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.

I totally dig your frustration with always being told to move to EU if I love it so much. My partner and I work in professions too complex to switch to a country where English isn't the first language. At least my partner and I can piss off out of it overseas when we retire but Brexit wrote a lot of people's retirement dreams of if they haven't got £30k a year in pensions!
We travel as much as we can and very much like the Balkan countries which are also potentially easier to move to as they don't have financial requirements.

My family migrated to Canada back in the 60s. It wasn't easy or cheap even back then.

Flash forward two generations and it's even harder.

Right now, we are seeing this exact thing with Americans. Whenever a president gets elected that they don't agree with they want to up sticks and move to the Great White North.

Currently, due to changes in our citizenship laws, they are all digging around family trees to see if they can claim our passport and move. They are doing this to try and get around the immigration requirements, age, skill set. We are seeing Americans over 60 wanting to come for "free healthcare" without understanding that we have paid into it for decades.

I, hold UK citizenship since I was born there. Have no desire to move there or hold a passport.

Oh, and for the love of all that's holy don't call yourselves expats, you're an immigrant. Sorry it isn't classy enough sounding.

It's actually quite straightforward for young adults through youth mobility schemes. Especially in commonwealth and former commonwealth countries.

It's much harder after the age of 30, but not in certain professions that are in demand.

It doesn’t happen overnight but also isn’t that hard. People working for big companies with international presence can relocate. There are other ways too. A lot of my friends left after brexit and covid; in fact only 2 of them are in the UK and one is ready to leave if made redundant. It was a combination of relocation through existing job, finding a new job elsewhere and getting sponsored, having dual passports, moving through their spouse’s nationality etc. the longest it took is 1 year and that was relocation through existing job where things were on pause for months due to restructuring so it’s not too bad.

People usually say it who have never actually looked into it post Brexit or don’t intend to themselves- they talk about Freda and Bob who are in Portugal not realising it’s different situation if you need to work and I. Some places different again if you have xyz cash or level of private pensions etc - and most of the English as first language places have incredibly stiff rules unless you are very much in a shortage occupation and can get a company relocation ( same in Scandinavia and Netherlands too)

It’s easy just to say it though isn’t it.. but much harder to actually do it (which is why for most it only remains chat). I’ve said it myself and I hold an EU passport and have family in multiple countries so it should theoretically be easier for me. But my husband is British, we have young children and his older parents to consider so we can’t just leave. Also.. who’s to say it would be any easier in another country?

I agree OP. If you have a British passport, it's not easy to leave unless you have very specific skills.

Although I did see that the EU has now published a list of shortage occupations so if you have any of those qualifications, you might find it easier to move. My job is not on there ;)

But only for 1-3 years. You can get a visa for eg Australia but it's time-limited (of course you might find a job where you can get sponsorship while on the working holiday".

And it doesn't yet exist for the EU - both sides are faffing about so long that Reform will be elected and cancel it again on day one...

If i had the money id be gone and never come back.
But i am now thinking of a different plan.

We are seriously considering leaving the country for NZ due to the economic and social mess of this country, as well as the ever growing volatility with Russia.

We both have jobs on ther skilled migrant list. We have also lived in 2 very different countries before so we know what an undertaking, cost and stress it is. Our timeline would be 18-24 months all in, not at all silly enough to believe it would be overnight.

The only thing making us hesitate at this point is being so far from loved ones.

Not everyone says it flippantly. Unless you know someone’s full story you can’t judge whether they’re able to follow through or not.

So you didn't grow up in London, it's your second home?

Such weird comments on this thread.

Obviously the people discussing their plans to leave are primarily those with the means to do so, i.e. the 2% of people with another passport or those with sufficient qualifications or wealth to be welcomed elsewhere.

The other 90% of people are unlikely to be making statements like “I intend to leave”, but may well express the wish that they could do so given how living standards in the UK and PPP per capita is deteriorating rapidly year on year relative to counterparts living in what used to be our comparator countries, and has little prospect of improving in at least the medium term.

It should, however, be of great concern to the 90% who cannot leave even if they wanted to, that those propping up the entire system here disproportionately - due to our extremely top heavy tax system - are seriously considering or making the decision to get out in greater numbers with every passing year.

if you are 2nd / 3rd generation immigrant then its possibly easier to think you could leave as long as kept up links with relatives abroad, but generally you need a particular trade wanted abroad and to be child free. i honestly find it strange that people don't stay and work for their home countries and build them up.

far too much ££ leaving the UK too - pension / capital but people coming back for short term NHS / collect prescription visits - i wish there were records for that

I agree OP. The people that talk about it as an angry political reaction aren’t the people that do it. Most people move because their job requires/allows it.

