Bonehead

Now that the decline of the country is gonna get much much worse, is anyone thinking seriously about leaving for a better life abroad?

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Yep.

Where do I find out how to emigrate to New Zealand?

Scott W

Yep!

I thought I saw BBC Breakfast yesterday mention about the Australian process of accepting incoming Brits (or any other nationality! ) had changed or is changing. However the main article was going to be shown after I'd left for work so I didn't get to see it. Does anybody know what the current rules are? Is it still points based?

Shark Man

Yes...the grass IS greener

Oz is good....just as long as not too many Brits emmigrate there, the last thing you want is a place full of the idiots that brought down their own country fecking up the one you just moved to

Poor Guy

Jesus H monkeys!

how did you do that? I was just clicking away from UBs thread thinking about moving to australia and there it was. This thread!

unclebuck

http://www.britishexpat.com/expatfor...ntry/index.php

See you there.

Markus

I'd be interested to know how the Oz laws are changing, from what I know it was somewhat difficult to get in. Think they had some age limit, think it was 28, if you were over 28 then they we're not overly interested.

It would be rather nice to move to Oz If you want somewhere a little closer to home, you could always consider Canada, another annex of the UK, so maybe a tad easier to get into, certainly much easier to get into than the USA, then again, does anyone really want to live in the USA?

scooby-si

yes we are going to go to new zealand in the next few years

Cyberevo

iTrader: (1)

Thought about moving to Vancouver a number of times, my sister and Bro in law did it around 10 years ago. They sold a poxy 3 bed mews house and have a rancher in 2 acres of beautifull garden and woodland, BBQ's every day in the summer as you can go for over a week without rain (unlike here).

The Canadians are quite nice and seem genuine (unlike the plastic yanks), the only things that stop me moving are:-

1. Not being able to go to the footy (not the same as having it on TV).

2. still more manula work than office type stuff, I'm a telecoms project manager (self employed) and I just don't think there is enough work out there to sustain me freelancing.

3. Everything is far away, you just can't pop around the corner for a pint of milk and a sunday newspaper.

4. Pi$$ups with the mates on Bank Holidays and genereal UK social life (this is not too much of a prob as I don't go out as much as before)


Been out there twice and I think it is a beautifull country and has some much outdoor life to offer, great summers and skiing on your doorstemp in winter.

Wife won't budge on the idea. I'm going to try and get her along to an emigration show this month, see if she changes her mind.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

UB - you're now my hero!

Cheers matey!

Bonehead

The scoobynet exodus begins!!!

CoobyS

What makes you say that?

Easy to act like a know-it-all and not bother to understand how the Tories would have made things better.

Flatcapdriver

Have any of you actually lived abroad for any length of time?

gsm1

Exactly. Wherever you go make sure you get a return ticket because most of you will be heading back and probably kissing the ground when you do.

Hanslow

Wonder if all these foreign countries have the same (alleged) feeling towards immigrants I guess you feel about it differently when you are one.....

Flatcapdriver

If you want to find out, go to Oz and see racism in action for yourself.

gareth123

Me. I do. I prefer living here to the UK. I have lived in the US for 5 years now, I think it's unlikely I'll ever live in the UK again. Both places have their pros and cons, but the US is better place to live IMO.

Bonehead

Me actually.......seven years in germany

turboman786

Good riddance to all those who want to go.....I love MY country...the good old UK.

gareth123

That sounds like an abused wife - 'he hits me because he loves me'. How much abuse will you take from the UK government?

Although I don't understand 'loving' a country, it's just the place you happen to have been born after all, I don't think many people leaving the UK do so because they dislike the place, it's just that there are better places.

I prefer living in the US. I've not lived there but I think I'd prefer Northern Spain to the UK as well. Ditto for Western Canada. Probably NZ and maybe Oz too.

Markus

The Cannucks are very nice people indeed As said they are friendly and not as loud and brash as most americans. Plus the girls love a British accent

As for lack of work, depends where you go. Toronto/Mississauga seems to be rather good for tech related work, this is why we have an office in Missy.

