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5 Tips For Those Who Are Contemplating Becoming An Expat

Every year many thousands of people make the decision to move permanently abroad and to start a new life for themselves in a new land. For a significant number of these people this proves to be one of the best decisions they have ever made, but for a large number of other people their dream quickly turns into a nightmare. Here are a small selection of the many things which you will need to consider.

� Make certain that you really do wish to move permanently abroad.

There is no doubt that the grass is always greener on the other side and it is very easy to paint a heavenly picture of living in the country of your choice. But, when you arrive, you could find that in fact the grass is a lot greener back at home. It is also generally the case that your picture of a foreign country as a holidaymaker is very different from that as a resident.

Not only must you visit the country several times before deciding to live there, but you should also do so at differing times of the year and for increasingly lengthy periods of time. You should also try to 'live' in the country by renting a house or condo and living as far as is possible as you would as a resident rather than a holidaymaker. If you still think that moving is the correct choice after you have spent several months or so 'living' in the country, thenthere is a pretty good chance that you will not regret your decision.

� Make certain that you understand the immigration policy of your chosen country.

Check on the present immigration policy of your chosen destination and also take a look at its immigration history and any known or rumored plans for change.

In most cases you will be required to meet strict visa requirements and these may be inconvenient, costly and leave you without much security. The absolute last thing you wish to do is to cut your ties with home, purchase a condominium and settle the children into school only to find that you are unable to extend your visa and have forty-eight hours in which to get out of the country.

� Sit down and work very carefully through your finances.

Think very carefully about how you are going to support yourself financially in your chosen country. For instance, do you intend to seek employment after you arrive to furnish you with an income, or do you plan to fund yourself from saving, investments or a pension from home?

If you intend to seek employment abroad then how easy is it going to be to get work? If you are able to get work, what kind of salary are you likely to get? Will they allow you to work at all? Many countries will require you to apply for a work permit and these are often only issued in particular circumstances or for employment requiring special skills or qualifications. In a lot of cases your visa will clearly state that you are not allowed to seek employment.

If you want to fund yourself from sources back home, do you have sufficient resources not simply for today but for the next ten or twenty years or beyond? If you are receiving a pension abroad will it keep pace with rising costs? In a lot of cases you are permitted to receive a pension abroad but, if you opt to do so, you will lose any cost of living increases and your pension will be pegged at the level at which you begin to take it abroad.

� Consider what you will do with your assets back home.

If you own your home do you intend to sell it, rent it out or just leave it empty? What do you intend to do with your car, furniture and other personal belongings?

Of course your home is a great deal more than a simple asset because it also provides you with a link to your home country and provides you with an address back home which could be extremely useful if you do not have family or friends who are happy to let you use their address. Just wait until your credit card runs out and your credit card company informs you that they will only send the new card to the registered address in your home country.

As far as your other belongings are concerned you could of course get rid of many of them if you wish, retaining only those or particular real or sentimental value, or you can take them along with you. But how easy is it to ship things out and what will it cost? Look carefully too at the regulations in your chosen country. Some countries will let you bring more or less anything you wish into the country, while others will have very strict importation limits or levy high import taxes. For instance, in many cases it would be much less expensive to purchase a new car than to import your own car and pay high import duty and perhaps to need to have the vehicle adapted to satisfy local requirements for registration.

� Take a very careful look at the facilities for healthcare.

You could feel on top of the world today but, if you are considering moving overseas permanently, then the time is going to come when you will need to make use of the local healthcare facilities. So, just how good are the local facilities and how do they compare to the facilities that you are accustomed to?

Yet another very important consideration is the availability of public healthcare. If you come from a country that has publicly funded healthcare, like the UK, then you might be more than a bit surprised by the cost of treatment when you find yourself in a country which has only private healthcare. Of course, if you are used to paying for your own healthcare, you could be very pleasantly surprised to find that you can get the same level of or better treatment at a fraction of the cost.

No matter what the case, this is one thing which you will need to look at very carefully and you will certainly wish to have some sort of expat health insurance policy.

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

Article Source: http://blisspublisher.com

Donald Saunders writes on many subjects, in particular health, and is also himself an expat. For more information on expat health insurance or on affordable health insurance in general then please visit MedicalHealthInsuranceToday.com

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