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AIBU?

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Original poster

has anyone moved abroad because of brexit result ?

223 replies

pipsqueak25 · 26/01/2017 18:18

and if you have, how is your new life settling in ? maybe some people were thinking of going before it happened and this was the 'final straw'.
do you miss your old life ? what is better for you now ?
am really interested to know, but don't want to get on the debate bit of brexit there are other threads on here for that right now.

OP posts:
voldemortsnose · 02/02/2017 23:52

'if x happens, I'm emigrating' is just something people say. Are the Brexiteers so desperate to gloat about their 'massive' 52:48 win that they're fishing for stuff like this on 'remoaners'. Why can't people go 'it was close because there are arguments for and against'. Why the nastiness, why the need to be such wankers about it? On another day it might have gone differently. Be magnanimous. Act like grown ups. Get us a Brexit that acknowledges that there were good arguments the other way and the vote was close so that the deal can be consensual and genuinely represent the will of the people rather than the will of about half of the people.
I am likely to lose my best mummy mate as a result of Brexit. She's from elsewhere in the EU and was very upset by the post Brexit xenophobia. Her English husband has been on about leaving since the result and they have been offered the chance to buy a business in her home country this summer. He will take the business he runs and do it from there. It's a bit too good to pass up on so I expect they'll go. I haven't met anyone else I get on with as well since having kids so on a selfish note, I'm gutted.

Singasongofsadness · 03/02/2017 00:54

To Finland!!

whatsthepointofmorgan · 03/02/2017 20:31

I am actually very grateful to this country(even though I had better material quality of life in my birth country!) and feel very at home here, applying for British citizenship was an emotional decision as well because I feel more British now than my birth nationality anyway, and think in English etc. To me a lot is about what you choose to notice and appreciate. You also can choose to be defensive and notice negative things. I honestly cannot say there is an 'atmosphere' where I live. If anything, people are going out of their way to compensate for the Brexit by trying to be extra friendly to those who might sound or appear non-native!

The voice of common sense amongst all the mass hysteriea.

All countries have problems. Emigrating is purely exchanging one set of problems for another.
As you say, you can choose to see the good or the bad.

TheNiffler · 03/02/2017 21:30

God, I'd be off to NZ like a shot if I could get in (anyone got a spare single NZ male?), we've been talking about leaving for years, just wish we'd done it when we could. Now it's all too 'what if', and unstable, and I feel too doubtful about moving within the EU.

Tabbylady · 03/02/2017 21:44

We haven't moved yet but are getting the finances together to do so.

DH is Irish and has been granted permanent residency (he's a pessimist and started the process before brexit) - we now have to wait about 8 months before he can be granted citizenship. Our kids are dual nationals but I'd need to live in Ireland for a year at least to get citizenship there.

DH job have already moved a large number of the more senior posts to Ireland post-brexit (he's in an academic research type profession) so he will get a transfer no bother. After a year I will get Irish citizenship and then we can decide where we want to be longer term. I love Ireland and am telling myself that it will be nice for DC to be near their grandma for a while, plus I have been offered a job in my field in a similar but privatised field at about 1.5x salary and can defer starting, so it's looking positive.

We will probably keep the house in the UK and DB will move into it as he's renting a rubbish flat, which will give some flexibility if we hate it and want to come back.

We'd like our DC to have the option of living in European countries.... and eventually us living with them when we're old and decrepit!

Rainydayspending · 03/02/2017 21:49

We're off soon. The misery of life in the UK will, at last, be done with. This has been very much a final straw. But living in an especially xenophobic area has probably hastened our thinking.

VioletWillow · 04/02/2017 09:16

We leave in two weeks, after saying we would be going - DH is German and is ready to go home, we would rather move before we find out a nasty surprise about residency (he's been here 9 years but isn't a citizen) - I am British but my pa is from NI so I can apply for an Irish passport. I plan to, once I've moved. Our two children are both dual nationality, my older son isn't but I hope that I can get him an Irish passport if he needs one in the future. I do worry about what the future holds, and hope Germany doesn't kick me out! Hence the Irish passport if it comes to that. I was knocked for six by the result and won't be coming back bar a very swift visit once a year.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 04/02/2017 09:30

We'd like our DC to have the option of living in European countries.... and eventually us living with them when we're old and decrepit!

I think it's awful to automatically assume your children will be your 'carers' one day.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 04/02/2017 09:43

DH is German and is ready to go home,
I do worry about what the future holds, and hope Germany doesn't kick me

Violet, why do you think Germany would kick you out?
You're moving to a place that's opened its doors to thousands of strangers with NO passports and no references to say they are sound of character. ,
So surely the fact you're married to a German will make them even more welcoming to you and guarantee you automatic entry - no matter what passport you hold.?

VioletWillow · 04/02/2017 10:02

Whatsthepoint 😊 I don't worry overly about Germany tbh, although I don't want to get citizenship there - its expensive and the language test is pretty hardcore. I hope other EU countries don't retaliate against Brits I'm general during Brexit, which is why I am planning the Iris passport which I will wave about if it comes to that! I do worry for my son who doesn't have dual nationality and I have heard rumblings about limitations on NI contributions being taken out of the UK - that would affect my and DH's pensions in the future. Germany has so far been very open to everyone, I think that's going to have a sudden change soon as Merkel isn't as popular as she was since the open immigration. We're just going to have to see.

WrongTrouser · 04/02/2017 15:52

We're off soon. The misery of life in the UK will, at last, be done with. This has been very much a final straw. But living in an especially xenophobic area has probably hastened our thinking

Rainy Can I ask what you find miserable about life in the UK? That seems quite a sweeping generalisation about a country with many people love - I certainly do.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 04/02/2017 19:34

To those thinking of emigrating to Ireland, I agree it's a country with beautiful scenery.
But, it's known as The Emerald Isle for a reason.

