Talk to me about relocating abroad with DC!

[ShutTheFuckUpBarbara]

We are considering relocating to either France or Germany within the next 12 to 18 months.

DD is 5, currently in reception.

The next few months will be spent preparing for the move, and making sure everyone is up to speed in the language of the chosen country.

We really are at day 1 of the process though and are just starting to put a plan together.

Any tips and advice would be welcome from MNers who have been through the process: what should we watch out for, anything you regretted doing / not doing?

Also, how well did your DC settle in the new country?

Bump

Do you speak French or German? Are you applying for jobs before leaving?

Key thing is can you earn a living there everything else is academic and given Brexit will you have right to live there For the record I have moved my children twice to two different countries non EU. They have all been linked to job moves and the children have adjusted no problem they are very adaptive at this age. It will probably be harder for you it is very exhausting starting again

Is it for a short time or a long time. What will the eu implications be for you?

Long term you need to think about and look into university options for your dd. It is a long way away and she may not want to go of course it is possible you would have to pay international fees if she decided to study in the uk. Also pensions, what do you have in place etc

I am a native French speaker, and have decent but rusty German. DH has decent French and German but would need language classes to get to a level sufficient for finding an equivalent job to the one he has here.
DD is learning French

Sorry forgot to add: we would be finding jobs before moving, so we know it might take a bit longer to be ready to move than our preferred time frame

We moved to France when my dd was 6. We had very little time for prep as we moved for dhs job.
We didn't speak French so have had to learn as we go. I wont lie we have had a few tough times but no major problems. Been here 4 years now and love it. Both kids are comfortably bilingual and have had no problem integrating in fact to dhs chagrin ds(5) is supporting France in the euros.
If you have any specific questions feel free to pm me.

If moving to France, definitely make sure that you have a job lined up and I wouldn't buy a house or flat immediately because it's difficult to sell except in certain areas of certain cities.
We moved here for DH job, he is French mother tongue. It was pre-DC so our DC don't know any different with to schooling but it is very different from what I experienced .
You may wish to post in the living overseas section too.

It would be potentially permanent, and yes it is linked to Brexit.
I am a French national so would be fine for me to work in either country. DD is in the process of getting dual nationality, and DH is applying for an Irish passport.

Pension I'd something we are not sure about, we need to get advice on that.

Thinking long-term, DD might be better off studying elsewhere than the UK anyway, looking at how much University costs over here these days

Thanks clearsomespace, some good ideas there :)

Hi folks. We're going to move this over to the Living Overseas topic for the OP in a tick.