As for everything being far away, it does depend on where you are. I live about 15 mins from downtown Toronto and I'm surrounded by parks and cycle paths, and there are pubs and restarants about 5 min walk from me. If I moved about 10 mins northwards I'd be in Bloor West Village which is heaving with pubs and nice places to eat. Also, my condo building has a convenience store on the ground floor, so it's not a problem to grab a paper or pint of milk when you need one.

Why does the wife not like the idea?

I think relocating out here was one of the best things I've done so far. I've been here since April 2003 and there have been some ups and downs, but nothing to major. I do like the UK, don't get me wrong, I spent 28 years there, growing up and having fun, and I still have many friends back there who I do miss, but I do pop back from time to time to make them groan lol.

It really has made me see that the UK is not the best place in the world, and that over here I can actually buy a decent house.
Plus, being a petrolhead it's rather nice too, there's no "safey" (s)Cameras, so no stealth taxing on motorists going on, only plod with radar guns to deal with, fuel is cheap, some nice cars, including the 2.5 STi. Yes there are cons, there aren't, well, near me, too many nice twisties to play on, but it does depend on where you live.

It seems to be a better quality of life here too, mainly as it's around half the cost of living here than in the UK. For example, take where I live:

1 bedroom + den condo (electricity, water and heating all included in rent).
Ensuite bathroom, plus additional bathroom with shower
Large balcony, with views of the lake
Underground parking and large storage locker
24/7 secuirty and conceirge
Games room, Excercise Room, Comunual garden and rooftop terrace
2 min walk from shore of lake
Large park 10 min walk away
Downtown core 10 min drive away

Now, how much, per month, would you expect a place like that to cost in the UK? I think it'd be more than £575, which is what I currently pay ($1350 CAD)

Bonehead

How hard is it to get into canada if you've got nothing like a trade qualification?

Petem95

Brits emmigrating to foreign countries is very different to all the immigrants coming here. Its generally skilled people with money, not unskilled people who plan on living off the state and are unwilling to intergrate with the local population.

ALso many countries were once under British rule anyway, so you go and become an 'ex-pat' not an immmigrant

ajm

Plus if all the decent tax payers go who will pay for your Labour handouts?

Cyberevo

iTrader: (1)

Hi Markus,

I don't think I could ever do the east coast, the weather extremiries frighten the hel out of me. If I had it my way I'd choose somewhere with a moderate climate all year round, -25 temps does not sound like a fun time to me, I'm sure the locals deal with it quite well though.

I'm not sure I want ot do the tech stuff any more after spending the best part of 15 yrs in it, and I'm not too sure about starting looking for a 'permy' job abroad, I get to board and hence contracting suits me.

I'm not sure why the wife doesn't like it, I just guess she's stuck in her ways a little, nice house, job and car etc...

Her sister emigrated to Toronto this year so we may go out and visit them soon.

If my wife was really up for the move then I would not hesitate but I'm not going to force upon her something she doesn't want to do...

gsm1

Yeah, but that depends on the person. What you think is 'better' may not be someone else's cup of tea.

gareth123

My WRX cost me (equivalent of) GBP13,000 new. Soon moving to a beautiful 3400 sq ft house on 4 acres that is costing less than a Victorian semi in South East England.

gsm1

I've only ever signed on for 3 months in my whole life and that was after leaving college. Otherwise never taken squat from the government and even when I've not had an income for considerable periods I've never gone to the DSS for handouts.

Markus

Bonehead,
Have a look here. It should give you information about the process. I do remember looking into it before I came over here. It's essentially a points scoring system.

I'm very lucky as I am classed as an Intra-Company Transferee. Basically speaking, we had a UK, US and Canadain office in our company, I was asked if I wanted to relocate to the Canadain office, which I jumped at Thus I did not need to go through the normal application process, so my entry was simply a case of going up to immigration in the airport when I landed, presenting a letter from my company, my passport, a letter from an immigration lawyer, and 20 mins later I had a work permit.

There are a couple of us on here/22B who live in Canada and so we've got various bits of advice to give.

If your'e serious about it, then ask as many questions as you want

Cyberevo

iTrader: (1)

Funny line, I'm going to take a handout and why not - I've been working for 18 yrs never claimed a penny, I've been out of a contract for 4 months, just the way it is (was promissed one but fell through after keeping me hanging on for 6 weeks) so I thought I'd make a claim today and why ******* NOT!