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

You're not wrong @Ballondor. I'd LOVE to go and work overseas again. But it's so bloody complicated that I honestly don't have the drive for it.

I was about to take off again (I've done it before) when covid hit so ended up not going. But I was about 6 months in sorting documentation, work permit, visa, house, tenants etc. It was so awful that I more or less decided I wouldn't be doing it again.

Pre-Brexit it was a lot easier. Now, it's a nightmare.

A lot of people won’t get in

But a fair few can

We could, H has a job with an international company, we could initially move temporarily and look to stay after that (he also would earn enough we would be entirely self funding)

if you are young, and think about choices, and train up or just take a chance, and pass the health checks ( these vary and are more frequently including neurodiversity), but if you can pass them, you are a low risk to be a strain on resources and can build a life their paying into that country’s tax system

and we all have dual-EU passports, we knew this would be another two-tier level of society and of course voted remain partly so that option would have been retained for all, alas, not so, but that doesn’t mean we and our children won’t use ours if we want to

but yes for many it’s not an option, for many it’s difficult, for some it’s easy

I think that a lot of people underestimate how many people don't have any sort of dual nationality or right to live elsewhere. I have a job that is niche enough that if I was younger I suspect that I could get a visa sponsored to emigrate, but I'm over 40, so I think the number of places that would accept me would be very low. For the young and the rich there are of course options. It's a shame as if Reform do manage to get themselves elected I want an escape plan.

For many countries, you need to be fluent in their language. And we British are not renowned for our linguistic skills.

OP please ignore the first replies of the privileged hard of thinking folk, the voting reflects what most of us think.

Moving house due to horrendous neighbours isn't as simple as lots of people on here seem to think, there's a reason it's considered one of the most stressful things to go through.

As always, connections, understanding of the area/language/culture and most importantly money helps.

Well the only passport I could apply for is China so I’m not doing that. Legal immigration by the book takes time. We don’t want to move overseas but did explore visas as we wanted to travel round Europe for more than 3 months at a time. Lots of changes to Golden visas over the last few years,.

Plenty of people have a second home in Northern France, in Poland, a flat in Spain etc type thing, not necessarily a multimillion glitzy huge flat in Paris or Milan. The former can be perfectly standard professional couples with kids who are just fed up of being squeezed middle here and will possibly get a better lifestyle and more money in another country. It is what it is.
If you have open borders for many years and most of your professional class then comes from that or has connections with that and is your tax base essentially, then that is the reality.

The data for duel citizens in the UK for is in the 2021 census, for England and Wales. From the link below.

In 2021, across England and Wales, 1.26 million usual residents held multiple passports (2.1%), up from 612,000 (1.1%) in 2011.

1.2% of UK-born residents were UK-other dual citizens (587,600), rising from 0.5% in 2011 (231,600); for non-UK-born residents, 6.5% were UK-other dual citizens in 2021 (648,700), rising from 5.1% in 2011 (381,200).

It's not many. Add to that, so far as I can figure out, about half of the holders were born abroad, and the UK passport is there 2nd ? Am I reading that right ?

So anyone saying their social group being majority dual citizens is likely in a minority. Except Northern Ireland of course, where folk can get both.

Link here:

Dual citizens living in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

In the situation you describe, they don't mean it. Its hyperbole.

I live in London and we work in professional jobs. Pretty much everyone in our circle has at least one other nationality they can tap into and works in big companies with transferable skills and has connections in other countries (either friends from uni, professionally or family). So yes, it is easy to leave and up sticks if you want to. Made even easier now that there are English speaking private schools in most countries.

Because pretty much it is OP. If you factor in different groups eg young people - very easy and prob no ties, many of DC friends have EU passports or can go to Oz on working visa. A bit more tricky for those with children but very doable. Remember many if these people are professionals, they are used to making things happen, they don’t look at the issues/problems they just look at what needs to be done and they do it because they are motivated.

Having professional qualifications and a bit of money gives you many options. The government needs to wake up. When you see the migration figures it’s worth remembering that there’s a difference in those leaving and those arriving as regards qualifications and means.

If you know lots of people with multiple passports and multiple homes, I don't think you can speak for how easy it is for the average person to move to a different country. You are not a 'normal' person.

I’ve moved countries a few times and have ended up in Oz. It’s a long drawn out and expensive process to emigrate, but it’s not impossible. I’m as working class as you get, and know of many similar people that also emigrated. It is possible for a lot of people if you have the right qualifications and put your mind to it. Not everyone will make it, there are a lot of hoops, but it’s not impossible, and for us it was worth all the pain! I have three passports now, wish I could sell my UK and Irish ones!

