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

[Ballondor]

Don’t get me wrong, I understand for some people, it is easy - those who’re mega-rich, those with a different or dual nationality. But I see it regularly on here and other social media - if this happens, I’m leaving; it’s crap here, I’m leaving; if they do that, I’m leaving.

As I understand it, post-Brexit, just upping sticks, uprooting your entire life, and rocking up somewhere is a slightly more convoluted and lengthy process. It’s not something you can get sorted overnight.

Literally any other country in the world where you can get a job and meet entry requirements?

Which for "ordinary" people isn't many, at least not if you want a western lifestyle and human rights.

The tories have screwed the country, labour come a far second.

Sigh, no it isn't.

Nobody is saying its easy are they?

DH got a job in Germany when we were 35. It was a process that took a few months and on a practical level it wasn’t easy, but on another level it was.

We got fed up with things and decided to move to Germany, so we did.

I think that’s what people mean. Nobody is just packing a bag and leaving tomorrow.

To those that are saying majority of your contact circle have dual options, you are living in a bubble. Outside of London it is a very small proportion that have such options. None of my circle of friends, family and acquaintances do in non-London location. It is very difficult for those people to make a move. Not impossible, but difficult enough and limited options which may not be more attractive than current location.

Do you think he could get that same job now, post-Brexit and in this currently gloomy economic environment, which includes Germany?

Really? When I was rather younger I looked at moving to Oz, I have a big family there. Basically, not a hope. They didn’t need my wok skills at all. Can’t remember the other criteria but it would have been really difficult and expensive to move. Plus you need a mega savings account.

Agree. Very high hurdles, not easily attainable. 1. Find a country accepting incomers, 2. Speak the language mother tongue to be able to get job on same level or 3. find job with international firm with english as business language 4. have your qualifications recognised by target country, 5. have sufficient funds to pay for move, fund gap between employment, set up / initial health care costs etc. Certainly not doable for majority.

I suppose the people most likely to say it are the people for whom it’s an option.

What you need to factor in OP is that in some industries, they are being heavily targeted for overseas recruitment.

On a sidenote I think the old "oh, I'd just get a job stacking shelves, if I had to" shows a complete ignorance of how the world of work has changed.

@Sharptonguedwoman- I know two people who trained as teachers with an eye on moving to Australia. It was the easiest way as a UK graduate to hit the points to go. (One then made the mistake of falling in love with a Kiwi so not making it all the way to Australia!)

I live just outside London and have pretty much all professional friends with degrees etc and well travelled. Not one of us has anything other than a UK passport - it’s really NOT that common outside of London. Also a working holiday to Oz/NZ is not the same thing as actually moving somewhere permanently.
I agree totally OP, it’s much much harder than people think in terms of costs, suitability, ease of visas etc, particularly once you are older and have a family to support/take with you.

My DD moved abroad to two countries in her early 20s. It was easy because she didn’t own a house to let or sell and she didn’t have children or a boy/girlfriend.
She was given a work and residency visa by both countries, which the companies offering her work sorted. She didn’t speak a word of either language but that didn’t matter. She moved within about a month of getting the job offers.

Another thing that gets me about this "Reform threat" of the rich and clever bailing the UK, is that near every other nation is having the same right wing anti immigration thing going on.

Even Japan, that has some of the toughest immigration rules about is having anti immigration protests.

And as a PP said above about Germany, they too have economic issues, and cost of living problems.

So where is this land of milk and honey ?

I reckon it's just a project fear thing. Brexiters bandied that term about for years, accusing remainers of stirring up fear. And it might be my imagination, but I think its pretty much the same demographic that are doing their own " money and brain drain" project fear.

I live abroad, and I know one guy in the UK that plans to retire to the same country where I live. And it's nothing to do with politics, tax, or " the state of the country". It's because he and wife want to retire to her country. It's a love thing, a lifestyle thing

There always has been, and always will be, people who don't get homesick, who can hang their hat anywhere.