It's really not that difficult. I've lived in the states, Hong Kong, the middle East and new Zealand. Depends on the country but you either get a visa then go and find a job, or find a job and get sponsored for a visa. I'm not sure why anyone treats it like it's insurmountable tbh if you've got a small amount of savings and transferable skills then it's easy enough.

If we move abroad, and we're considering it at the minute, we'd just rent our house out rather than selling for the time being.

I wonder OP if it's more to do with the demographic of people who say they are going to pick up and move.

I suspect most are more mc corporate types, so may have some job mobility. And they have more cash to work with, so it doesn't seem obviously impossible.

But I think many also assume it is easier to go to other countries that it in fact is. A lot seem to think the UK is unusually harsh in terms of limits to immigration, so they may not know that most other countries also prefer to employ their own workers.

Being able to just up sticks and move is a massive privilege that most people just cannot do without major difficulties.

And then what happens if they find the same or worse problems in the place they moved to?

Yes at one point there was a lot of staying registered at kids addresses etc -

Most of the circumstances discussed above don't / didn't apply to me. I was thrown a rope (well, more like a piece of string actually) and I got the hell out of dodge. Pets had died (RIP), son was settled and married, lost my job when firm went bankrupt (cheers Brexit) and I couldn't live in France. BUT I did have my little much loved London flat to rent out until I was on my feet financially, a BIG plus. That was my stroke of luck / timing.
I can highly recommend switching up your culture, your language, your perspective BUT IT IS NOT for the faint of heart. And I am not talking about how you can manage that with children and jobs, which would be a whole other ballgame, but I didn't have to do that. What @acorncrush said. And I count my blessings I jumped before I was pushed. It really isn't grass is greener, living in an extremely volatile and sometimes incomprehensible culture, but I have slogged away to get a stable home, a safe environment, and two more cats 🐈🐈‍⬛

1. A lot of people have EU passports (vast numbers seemed to have them around the time of the Brexit vote, but lots have left). Some of these people enjoy telling those of us who were very anti-Brexit but are stuck in the UK that they can leave for a better life whenever they want. Or that their child can study abroad free of charge at the drop of a hat and then get a great job working for the European Commission or whatever.
2. A lot of people who are stuck in the UK voted for Brexit in complete ignorance because they didn't do any research or listen to or believe anyone other than Nigel Farage. These people, incredibly, still believe that they can go and live anywhere in Europe whenever they want, and are planning to retire to the Costa del Sol.

I've lived in 3 countries when I was younger (I wasn't an EU citizen so no freedom of movement benefit). By the time the kids are on their own 2 feet I'll probably be too old to move again, but I would strongly encourage any young person to look at moving abroad, at least for a while. It's not that hard, you just need to put some effort in.

My first move (to Finland, pre-kids and home ownership) was a matter of applying for a job, getting it, waiting for the visa to come through and packing a suitcase. Not much different when I moved to the UK (except I had more suitcases and a house to sell).

Because people are full of shit.

Wahhhh, i'm leaving, wahhh. Bullshit, you are.

The number of people with the true 'fluidity' (pah!) to uproot and hop countries easily is tiny...even on MN. People love to give it the big I am though. 'Oh yes but I have quadruple nationality/soooo much money/international contacts dahhhling'. Yeah yeah, we're all impressed 🥱

Some parts of Italy are encouraging retirees to go and live there as long as you have a good income. It's certainly something I would consider if it's still an option when I retire.

I’m glad you asked - Yes, and he DID. At the risk of writing an essay…We spent some years in Germany, then ten in Scotland, and at the age of 54 he left his job here and found another back in Germany, just last year. The ageism he encountered while interviewing in Britain was the reason he looked again in Germany.

We still have our home and my work here in Scotland and he travels back and forth to Germany with long stints of remote work in between - at this point we could get visas and live here or back in Munich the same as we did years ago, but at our age, whatever we decide will likely be the ‘forever’ move so we’re taking our time.

Brexit, and the ‘gloomy economic environment’ have not affected the profession DH is in or our ability to travel or live in Europe or, if it came to it, the US, there’s just more paperwork to be done.

I know you’re trying to catch me out somehow, but I really don’t see why or what point the OP was trying to make. That people should want to stay in the UK? that moving abroad should be easier, harder? That people who work in Greggs should be able to pack a bag and flit to France? Not a clue.

I admit that I haven’t read the thread, I just wanted to tell my experience of moving abroad and back and possibly abroad again and answer your direct question.