5 Tips For Those Thinking About Becoming An Expat

Every year thousands of people make the decision to move
permanently abroad and to make a new life for themselves and
their families in a foreign land. For many this proves to be one
of the best decisions they have ever made, but for others the
dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Here are just a few of the
many things that you will need to consider.

Tip 1. Make certain that you really do want to live permanently
abroad.

The grass is always greener on the other side and it is very
easy to paint an idyllic picture of life in your chosen country.
However, once you get there, you may well find that the grass is
now a lot greener back home. It's also normally the case that
your view of a country as a holidaymaker is very different from
your view as a resident.

Not only should you visit the country several times before
deciding to move there, but you should also do so at different
times of the year and for increasingly lengthy periods of time.
You should also try 'living' in the country by renting a house
or apartment and living as far as possible as you would as a
resident rather than a holidaymaker. If you still feel that
moving is the right choice after you've spent six months or so
'living' in the country, then there's a good chance that you
won't regret your decision.

Tip 2. Make sure that you understand the immigration policy of
your chosen country.

Check out the current immigration requirements of your chosen
country and also look at its past history on immigration and any
known or rumored plans for change.

In many cases you will be required to meet strict visa
requirements and these may be inconvenient, costly and leave you
with little security. The last thing you want to do is to cut
your ties with home, buy a house and settle the kids into school
only to find that you cannot extend your visa and are given
forty-eight hours to leave the country.

Tip 3. Examine your finances carefully.

Think carefully about how you will support yourself in your
chosen country. Do you, for example, intend to seek employment
in your new country to provide you with an income, or will you
fund yourself from sources at home, such as savings, investments
or a pension.

If you're going to look for employment abroad then how easy will
it be to find a job? If you can get a job, what sort of salary
can you expect? Will you be allowed to work at all? Many
countries will require you to apply for a work permit and these
are often issued only in exceptional circumstances or for
employment requiring specific skills or qualifications. In many
cases your visa will expressly state that you may not seek
employment.

If you're going to fund your stay from sources at home, do you
have sufficient resources not simply for today but for the next
ten or twenty years or more? If you're taking a pension abroad
will it keep pace with the rising cost of living? In many
countries you may draw a pension abroad but, if you do so, you
will lose any cost of living increases and your pension will be
fixed at the level at which you start to draw it overseas.

Tip 4. Think about what you will do with your assets back home.

If you own your home will you sell it, rent it out or simply
leave it empty? What will you do with your car, furniture and
other possessions?

Your home of course is much more than simply an asset, it also
gives you a tie to home and affords you an address back home
which may be extremely useful if you don't have family or
friends who are happy to let you use their address. Just wait
until your credit card runs out and your bank tells you that
they can only send the new card to the address to which the
account is registered in your home country.

As far as your other possessions are concerned you can of course
dispose of many of them if you wish, keeping only those or
particular real or sentimental value, or you can take them with
you. But how easy is it to ship things out and what will it
cost? Look carefully too at the rules in your chosen country.
Some countries will let you bring more or less whatever you want
into the country, while others will have strict limits or impose
high import taxes. In many cases for example it's a lot cheaper
to buy a new car than to ship your own car out, pay high import
duty and than have to have the car adapted to meet local
requirements for registration.

Tip 5. Examine the provision of healthcare.

You may be fit and healthy now but, if you're thinking about
moving abroad permanently, then a time is going to come when you
will need to avail yourself of the local healthcare facilities.
Just how good are those facilities, how do they compare to the
facilities that you are used to and will the doctors speak
English?

Another very important consideration is the availability of
public healthcare. If you come from a country with a publicly
funded healthcare system, such as the UK, then you might be more
than a little shocked by the cost of medical treatment when you
find yourself in a country with only private healthcare. On the
other hand, if you're used to paying for your own healthcare,
you might be pleasantly surprised to find that you can get the
same of better medical treatment at a fraction of the cost.

Whatever the case, however, this is something that you need to
check out very carefully and you will certainly need some form
of expat health insurance policy.

This short list of just five tips is far from exhaustive but
hopefully it will give you a starting point and set you in the
right direction. Becoming an expatriate is a very big step and
one that needs a great deal of careful thought.

About the author:
Donald Saunders writes on many subjects, in particular health,
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