Can I move abroad or am I stuck in the U.K. forever?!

[bibbedybobbedy]

I am fed up with the U.K. but I actually think I may be trapped here. I want to move abroad have one dc and one dh 😁
I want to move out of this small minded country but I don't think I can.
Kicking myself for not moving before brexit happened.

Is there anywhere you can move to easily with a British passport?! I'm 36 dh is 37 dc would need to go to school and is 8 yo. Dh wfh but it's the visas that restrict us. His company won't support visas to move abroad but don't mind if we take ourselves abroad off our own backs. Problem is I can't find anywhere we can go to.

Do you speak any foreign languages? Or do you want an English-speaking country?

What is your job? The easiest is probably find a job and get sponsored for a visa.

I mean get a job abroad.

Yes well I get you are fed up of the UK and everything at the moment feels like it is going to shit. But don't think other countries are perfect. There is small mindedness all over the world. You'd better realise that right now before you manage to move and find your host country disappointing you.

I'm speaking as a second generation child of European immigrant parents and married to an Australian so I know the grass is most definitely not greener somewhere else.

To answer your OP yes language is key. If you want to move to France or Germany etc you will need to speak the lingo. Australia/NZ/Canada - you can look into visa criteria but it takes time and money to apply.

No foreign languages. Don't most jobs expect you to already be in the country before you apply for a job ?

We have U.K. specific qualifications but can wfh and move abroad but dh company won't sponsor him for a visa in a new country unless they need him there, the only people who have moved from London are those already with citizenship elsewhere such as EU citizens so didn't need sponsoring.

I know the grass is most definitely not greener somewhere else

But it is! There are lots of places much nicer to live in than the UK. Sure, nowhere is perfect but it's not like everywhere is as shit as the UK.

You can move to Ireland, OP.

Do you have any in demand skills like nursing ? Many countries allow immigrants in industries where there's a skills shortage.

With no foreign languages you're really looking at places like Dubai / Abu Dhabi, Australia, NZ, America and Canada.

Unless you've got an in demand profession, you might find it hard to get visas.

Dubai might be the easiest, but might not fit your desires to have a more open minded place.

Tbh though, moving because you want to escape a problem doesn't often work, that problem will likely follow you to wherever you go.

Thanks @HavfrueDenizKisi yes I know. Our plan is to buy a cheap small place in the U.K. and live elsewhere in a different country so we always have somewhere to come back to if the grass isn't greener. But I'd like to try!
I think for Australia and Canada we are too old to move now. Not sure about NZ.

I fantasise about moving abroad. I'm 40, single, limited savings and can't speak another language so unlikely. But it's a dream.

Most jobs do expect you to already be in the country, just like in the UK. But if you have careers that are in demand elsewhere, and they struggle to fill places with the local residents, they may well sponsor you to come from the UK. Without knowing your jobs it's hard to tell you where you should go though. It might be that engineers are in short supply in Dubai, nurses in Australia, software developers in South Africa or whatever.

If you want to keep your jobs, wfh, and you have a lot of money you can go to places like Mauritius where you buy a specific property (think they cost a minimum of 500K USD), which gives you instant residence permits. There are other countries too that have similar schemes.

@MissusMaisel do you live in the UK?

I really don't understand the joy people get out of constantly describing the UK as shit. It's like a competitive race to the bottom to see nothing good about a place.

We've moved around a lot and there are some truly shit places in this world where you're not safe or where there are incredible disparities between its populations. And places seen as shining beacons but are very small minded (eyeing you Australia).

But Mumsnet does feel like you're winning bingo if you call the UK shit with bonus points for complaining about London and Londoners.

Not anymore!

There is a great little English community in the town I live in in Ontario Canada, all around your age with children. They just had a Eurovision party and get together all the time. You would be looking at 600k housing prices for a 4 bed detached with swimming pool. Not many rentals unfortunately.

Because Ireland is so much better?

Portugal is very welcoming. You would need to apply for a D7 visa, this is visa where you have to show you can support yourself via an external income. So if your DH work are happy for him to be based abroad and are happy to pay his national insurance contributions to Portugal than that could be possible. For a D& visa you need to show an income of (roughly) 7k euro for DH, 5k for you and 2,800 for your child. Practically though you will need more than this to live, it's the minimum wage of Portugal. There's a facebook group called British Expats in Portugal where you can find more info.

Can you look into moving to Ireland then once there 5 years apply for Irish citizenship which then gets you a pass into the EU countries.
I'm not sure if you can definitely do that but it may be possible.

Or Portugal as described above and again apply for citizenship once there long enough.

@Supersee On my research journey you can often retire to foreign countries fairly easily. So you never know!

The problem for us is overpopulation, no easy access to healthcare we even have to wait for private healthcare in our area!
No dentists. Again not even private. Expensive childcare, we have no family, expensive housing feel like we just work to live day to day.
I'd also like to be somewhere warmer.

We have some money. And time. But no country seems to allow us to live there so I thought I'd see if anyone had information that we haven't managed to get yet.
We are not in jobs that are in demand anywhere (I believe). We both work in accounting related jobs with U.K. specific qualifications.

Thanks @Snoken that's interesting. I will look at Mauritius.

@HavfrueDenizKisi for us our area really feels overpopulated now. I do like some of the U.K. and I'm sure other places have their issues but I think it's also ok that we're bored of it, and would like to explore moving away even if it's just for a few years and then we come back.

@fruitbrewhaha that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm assuming those are annual incomes?! Can dc go to school?
We would be happy to pay for a British school too. That sounds good actually.
I did look at Portugal but only the golden visa which has recently priced us out of getting it annoyingly!

I get it OP. We've lived in different countries too and it's an exciting adventure. Good luck with sorting something out.

Yes. Much, much, much better. 😊

Have a look at the Cayman Islands. Lots of accountancy jobs there.

Hmm. Think we'll agree to disagree there

Here's one place you can read about the scheme in Mauritius: ekosavannah.com/invest-in-mauritius/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6eqSwbDm9wIVEO7tCh3fVQ6GEAAYASAAEgKxz_D_BwE. If do go to live there I will be seriously envious though. It's a small island obviously, so it will have very limited opportunities once your child gets older, but I think it would be great for a few years to sort of get it out of your system. I think it's smart to keep a small place back in the UK too. I love moving around, and every country I have lived in has enriched my life, but I am yet to find a place where I want to live my whole entire life. I am perfectly happy if that never happens though, as I have had fun along the way.