To be seriously considering leaving this country?

[User135644]

I've lived here all my life l, have all my family and friends here but I feel desperate to get out now.

Brexit was national self harm in itself (and has made it harder to leave) but I am done with Tory island. They have destroyed everything over the last 12 years.

Had it now. Country heading for collapse.

@mackthepony thank you for getting back to me. It's fascinating to hear as I've heard from ex pats returning who weren't able to fit in culturally. What's the citizenship situation? Sponsored work visa? Are they looking fir particular skills?

Diane Abbott is that you???

have a nice day

I think you need to think about practical issues:

• do you have an EU passport? will you be able to get a visa for the country of your choice?
• can you get a job abroad and get an employer to sponsor you to get a visa?
• do you speak the language?
• the government will change and we might have a general election sooner than later so things will improve at some point.

There is also the possibility of taking a job abroad on a temporary contract and see how you get on so you can try it out rather than just leave everything.

You can rent out your house if you have one while you do that and you can always come back if it does not work out or decide to settle there permanently.

It would give you a break from the current mess and also give you the opportunity to come back if you don't enjoy your new life.

The grass isn’t always greener, but sometimes it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

We’re not leaving for utopia, but for what is, for us, a better quality of life.

Remember the big scandal when Diane Abbot had a mojito on the tube? I don’t drink, so you’ll have to find another way to rile me than say I have a hangover. I’m not going to reply as this is childish in a non fun way.

@Redqueenheart those are the steps we’ve considered. For us it’s been a long time in the making. We were close to taking the plunge just before Covid, visited areas, schools etc. The timing isn’t right now because of where the kids are in their education, so we’ve delayed a few more years. It’ll be easier as we won’t need schools or jobs. The spanner in the works will be the £££ less we can take from selling the house.

I did.

Loads of us do.

I swore I would the morning of the Brexit result. I left last November.

No idea why you are winking. The UK is literally fucked.

Lots of people who said they’d leave after brexit did, and are doing, just that. The number of British citizens emigrating has been rising every year since.

We've been considering since Brexit , but have been dealing with illness/death of parents, ongoing care of remaining elderly parents, children starting (and finishing!) uni. Plus the disruption of the pandemic...and of course Brexit means we can't just up and go.

We are (very) comfortable financially, but we don't like the direction the country has taken. Maybe things will feel more optimistic if Labour get in next time? I hope so.

Good luck OP!

'So long, find your utopia and good luck'

So much bitterness and passive aggression.
So.....British. If only you could understand your own childish reactions and put them in context.

Perfectly illustrates the point others are making, and a good reminder of the reasons to leave.

People leave, people enter every year. It looks like net migration is up so people want to come.

Great when people make positive moves in either direction. I know many who have built a great life here and I’m sure the same is true the other way.

Just don’t get too bogged down in negativity and make the move if it’s what you want

Different countries have different rules, but in most cases the easiest way to move to another country is to have a profession that is in demand, and then you can either move there outright and look for work, or apply for a job from here and get the company to sponsor you for a work visa. If you are wealthy some countries will also offer investor type visas, and sometimes you can qualify for those simply by purchasing a high value property in the country. Most countries, once you've lived there for a few years, you can apply for citizenship based on residence.

If you don't have a skilled or in demand job, you still have the option to move to Ireland. If you live there for long enough you could presumably naturalise as an Irish citizen (not sure of specific rules), and then you could move anywhere in Europe.

Moving for my husbands job so I’ll give you that instead of mine. He’s a software developer. In the US they are much more in demand than the UK.

I'm really enjoying reading about people's experiences of living overseas. When people make different choices in life, it doesn't need to be taken as a personal slight.

Exactly. It’s not a personal slight or being unpatriotic, WETF it means. Like in communist countries where you and your entire family left behind would be slagged off, humiliated and terrorised if you left your country for the West.

Well, you started the whole childish thing for rather inexplicably calling me an arse and arsehole repeatedly like some bad episode of Father Ted simply for putting forward my viewpoint which seemed to randomly trigger you.

It would indicate the problem lies with you, you still haven’t actually explained what I said that triggered your random outburst. Do you have a history of overreacting like this? General control issues both over yourself and others? Maybe you should speak to someone? Because in the kindest way, I think it might benefit you.

@OMG12 LOL you’re overinvested in my well-being. I recommend to you a current thread about disastrous job interviews. It’s funny and what MN does best.

It doesn’t have to be a personal slight I always think it’s great people move and experience life in other countries

I’ve lived in four (one briefly) and I’m so lucky and appreciate that. Lucky too to have created a happy place now

I find the aggressive negativity U.K. is fucked or it’s all shit a bit depressing and untrue but hey we’re all in different mindsets

The Tories are shitting themselves. But instead of listening to people, taking action to avoid economic disaster and the subsequent Brain Drain, they're accusing people of being anti-British.

The Conservative Party have destroyed the UK with Austerity, Brexit, Self ID, tanking the economy etc. The Tories are anti-British.

Thought you weren’t going to respond! Is that the control issues???

If we didn’t have kids or they were a lot younger or older I reckon we’d be seriously considering a move.

I have one additional citizenship (non EU) and can claim an EU one via a grandparent. Also possibility of work visa.

However the DC are at an age where the language barrier, losing family and friends close by, changing education system would be a real challenge and it doesn’t seem fair to uproot them.

We are also all, objectively, in different situations. Positive mindset is easier with financial security, opportunities etc.

Agree, however, that wanting change isnt a personal slight - always think that is such a bizarre response! Cannot understand it at all.

I mean - you can go if you want to 🤷🏻‍♀️ - not sure what you’re looking for us to tell you, did you want us to tell you that it was the right idea? We can move too - but I don’t want to and that’s the right decision for us. I hope you are happy, wherever you land. Good luck. 🍀

Emigration is a lot more common in some countries, and generally isn’t taken as an insult.

I have noticed the ‘fuck off then, don’t want you anyway’ and ‘you’ll be back, you’ll never be happy/make it elsewhere’ attitudes to be more common in the UK.

Did you say where they lived was a shithole and they looked miserable first as on this thread

People tend not to love that