For some people it is. I have moved abroad several times without much difficulty.
And I am far from super rich. I am just educated and skilled.

I do think some people say it flippantly though.

I used to hang about on expat forums because there was this vague idea that we would retire abroad. I still pop in for a look from time to time.

It was amazing how many UK passport holders used to come on the forums asking how they could move abroad, to Spain particularly. This is before Brexit when it was at least nominally easier. When asked what they would live on, they usually said they'd run a bar (with no capital or Spanish skills to deal with licences and suppliers and so on) or "I'll turn my hand to anything", expecting to get a manual job just like that and support a family on it.

There's very little of that now, so the message seems to have got through at last.

So true, OP!

"My child is struggling with school and we can't afford private education"

"Why don't you move to Dubai and put your child into the international school?"

Just like that... Pwffff!!!

I think people have different tolerances for change and different expectations of what they need to provide their children too. If you have two children with SEN and you've always lived in the UK, you might think we've just got them into a school which they will go to and it'll see them to GCSEs without disruption, we can't move for 3 years now. And I have a friend who's a film director and she has one daughter and they move every year or so, the daughter is fine just dropping into a school in London or Dublin or LA for a year - they don't think "OMG what GCSEs will she get" they sort of assume she'll get whatever she's at at the time- IB, or some qualifications of wherever. They assume they will be able to translate things. Or they're just not bothered! People who see all that as a big impenetrable system just wouldn't think of moving.

Those we know who have moved or have it under consideration, are originally from other EU countries. They own property in their native country. They may not hold a UK passport. This means they can opt to leave without much restriction, they don’t have to sell their UK property- they can rent it. Alternatively we also know people who sold their house (5 months), gave notice at private school (3 months) and moved in with family whilst the tenants cleared their EU property. They were immediately offered places at good local schools, they could use their parents address to apply for places. If you have money and want to leave, not everyone has to wait on a visa to work another country. Frequently these are professionals with considerable expertise: architects, doctors, lawyers.

I have another "home" and assets in Prague, Czech Republic. Probably talked about moving
a lot, atm it's still not practical for me.
Would be very happy to go back, seeing their quality of life after long term visit.
I don't know about people talking about just upping and moving, speaking for myself, I would never move countries again.

ime most people underestimate the massive amount of paperwork, flexibility and organisation that moving overseas requires. Dh and I lived overseas for 25 years and dcs were born overseas and several visitors thought they would do the same. We made it look easy, but they didn’t see school parents evening where only one parent speaks the language, understanding tax rules, medical appointments for children in a foreign language.. etc. Living overseas was an incredibly rewarding experience for us, but we would readily admit that sometimes it’s same shit, different bucket.

My 2 dc and I have EU passports.
I have family in one EU country and have been there many times.
Dh only has a UK passport so not sure how that would work out..
It would have to be after retirement now as we are too old for work visas.
If reform get in, it's something we will really start planning ☹️
My 2 dc are already planning to leave (dd1s bf is Norwegian so they spend time there anyway)

Just to be clear I believe that the OP is referring to people saying they’re emigrating, rather than moving somewhere on a work visa, which of course is the easier option, generally, Some later posts from people who’ve found the process of moving to another country make me think they’ve had some kind of short stay visas.

I still maintain that for most Brits, emigrating is something wildly out of reach.

I feel I'm probably one of the people you're talking about here 😂 but its because I'm comfortable I know whats involved and that I could achieve it? Like there'll be lots of paperwork to get appropriate visas and things like pet passports etc. and an absolute faff getting us and our stuff over there, but I know the logistics and the timeline and the cost and I'm happy that its all within my reach. Also, I'm not exactly going to divulge the details of my plan everythime I mention it, so I'll likely be quite blasé when mentioning I'm 'just moving to xx country next year'
I'm not on megabucks, but its enough to manage a 'nomad' type visa in the countries that offer them, and its remote so can facilitate working from anywhere. Totally aware that's not available to everyone but not sure it means I should talk about it any differently, or preface anytime I mention moving with the circumstances that have allowed me to make that choice?

@Flowerslamp they were not European countries and yes I could go back or to others. But I wouldn't move from the UK as long as dd is still living here.

Agree. You should at least have to sit a bloody test to get it! At an exam centre in Ireland so you will have visited at least once.