number one reason that sends expats packing and heading home.
Step Three – Who’s Coming Too?
You may be dead set on a move abroad – but what about your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your pets or perhaps your grandchildren? You will want some of these significant people/pets in your life to come too, (spouse and children at least!), and you’ll hope others will understand and support your move.
How you handle telling family and friends of your decision, and getting people on board with you will be very important if you want their support and for the move to go smoothly. For example, children can find the thought of such a relocation exciting, but at the same time hugely daunting as for them it involves a new school, making new friends etc. It will be critical that you approach the move from a consistently positive point of view with them, showing them how you will retain open communication links to old friends and family too, (Skype etc.,), and getting them involved with choosing a new school, a new home etc.
With regard to your spouse, you need their support for the move to go well. Stay open, keep talking and appreciate that if you’re moving to walk into a new job, they will have the effects of isolation if they’re moving with no new job, no friends already in place etc., and you may have to help them find their place in their new country.
Family and friends need to be shown that this is a move to help you get a better life for you and perhaps your children too. Ask them to be involved, encourage them to come and visit and stay, and show them how you will keep in touch and keep them updated. Perhaps you could start a blog or just a Facebook or Twitter account so they can watch your life develop abroad.
Find a school for your children abroad, find out about enrolment requirements well in advance of a move. Make contact with people you meet over the Internet on forums who are already in the new country, plan to meet them when you relocate. If you’re taking pets with you, find out about quarantine, whether your animal needs certain inoculations before you go, and plan the transportation of your animal well in advance of your move too.
Step Four – Employment Aspects
Unless you’re retiring abroad it’s likely you will need to think about how you’re going to earn an income overseas. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to be relocating because you have found a job abroad already. If so – you’re one of the lucky ones! If not, look at the skills you have and whether there is a call for them in the country you want to move to. Nations like New Zealand and Canada have lists of skills that the country needs – examine these lists if relevant.
Look at jobs being offered via international or local recruitment companies and get applying before you move. If you’re in a specific profession where perhaps you will need to migrate your skills too, find out about how you can change your qualifications so that they are recognised in your new nation. This process can take months for medical professionals for example – so the sooner you start planning the better.
If you’re going to want to start a business abroad, look at what the local community could benefit from – do your research and don’t just buy a bar in Spain because everyone else does!
Making money, earning a living, having a regular income – it’s essential for you to be able to live and afford a life abroad. Get this element of your planning straight before you go. If you are all out of ideas, look around the Internet for inspiration, learn from others about how they made the move a success. Think about getting your CV up to date and targeting employers abroad before you move. Contact recruitment companies and ask them to help place you. Look at where you could skill up before you move so that you take valuable skills with you and you’re therefore more likely to find a job.
Step Five – Visas and Red Tape
Can you move to live and work where you want to live abroad? I.e., have you looked into whether you need a visa to relocate to your chosen country, and whether you’re eligible for one. The best place to start looking is on that nation’s consulate website or, if they have an immigration specific website, start there.
Some nations take a long time to process visa applications – some have exceptionally complex and long drawn out processes in place to allow you to get to the point where you’re granted a visa. The sooner you apply therefore, the better. There are visa application specialists who, for a hefty fee usually, can help you apply. They may not guarantee you a visa, but they do know what immigration officials want to read on your application form – so they can be very useful!
If you’re moving within the European Union you won’t need a visa to move, but you will need to register locally to reside permanently and work. You may also need to apply for the local equivalent of a National Insurance number, or tax number…research these aspects of your relocation well in advance, and have everything in place before you attempt to move. There are stories of those who have arrived at an airport, only to discover they cannot actually move in to the nation in question as they are not in receipt of the right paperwork!
Step Six – To Ship or Not to Ship
Depending on where you’re moving to, how committed you are to the move, how expensive it is to ship goods and what you can buy in the country in question, you will have to decide what you ship and what you either sell, give away, get rid of or store. This is a 100% personal decision. But you need to factor in the elements mentioned above, as well as the costs involved.
Again, it can help to speak to those who have gone before – so get online and on forums and get interacting and asking the questions you need to ask of expats who have already made the move. Additionally, price up storage and shipping, think about what you really want to keep – and factor in the fact that if you’re moving with children, the move can seem less daunting if they take some personal effects with them, and see things from home in their new home.
Step Seven – Somewhere to Hang Your Hat
Finding a home abroad is critical – for everyone and most especially for families with children. You want to make the move and the transition as smooth as possible, and this will mean you need to find somewhere to call home as soon as you can. We never ever advise anyone to buy abroad before they have lived there for a while and we will never ever alter our viewpoint. You cannot say you want to live in a given house in a given community in a given country until you have experienced life there for at least a few months.
So, bearing this in mind, you need to find a short-term rental property to call home after your arrival. If this cannot be done at distance you have a number of options. You or your partner could go ahead, camp out in a hotel and go on the hunt for a suitable rental property for the family, or you can all move over and live in a holiday home or a hotel for a few weeks whilst you property search.
Also critical is deciding what to do with a property you have in the UK. You may rent your property in which case you’ll likely just want to give notice to your landlord that you’re moving out. If you own a home however, it may make sense to rent it out rather than selling it for a number of reasons. For example, because the property market in the UK is not at its best at the moment you could sit on it and sell it quicker and for more later, also, you may want to keep a foot on the rung of a property ladder in the UK, or in any country for that matter if you’re not buying abroad immediately. What’s more, you may want to retain your home in case you want to repatriate in the future.
Step Eight – Your Fallback Position
Keeping a property in the UK is part of keeping your options open. If it doesn’t work out as you planned or hoped abroad, or if things change and you want to repatriate, there are a lot of things you can do to make this easier. For a start, you can keep a property, then you can also keep a bank account which makes it easier for you to manage money matters, get credit, a mortgage or financing if you return.
Don’t burn bridges with colleagues or friends either - because you might one day come back to the UK and want to find a job and settle back in to a community!
Step Nine – Money Matters – Part Two
Having covered the basics involved with planning a move abroad, it’s time to focus on the fact that as an expat, living abroad and with the ability to access the offshore and international financial marketplace, you need to get a handle on ways you can manage your money more effectively now you’re no longer going to be tax resident in the UK.
Certain savings and investment policies and paths may become less advantageous and attractive for you – such as pensions and ISAs – and there may be reasons to keep your money offshore from both the UK and your new nation. There may be investment paths more useful to you when you’re an expat, from portfolio bonds to QROPS.
You have to aware of your taxation position and ensure you know what your tax obligations are. You need a will that works in all the jurisdictions your estate is affected by. You may need international or local health insurance in place for you and your family, and you need to think about moving currency around internationally and doing so cheaply.
Step Ten – Integration
The final stage of the plan for turning your dream of a new life abroad into a reality is doing all you can to integrate into your new life abroad. You can learn the language before you go, read books on the culture, history and day to day life in your new nation for example.
But integrating is more than just knowing things on a theoretical basis about your new country however, and true integration will begin when you step off the plane! You need to get out and about, socialising and making new friends, building up a network around you to support you. You will need to embrace the new language, learn to live as the locals do, shopping and eating in the same places where they do rather than where the tourists frequent!
Integration will be about learning to love your new country, and only that way will you get the most and the best out of your new move. If you want to live abroad in your chosen nation, and you’ve done all the research and taken all the action detailed above, we’re quite sure you will be best prepared to enjoy the challenges and embrace the new way of life.