We are well known for getting a lot of rain, but it's nothing compared to Ireland.

I spent 3 months in Ireland and I think during that 3 months I could count the number of sunny days we had on one hand.

Watch the weather map closely sometime.

Rain, rain and more rain.

WrongTrouser · 04/02/2017 19:36

My post was gibberish - should say

which many people love

Tabbylady · 04/02/2017 20:15

whatsthepoint

On the plus side, when you live in the West of Scotland, suburban Dublin is "like a desert". Or so says DH. I'm quite looking forward to it potentially going whole days without rain.

I think it's awful to automatically assume your children will be your 'carers' one day sense of humour bypass perhaps? Sigh.

scottishdiem · 06/02/2017 00:58

Yeah. So far in Dublin the weather is better than what we left behind in Scotland.

For those of us leaving there is often a difference between the people that we know and love in our communities and the policies of the government regarding people who live here, having often done so for a decade or more. Look at the Home Office and its response to EU citizens who are trying to claim citizenship or stronger residency rights. Its not pretty. For those of us married to non-EU citizens the xenophobia and anti-immigration forces unleashed by Brexit continue to inform government policy. The UK government has and does make retrospective changes to Visa and citizenship pathways as well as charging an arm and a leg. It is actually financially cheaper for my DP and I to move to Ireland and apply for citizenship than it is in the UK (literally thousands more in the UK).

The UK government is responding to the hate and xenophobia in the Daily Mail and Daily Express but developing ever more hate filled policies. That is the problem we face here. Yes, Ireland has problems (access to reproductive rights and non-Catholic education being two for example) but at least the government isnt starting from a position of hating immigrants as a policy and working from there.

Draylon · 07/02/2017 19:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsLupo · 07/02/2017 22:19

All countries have problems. Emigrating is purely exchanging one set of problems for another.

What's wrong with that though? Every country has a different set of problems, in perhaps a different quantity. Why shouldn't people who are minded and able to emigrate choose which problems are more or less palatable to them? Lots of people have no appetite for emigration and that's fine; no one is trying to make them. For those of us who feel differently, why shouldn't we look around for a location/society that seems like a better fit for us, given that the one we are currently in is undergoing considerable change?

BarbarianMum · 07/02/2017 22:29

My friend and family have - they left in October. Tbf they'd been planning a move for a long time but brought the timetable forward by 5 years because of brexit.
I'm in the process of taking out dual nationality for myself and the children and working on dh but he's nervous about making the move and wants to wait and see how it plays out. We'd be gone tomorrow if it was up to me.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 08/02/2017 10:02

Most people who want to emigrate are ultra keen to keep their ties to this country.
I love how everybody is keen to get dual nationality.
Is that so that when it suits they can nip back to this terrible country and get treatment for themselves or their children.
As someone who has lived in other countries, I can tell you that medical expenses are very expensive outside the UK.
Yes, there are schemes that are factored in with your pay etc , but unless you have a job with a very good salary, you won't always be on the best scheme.

A case of I hate this country Shock but when I'm old and suffering from lots of health problems I can come back.
Then I'll like it.

Double standards.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 08/02/2017 10:06

Have the strength of your convictions.
If you hate the country that much, bugger off and don't come back.
This business of wanting to keep a foot in both ponds by holding onto your British passport shows that you don't hate the country as much as you think.
It also shows a lack of commitment to the country you are emigrating to.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 08/02/2017 10:23

I don't have access to a second passport, neither does DH. My mum could potentially get an Irish one and move to Ireland - I suspect if she thought things were really on the slide here she'd do it. Assuming the CTA stays in place, it might be possible for disaffected to Brits to move to Ireland more easily than to other Eu countries.

I suspect that anyone living in another EU country on referendum day will be protected - I'm less sure that rights will be protected for those who moved after 24 June but I might be wrong. Or they might be protected but with less advantageous terms - ie you can stay but you have to pay for healthcare etc.

I think we 'd have to become political refugees before my DH would move, though he might be tempted to move to an independent Scotland. I did look at a possible move to Germany a few months back though, in the hope that if they'd accept refugees from Brexit Island...

Those of you who run your own businesses might want to look at Estonian e-residency - you can be a "virtual" resident and run a company from Estonia without having to physically live there. Costs 100 euros to become an e-resident and then there are various organisations who can hep you with starting a company and opening a bank account.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 08/02/2017 10:30

As for moving to Australia, Canada and the like - I'm not sure the grass is always greener even if the sun shines more. But I couldn't move there anyway - my job isn't on the Australian list, I turn 45 next month so am too old to get into Canada easily, though I've not looked at the options for New Zealand. I also don't know if it's that much better than being in the UK except for having a stronger economy - they are probably still more akin to (pre-Trump) US society than more European in terms of welfare, social responsibility etc.

BarbarianMum · 08/02/2017 12:01

Don't be ridiculous morgan. You don't retain perminent entitlement to use the NHS free of charge just because you are a British national.

whatsthepointofmorgan · 08/02/2017 12:47

Obviously you won't be entitled to use the NHS whilst living in another country.
I'm talking about when you come running home after discovering the grass isn't always greener.
Best to hang onto that British passport.

RhodaBull · 08/02/2017 12:58

Thoroughly agree, whatsthepointofmorgan.

I was reading through the posts and the person going to Ireland said they were keeping their English property. Hmmph, I thought immediately, they are hedging their bets.

I know quite a few ex-pats (and indeed a tax exile) and they all keep an interest in property in the UK and have dual nationality so that they can have free NHS treatment. It's funny how they say, "Oh, Britain's down the pan," but are here like a shot when it suits them.

Should we all be floating economic migrants moving to the best option for us and taking advantage there, before moving on when our circumstances change?