to come to UK?

[whitney85]

So lately I wonder whether to come to UK. I'm from Poland. Live in a big city, have a job I like. I'm a mother of 2. My husband works too. We have 3 badroom apt, 2 cars and live a pretty stable life. On the other hand I want something more. I need a new experience. I'd like to live in a country wwith more opportunities. Before the kids we lived for a while in US, where we worked and traveled. We speak english but it's not as good as I wish. Not yet. I'm about 30 and it's been almost 6 years I haven't used the language. But anyway, I would like to make a change and go to UK. But I'm scared a little too. I was in London and Oxford once, I liked it there. But being a turist is way different than trying to settle down.
And finally I go to the point. Do you think its resonable? What do you think about so many immigrants in UK? Do you even want us there? A tough question I know. But I need to know how it really looks like before I make a final decision. Its not only about me. I don't want my children to feel any worse.So pleasy give me an answer and help me make my mind couse I don't know what I should do...

Well, I have to think it over, I know. I don't want to work under my qualifications, thats for sure. And on the other hand if I don't try, I can regret. If I don't go now, I can feel too old in few years to start over.
I am going to London in October, for 4 days only. I can not, as somebody advised, spend some time in UK and than make my mind. I work full time here, in Poland and I would't get that long vacation.
Somebody asked if we have immigrants in Poland. There are some Ukrainians, some Russians but not too many. Your culture is certainly much more diverse.
Jeszcze raz wielkie dzi?ki, pozdrawiam!

Ch?tni do pomocy i powodzenia w decyzji.

Carbe I'm in awe! I would really like to learn Polish as I live in an area with a large Polish population. It seems logical, particularly as I am looking for work. How did you learn the language?

Sorry for the hijack OP!

I hope it all works out for you

I work with a lot of polish people and am lucky to count most as friends. I also have polish family through marriage.

I think the biggest issue would be if you didn't speak English. (Which obviously you do, really well ) There are a lot in Northampton/Wellingborough that don't generally need to learn English, so they don't. This doesn't work when there was a fire on the industrial estate and they couldn't get to work because they couldn't explain to the police officer who closed the road where they were going. But again not relevant to you.

I think polish people have mixed really well with English people and generally, I don't think anybody has the feelings discussed in the daily mail. I don't know what Cameron said...

However, I'm not sure it would be a better quality of life if you only had menial jobs. What do you do now? Could that transfer over?

I don't know. I'm a psychologist. I work with people with mental disabilities. I like my job so much and would like to do something similar.

Something else to consider is whether your qualifications be valid in the UK?

I think you'd find the UK much more expensive and overcrowded than Poland, overall I'd say your quality of life would be lower. Wages may be higher but living costs would be proportionally higher still.

What opportunities do you think the UK offers over Poland?

Scotland has a lot of polish people who have moved here. Our local supermarkets have dedicated sections of polish foods. I would research it a lot as you seem to have a standard of living above mine and both me and dp earn over £20k each per annum.

If you have 2 cars and a reasonable apartment, I'm not sure what extra opportunities you think the UK would offer. Many people can't afford that here. I think anyone should be able to move wherever they want, and I certainly have no problem with immigration, but I don't really see how it would advantage you - unless you are just after experiences.

Luis
My husband is Polish so I do have an advantage, although he prefers to speak English to me weirdo :)
The secret in my small amount of success is A)I went to lessons in Poland and B) I live there for half of the year so use it quite a lot even though I do murder it :)
It is very difficult and at first I couldn't get my head around it but once you master the reason why the endings of words change depending on who/what your talking to or about - it gets easier. Honestly :)

Whitney,
out of interest, what's the big attraction with Britain?
I mean, why not settle in France, or Germany or Holland or Denmark or Norway or Italy etc etc.
I know we have certain perks such as the NHS and Family Allowance as well as other benefits that those other countries don't seem to offer, but what else is here to entice you?
What's the draw otherwise? I mean, it can't be the weather present summer excluded.
(those other countries I mentioned have FAR better weather than us - so why bypass all them and aim for here).

only asking what others are wondering

(waits for fall out - tin hat on )

I could be wrong but the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors appear to be pretty typical. My husband's mistakes and sentence formation are similar when writing in English.

My question is genuine. Those other countries I mentioned are far more beautiful than Britain.
So why do so many people not want to go to those countries instead?

What's the draw?

My husband is Polish, we live in London. Life is very expensive. Gas and electricity is more than £300 per month, council tax 800 per year, water 500 per year. Car insurance 800 per year, car tax / mot around 200..

Rent for 2 bed flat in a ok area won't be under 1500 per month. in a good area? More like 2k. Nursery full time might set you back maybe 800 per child per month, but that's London and child minders are cheaper.

No Britain is overcrowded enough already.

What is it about our tiny little island that is encouraging so many people to want to live here?

Forget Norway if you don't speak and write Norwegian. Terrible bureaucracy, difficult to find accommodation and not to mention work. Unless you want to be a cleaner and your husband a labourer on a building site, of you want to fillet fish and cut tongues out of cod in a factory.

WTF?
Sweet - The weather. The main reason I come back to the UK in the summer is to escape Polish summer. It's too hot to survive in the Capital there. It's probably the last thing op is thinking about tbf.
Although UK winter is preferable than the Polish one by around -30 degree's.

Carbe
I'm thinking about going to live in Poland one day.
How much family allowance do they pay, per child and if I decide to come back to the UK to live (with my children), can my husband continue to send it 'back home' to me?

carbe I am still coming to terms with the endings of words but am ok with a lot of it. I can read it better than I can write it so although I can understand what you write I would struggle to reply and make sense.

For those that asked about learning - I started doing an informal course and then bought lots of books and cds. I then did a more official course but really need 1 to 1 tuition as I was held back on the course. I will do private tuition when I can afford it.

OP, given that you have a professional career, talk to healthcare recruitment agencies and see if you could get NHS locum work. If you are a qualified psychologist, there must be opportunities. EU countries accept each other's qualifications (with some admin). Try to get invited to a conference in the UK and check it out?

OP, you could always get a job as a teaching assistant.
Some of the schools where I live are now employing people that can speak Polish and Romanian as well as English, to help deal with the children who's first language isn't English.
You will have an advantage.

You'd have to check that out yourself as I wouldn't know.

You can't tar all Polish people with the same brush, that's unfair. I know many who've never claimed benefits here. OP hasn't once mentioned benefits.
If she got a job here the same as what she done in Poland and her dh worked too they probably wouldn't qualify for any other than CB anyway.

they probably wouldn't qualify for any other than CB anyway.
They would get the benefits of the NHS as well as CB.^

Does Poland offer the same to Brits that settle there?

its not being unfair and 'tarring people' - these are genuine questions

I mean, if I go to live in Poland, I want to know how the system works.

Is healthcare mainly private? Do the schools charge School Fees?

(we don't)

sweetnessandlite I imagine the daw is the language
Many people across Europe learn English as a second language at school (we have the Americans to thank for that, these days) so feel happier thinking of moving here than to another country where they can not speak the language.