Hating the labour party, or Reeves, is just about the silliest reason I could think of for anyone to become a migrant.

But cross border relationships are a thing. Always have been. And in this age of air travel and internet, of course they are increasing.

But the Reform brain drainers likely always assume every multinational relationship as being UK bound. But that's what Reform folk think.

What Reform folk certainly don't think, don't know, or just plain ignore, is that the UK is not an easy place to get into. Trust me on this. Leaving the UK is often the only option for people in relationships. And dealing with the immigration on the other end, although bloody hard work, is often the only way many couples can be together.

No that difficult, especially if you are under 40, our skills based Australian visa took about 6 months.

I was born in a different country but have lived in the UK for the past 17 years and have a huge number of fellow expat friends - partly due to living in London and working in finance.

I do think there is a lot of naivety around leaving the UK. People who disagree with whatever the current government is will talk about leaving as a kind of rage move or because they say crime is increasing in the UK. They are usually ignorant of the crime rates and political problems in the countries they think about moving to. It’s also easier to move if you are young and do a job needed in other countries, like teaching or medicine but far far more difficult the older and more established you are.

To the people saying that posters on Mumsnet must be lying about earning £100k salaries, did you know that nearly 30% of London based jobs pay over £100k? So why is it so difficult to believe that they would be posting on here? Have you seen the price of a two bedroom flat in zone 3? Someone has to be paying for all of those properties!

I agree, it took my son 3 years to get a visa for Canada, he’s a well qualified teacher. His fiancée lives there and they just wanted to be together. He’s has been there 7 years now, they married 3 years ago and are expecting their first child.

We moved to another European country - thankfully, Pre-Brexit.
It was still incredibly complicated with lots of administration, even though I was fairly fluent in the language.
I don't know how people manage it nowadays, with the Visa restrictions and so many don't speak the language.
But there are still whole families uprooting their kids, putting them in to the French school system - very different teaching methods!!
Trying to work within a system that doesn't make it easy to make a living, even if you can get the correct visa.
Some do end up going back to the UK but many manage to make it work against all the odds and would never consider going back
It must seem better than their lives in the UK

Hi OP has a foreigner who had lived in the UK for over 25 years I hear you!
I arrived here on a highly skilled work permit and over the years it took loads of money and time to eventually naturalise (my husband is English) the among iv paperwork required etc was insane. I have previously lived in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris and New York (work) and it cracks me up when people say they want to emigrate/move. I often think what makes you think that country wants you??? Did you even check what the minimum requirements are to live there. Some are requirements are money related and others skill related.
also grass not greener on the other side!

To be honest I don’t think moving anywhere is straightforward. It’s never a case of “can’t you just move?”

Oh, God, yeah this bugs me as well. Hear from colleagues "I'm just moving abroad as soon as I retire" as though they just can/are desirable by that country. And they don't have another passport. I used to ask how they were going to do it. I just nod along now. And Brexit voting relatives doing the "Ooo, why don't you move to X EU country?" when we talk about the place we went on holiday. "Because your vote made that much more difficult".

I said something on here a few months ago about all the Brexit and secure the borders crap, feeling increasingly like it’s less about keeping immigrants out, and more about keeping Brits in - and how the loss of freedom of movement had really hurt in 2016, and still hurts now.

Someone said “you can always emigrate”….

I’m almost 40, work in a creative industry with niche specialist skills, and am a single parent. No capital to speak of. To whence - without freedom of movement- will I go I wonder?

My partner and I don't have kids and it's still not that easy. We can't just switch our compled career fields to a country where English isn't the first language plus there's still financial requirements that people have to meet. Although i like North Macedonia/ Lake Ohrid as a place to retire to and a lot of Balkan countries don't have financial requirements as long as you renew a visa every year for the first 5 before you can apply for a more settled status.
We make dinner with travelling as much as we can until we reach retirement.