Why do so many people talk about moving abroad like it’s just a matter of getting up and leaving?

Such weird comments on this thread.

Obviously the people discussing their plans to leave are primarily those with the means to do so, i.e. the 2% of people with another passport or those with sufficient qualifications or wealth to be welcomed elsewhere.

The other 90% of people are unlikely to be making statements like “I intend to leave”, but may well express the wish that they could do so given how living standards in the UK and PPP per capita is deteriorating rapidly year on year relative to counterparts living in what used to be our comparator countries, and has little prospect of improving in at least the medium term.

It should, however, be of great concern to the 90% who cannot leave even if they wanted to, that those propping up the entire system here disproportionately - due to our extremely top heavy tax system - are seriously considering or making the decision to get out in greater numbers with every passing year.

So you didn't grow up in London, it's your second home?

We are seriously considering leaving the country for NZ due to the economic and social mess of this country, as well as the ever growing volatility with Russia.

We both have jobs on ther skilled migrant list. We have also lived in 2 very different countries before so we know what an undertaking, cost and stress it is. Our timeline would be 18-24 months all in, not at all silly enough to believe it would be overnight.

The only thing making us hesitate at this point is being so far from loved ones.

Not everyone says it flippantly. Unless you know someone’s full story you can’t judge whether they’re able to follow through or not.

If i had the money id be gone and never come back.
But i am now thinking of a different plan.

But only for 1-3 years. You can get a visa for eg Australia but it's time-limited (of course you might find a job where you can get sponsorship while on the working holiday".

And it doesn't yet exist for the EU - both sides are faffing about so long that Reform will be elected and cancel it again on day one...

I agree OP. If you have a British passport, it's not easy to leave unless you have very specific skills.

Although I did see that the EU has now published a list of shortage occupations so if you have any of those qualifications, you might find it easier to move. My job is not on there ;)

It’s easy just to say it though isn’t it.. but much harder to actually do it (which is why for most it only remains chat). I’ve said it myself and I hold an EU passport and have family in multiple countries so it should theoretically be easier for me. But my husband is British, we have young children and his older parents to consider so we can’t just leave. Also.. who’s to say it would be any easier in another country?

People usually say it who have never actually looked into it post Brexit or don’t intend to themselves- they talk about Freda and Bob who are in Portugal not realising it’s different situation if you need to work and I. Some places different again if you have xyz cash or level of private pensions etc - and most of the English as first language places have incredibly stiff rules unless you are very much in a shortage occupation and can get a company relocation ( same in Scandinavia and Netherlands too)

It doesn’t happen overnight but also isn’t that hard. People working for big companies with international presence can relocate. There are other ways too. A lot of my friends left after brexit and covid; in fact only 2 of them are in the UK and one is ready to leave if made redundant. It was a combination of relocation through existing job, finding a new job elsewhere and getting sponsored, having dual passports, moving through their spouse’s nationality etc. the longest it took is 1 year and that was relocation through existing job where things were on pause for months due to restructuring so it’s not too bad.

It's actually quite straightforward for young adults through youth mobility schemes. Especially in commonwealth and former commonwealth countries.

It's much harder after the age of 30, but not in certain professions that are in demand.

My family migrated to Canada back in the 60s. It wasn't easy or cheap even back then.

Flash forward two generations and it's even harder.

Right now, we are seeing this exact thing with Americans. Whenever a president gets elected that they don't agree with they want to up sticks and move to the Great White North.

Currently, due to changes in our citizenship laws, they are all digging around family trees to see if they can claim our passport and move. They are doing this to try and get around the immigration requirements, age, skill set. We are seeing Americans over 60 wanting to come for "free healthcare" without understanding that we have paid into it for decades.

I, hold UK citizenship since I was born there. Have no desire to move there or hold a passport.

Oh, and for the love of all that's holy don't call yourselves expats, you're an immigrant. Sorry it isn't classy enough sounding.

I totally dig your frustration with always being told to move to EU if I love it so much. My partner and I work in professions too complex to switch to a country where English isn't the first language. At least my partner and I can piss off out of it overseas when we retire but Brexit wrote a lot of people's retirement dreams of if they haven't got £30k a year in pensions!
We travel as much as we can and very much like the Balkan countries which are also potentially easier to move to as they don't have financial requirements.

My partner and I don't have kids and it's still not that easy. We can't just switch our compled career fields to a country where English isn't the first language plus there's still financial requirements that people have to meet. Although i like North Macedonia/ Lake Ohrid as a place to retire to and a lot of Balkan countries don't have financial requirements as long as you renew a visa every year for the first 5 before you can apply for a more settled status.
We make dinner with travelling as much as we can until we reach retirement.

I said something on here a few months ago about all the Brexit and secure the borders crap, feeling increasingly like it’s less about keeping immigrants out, and more about keeping Brits in - and how the loss of freedom of movement had really hurt in 2016, and still hurts now.

