There are lots of great reasons to emigrate to another country. You may want to go because you have wanderlust and want to experience living in another part of the world. You may want to experience another culture first hand. Alternatively, you may be wanting to travel for your career or to be closer to family, friends, or a partner. Whatever the reason for your move, you will have a considerable amount to plan and to do before you are able to move to your new home overseas.
In this article, we’ll talk you through the basics of what you’ll need to think about before you take the plunge and pack up your life and move away.
Read on to find out how you can go about moving your life to a new country.
The Right To Live and Work
The first thing that you will need to research when planning your overseas move is whether or not you will need to apply for a visa. The chances are that if you are able to move there, you will need to have some form of right to live and work documents.
Do your research. Visas from different countries can be dramatically different. Some may permit you to stay for a certain amount of time, while others may have restrictions on the type of work you may be able to do while you are in the country.
Find out everything about the immigration policy of the country that you plan to move to. Find out what will happen after your visa expires as well as practical matters such as the cost and the amount of time it will take to be approved.
Obtaining a visa for another country can take a long time. Apply as early as you can and make sure that you seek advice when submitting your application so that it is less likely to get rejected.
It is important that you tackle your visa before you spend any money on the move. This needs to be in place so that you can be sure that you will be able to move.
Finding A Job
Once you have a visa, you will need to start looking for a job in your new country. Fortunately, the internet makes it easy to search for jobs all over the world, and you can start to apply from your home country.
Make sure that you explain in your cover letter that you are moving out there. Be upfront about your plans and give the date of your move. If you are able to attend interviews, it might be helpful to give some dates that you can be in the country. If you cannot attend the interview in person, you may want to ask if they can make concessions and interview you on skype or over the phone.
If you work for an international company, you could see if there is any potential to transfer. This will make life much easier for you.
Another route that you may want to look at is to find a remote job that you can start in before the move. There are plenty of jobs that you can do from anywhere in the world. These include freelance writer, graphic designer, or jobs as a web developer.
Finding Somewhere To Live
Once you have a visa and a source of income sorted out, you will need to turn your attention to finding somewhere to live. This may sound like it will be easy, but when you are looking from your home country, then it can get tricky.
Ideally speaking, you will want to find a house for rent online and go and visit it in person. This might not always be possible as it may be too costly to make repeated trips. Instead, you could see if the estate agent will be able to provide you with an online viewing. If you are happy to see the property on a video call, this may be a way around having to view in person. If you know someone that lives nearby, you could ask them to view the property on your behalf.
If you know someone that lives in the area that you are moving to, it may be possible for you to stay with them while you search for your own place to live. This will make the whole process much easier for you.
Getting Over the Language Barrier
If you are moving to a non-English speaking country, then you may have to deal with the language barrier, particularly if you don’t already speak the language of the area.
Before you move, you should make an effort to learn the language. You can enroll in online language classes if you have enough time. Alternatively, you could teach yourself using an app such as Duolingo. The more you can learn in the months running up to your move; the better.
Once you have moved, do your best to immerse yourself in the language. Listen to native speakers as much as possible and try and understand what they are saying. Don’t shy away from opportunities to try to use the language yourself. You’ll learn the language much quicker by trying to use it as much as possible.
Moving Overseas
Once you have a visa, job, and a home sorted out, you can start to think about moving. The first step should be shopping around for an international removals firm. Get quotes and find out exactly how much you will be able to take with you when you move. Then you will need to think about whether you plan on taking everything with you, or whether you can leave items in storage or with friends and family.
Your overseas move is the perfect opportunity to get rid of any items that you no longer need. Try to sell what you can and use the proceeds to help fund your big move.