If there’s one thing I’m convinced of, it’s that relocating to a different nation is a fun and stress-free experience.
Another thing I’m confident of is that sarcasm is difficult to detect in print. At the end of 2019, I relocated from Melbourne, Australia to Glasgow, Scotland. It was quite difficult in many respects.
Shipping personal items, locating an apartment, and the visa application process caused my sparse hair to grey or fall out. Having said that, I learned a lot about what it takes to uproot your life halfway around the world.
These techniques will not only save you money but will also save you a lot of time.
So, here’s how I went about it.
What to carry and how to send your belongings overseas
The most difficult aspect of relocating overseas is deciding what to bring and what to leave behind.
The excess luggage costs charged at the airport are exorbitant. In most circumstances, it makes more sense to purchase products once you arrive at your new location.
Being brutally honest about what you can do without will help you save a lot of money. I discovered the hard way that there are hidden expenses with foreign delivery.
Being brutally honest about what you can do without will help you save a lot of money.
I told my kids to gather all of the toys they couldn’t live without. As they piled all of their toys in the pile they claimed they couldn’t live without, I realized this was a terrible decision on my behalf.
I’m not proud to confess it, but after my children went to bed, a fifth of their toys magically went missing in action.
It cost $176 Australian dollars (about £100 or €117) to ship two large boxes of toys from Australia to the United Kingdom.
But what I didn’t realize was that I’d have to pay a customs duty of about £100 (€117) when I picked up the boxes. I would have had enough money to buy groceries for the following two months if I had ordered every single one of their toys from Amazon when I landed in the UK.
Where can you stay in your new country?
Finding an apartment in another country might be extremely difficult. All you have are photographs on websites and Facetime tours from real estate brokers.
Even if you take a virtual tour, you won’t be able to tell if the apartment smells like rancid tuna and feet.
I was fortunate to have a buddy who lived near the apartment I intended to rent. He scheduled a meeting with the real estate agent and confirmed with me that it was in a good location, on a quiet cul de sac, and didn’t smell like tuna or feet.
“Even if you take a virtual tour, you won’t be able to tell if the apartment smells like rancid tuna and feet”.
The application process for an apartment in the United Kingdom differs greatly from that in Australia. The main distinction is that a guarantee is required.
In Australia, a guarantor is only required when purchasing a home. I was fortunate in that my acquaintance who visited the home could also attest to me as a guarantor. I wasn’t sure if I should employ a real estate agent or a private landlord at first. The British gov. The UK website was quite helpful for information on renting a home in the UK.
In the end, I felt more at ease with a certified estate agent.
Is it tough to obtain a visa?
Death and taxes are said to be the only certainties in life. The third point to remember is that a visa application is nearly impossible for a normal person. This cannot be overstated.
My acquaintance suggested I consult with an immigration lawyer to determine which visa applications I would need to submit. I disagreed since I’m a self-proclaimed know-it-all.
How difficult could it be? I told myself. I would subsequently discover that it would be incredibly difficult.
My partner and children were both British citizens at the time. As a result, I naturally figured I’d apply for a spousal visa. I visited the UK visa website and applied online. It took me almost six months to compile supporting papers for this visa. It was quite intense.
I needed my family’s birth certificates, pay stubs, rental property applications stretching back five years, and so on. There were over 120 documents in total. The aim was to apply six months before leaving Australia so that the visa would be approved when we arrived in the UK. This meant I could start working almost immediately. As previously said, this was the plan, but the reality was completely different.
“It took me almost six months to compile supporting papers for this visa. It was quite intense”.
Two months after I arrived in the UK, I received a letter stating that my visa application had been denied due to a technicality. It was now time to consult with an immigration lawyer.
Before scheduling a service, I, like most others, read user reviews. I found an immigration law practice in Glasgow that had a lot of 5-star reviews, so I scheduled the next available appointment. It was known as Southside Immigration.
The lawyer was extremely helpful and immediately set my mind at ease. He explained that there are distinct rules for applying for visas both inside and outside the UK. My children were British citizens, so I should have sought for a parental visa. I mistakenly assumed I needed to apply for a spousal visa. Keep in mind that, depending on your situation, you may be able to apply for a variety of visas. The parental visa was not only less expensive than the spousal visa, but it also required only a quarter of the accompanying papers.
“This would have saved me more than £3,000 overall”.
This would have saved me more than £3,000 (€3,523) overall.
My visa was approved some months later after I followed his recommendations. This enabled me to work and become a resident of the United Kingdom.
Although moving to another nation can be intimidating, I soon realized there were other benefits. The very cold Scottish weather was a benefit (sarcasm again). But I’m delighted I made this life-altering choice. I now have a high quality of life, where people are kind and my children can actually see castles rather than only seeing them in fairy tales.