Someone said “you can always emigrate”….

I’m almost 40, work in a creative industry with niche specialist skills, and am a single parent. No capital to speak of. To whence - without freedom of movement- will I go I wonder?

Oh, God, yeah this bugs me as well. Hear from colleagues "I'm just moving abroad as soon as I retire" as though they just can/are desirable by that country. And they don't have another passport. I used to ask how they were going to do it. I just nod along now. And Brexit voting relatives doing the "Ooo, why don't you move to X EU country?" when we talk about the place we went on holiday. "Because your vote made that much more difficult".

To be honest I don’t think moving anywhere is straightforward. It’s never a case of “can’t you just move?”

Hi OP has a foreigner who had lived in the UK for over 25 years I hear you!
I arrived here on a highly skilled work permit and over the years it took loads of money and time to eventually naturalise (my husband is English) the among iv paperwork required etc was insane. I have previously lived in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris and New York (work) and it cracks me up when people say they want to emigrate/move. I often think what makes you think that country wants you??? Did you even check what the minimum requirements are to live there. Some are requirements are money related and others skill related.
also grass not greener on the other side!

We moved to another European country - thankfully, Pre-Brexit.
It was still incredibly complicated with lots of administration, even though I was fairly fluent in the language.
I don't know how people manage it nowadays, with the Visa restrictions and so many don't speak the language.
But there are still whole families uprooting their kids, putting them in to the French school system - very different teaching methods!!
Trying to work within a system that doesn't make it easy to make a living, even if you can get the correct visa.
Some do end up going back to the UK but many manage to make it work against all the odds and would never consider going back
It must seem better than their lives in the UK

I agree, it took my son 3 years to get a visa for Canada, he’s a well qualified teacher. His fiancée lives there and they just wanted to be together. He’s has been there 7 years now, they married 3 years ago and are expecting their first child.

To the people saying that posters on Mumsnet must be lying about earning £100k salaries, did you know that nearly 30% of London based jobs pay over £100k? So why is it so difficult to believe that they would be posting on here? Have you seen the price of a two bedroom flat in zone 3? Someone has to be paying for all of those properties!

I was born in a different country but have lived in the UK for the past 17 years and have a huge number of fellow expat friends - partly due to living in London and working in finance.

I do think there is a lot of naivety around leaving the UK. People who disagree with whatever the current government is will talk about leaving as a kind of rage move or because they say crime is increasing in the UK. They are usually ignorant of the crime rates and political problems in the countries they think about moving to. It’s also easier to move if you are young and do a job needed in other countries, like teaching or medicine but far far more difficult the older and more established you are.

No that difficult, especially if you are under 40, our skills based Australian visa took about 6 months.

Another thing that gets me about this "Reform threat" of the rich and clever bailing the UK, is that near every other nation is having the same right wing anti immigration thing going on.

Even Japan, that has some of the toughest immigration rules about is having anti immigration protests.

And as a PP said above about Germany, they too have economic issues, and cost of living problems.

So where is this land of milk and honey ?

I reckon it's just a project fear thing. Brexiters bandied that term about for years, accusing remainers of stirring up fear. And it might be my imagination, but I think its pretty much the same demographic that are doing their own " money and brain drain" project fear.

I live abroad, and I know one guy in the UK that plans to retire to the same country where I live. And it's nothing to do with politics, tax, or " the state of the country". It's because he and wife want to retire to her country. It's a love thing, a lifestyle thing

There always has been, and always will be, people who don't get homesick, who can hang their hat anywhere.

Hating the labour party, or Reeves, is just about the silliest reason I could think of for anyone to become a migrant.

But cross border relationships are a thing. Always have been. And in this age of air travel and internet, of course they are increasing.

But the Reform brain drainers likely always assume every multinational relationship as being UK bound. But that's what Reform folk think.

What Reform folk certainly don't think, don't know, or just plain ignore, is that the UK is not an easy place to get into. Trust me on this. Leaving the UK is often the only option for people in relationships. And dealing with the immigration on the other end, although bloody hard work, is often the only way many couples can be together.

My DD moved abroad to two countries in her early 20s. It was easy because she didn’t own a house to let or sell and she didn’t have children or a boy/girlfriend.
She was given a work and residency visa by both countries, which the companies offering her work sorted. She didn’t speak a word of either language but that didn’t matter. She moved within about a month of getting the job offers.

I live just outside London and have pretty much all professional friends with degrees etc and well travelled. Not one of us has anything other than a UK passport - it’s really NOT that common outside of London. Also a working holiday to Oz/NZ is not the same thing as actually moving somewhere permanently.
I agree totally OP, it’s much much harder than people think in terms of costs, suitability, ease of visas etc, particularly once you are older and have a family to support/take with you.