At the tail end of 2010 the government’s Home Secretary announced new limits on various components of its points-based immigration system, making it harder for non-EU citizens to enter the country. The changes will take effect from April 2011.

However, it also emerged the Tier 1 Investor and Entrepreneur categories would be made more attractive to applicants. In addition, a new Tier 1 category, Persons of Exceptional Talent, will be introduced for internationally recognised people.  

No details of the changes to the Investor category were released at the time of the announcement. However, it appears one aspect will be to reduce the time it takes for a qualifying person to be granted residency.

Investor criteria

The Investors category is designed for those who intend to make a substantial investment in the UK[1]. To be eligible, applicants need:

a)      A minimum of £1 million of your own money in a regulated financial institution that you can dispose of in the United Kingdom, or

b)      Personal assets of more than £2 million, and a £1 million loan from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Successful applicants receive a three year visa initially, which can be extended for a further two years. Partners and dependent children are also covered by the visa, and are free to work/attend school. After five years visa holders can then apply for permanent residency.

Residency fast-track

Under the upcoming changes, though, it appears there will be a new fast track to residency for the wealthiest. The qualifying periods look like being:

• 5 years for those investing £1m-£5m
• 3 years when investing £5m-£10m
• 2 years when the investment is £10+m

When you’re rich, the world really is your oyster.

Related posts:

1. Immigrating to America: What You Need to Know
2. Working in Canada – The Points System
3. Immigration and the UK’s Population Growth

Take today, December 6. For many of us it may be another dreary Monday at work. But not everywhere …

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

December 6 is a special festival for children in many European countries, as well as some American cities – for it marks Saint Nicholas Day.

In the Netherlands in particular, Saint Nicholas’ Eve is the equivalent of Christmas Eve, when Sinterklaas (the original Santa Claus) brings gifts for all the good boys and girls. Similarly, in Germany children traditionally put a boot out for St Nicholas to fill with small presents and sweets.

Advent of Democracy

December 6 is a special holiday in Spain too, albeit for different reasons. This is Constitution Day, marking the Spanish public’s vote in 1978 to approve the Constitution of Spain, and thus the country’s formal transition to a democratic state.

As a citizen of the UK, with its long democratic history, it is easy to forget how recent the establishment of such political rights was in Spain. If I was a Spaniard, however, I would have been born in a dictatorship.

In the developed world it is easy to see democracy as a right, one we take for granted. But days like today remind me how blessed we are.

Related posts:

1. Living Abroad: An Epiphany
2. Holiday Season
3. Catalan Christmas

The book starts with Agassi playing his last tournament before retiring, the 2006 US Open.

He is in New York with his wife, tennis superstar Steffi Graf, and their two young children. For the duration of the tournament the family stay in a suite at the Four Seasons hotel in Manhattan. A “lovely suite,” he says, yet it remains another of those places that are what he terms “Not Home.”

Rather, home is Las Vegas. For all the evident pain of his childhood, the constant pushing of his father and resulting hatred of his profession, Agassi remains wedded to the city where he was born and raised.

Relocating for love

As a result, it is Germany’s Steffi Graf who has made the move abroad.

Like any relationship where the partners hail from different countries, one or other has to give up their homeland. For some that may be a welcome move. For others, a painful sacrifice. Yet if they are to survive as a unit there is no other option.

I’m no trained relationship counsellor, so I’m not trying to be an Agony Uncle on this. But over the years I have seen a lot of couples wrestle with this location issue, with varying degrees of success. Some have continued happy and strong. Others, unfortunately, have not.

So what lessons can these sporting idols offer?

1)      Knowing the lingo

Graf has perfect English, which is a huge benefit.

Knowing or learning the local language is crucial when moving abroad. But it is even more important when moving to a partner’s country. Seeing as they will be jabbering away with extended family and friends in that tongue, you must be able to join in if you don’t want to get isolated socially.

2)      Partner’s understanding

The home country native also has responsibilities, not least to ensure they include their partner.

That means taking them places, introducing them to friends, giving them the freedom and opportunity to make their own social circle and interact with it, supporting them through any bouts of loneliness and homesickness. Understanding and support will be critical to prevent/repair any divisions.

3)      Affirm the decision

Why did Agassi and Graf settle in Las Vegas, rather than Germany or somewhere else?

Both partners need to be clear about why they have picked that particular location, rather than another.

You need to decide why, on balance, your choice of town/country offers the best quality of life for all concerned. Why does it have to be that person’s home, rather than the other way round?

If you aren’t both in agreement on this point, resentment and subsequent rupture can easily result.

4)      Love-all

It’s a book, so there is always potential for the writer to put a gloss on things. Nevertheless, what comes through in Agassi’s autobiography is evidence of a couple that adore each other.

Staying together in a long-term relationship is hard enough as it is. Trying to do it as an expat is next to impossible unless there are strong bonds of love, respect and friendship.

Ultimately, it is the love you have for each other that will keep you focused on what matters most, and get you through the inevitable difficulties arise.

Related posts:

1. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist
2. Expats Top Concerns When Moving Abroad
3. Currency Exchange Critical to Moving Abroad Success

Are there certain days when your cat or dog is more irritable than others? Do creatures in the wild go through mood swings? Or is it just humans?

I ask because I read this week about Cathal Morrow, an author living in Madrid. Back in June he embarked on a quest to live for a year without unhappiness, in an attempt to prove happiness is merely a state of mind.

As he writes on his blog, http://imhappyandiknowit.com/:

“What I’m attempting to live is my belief that happiness is entirely independent of the highs and lows of my little life, that it’s far bigger than me. That happiness is a permanent state for us all, if only we allow it to be.”

Being happy. We’re all looking for it, aren’t we?

Yet that appears to be the root of the problem. We’re searching for it, as if happiness is a destination that will be reached once we’ve got X, Y and Z in place.

Thanksgiving

It’s an important issue, brought into focus by this week’s Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States.

While it began as a festival giving thanks for the year’s harvest, Thanksgiving has since developed into a more general expression of gratitude.

And therein lies Mr Morrow’s secret to happiness – a determination to see the everyday brightness in life and be happy for it.

Seeking a better life

Which brings me to moving abroad.

Why is it so many people around the world – including millions of citizens in some of the most prosperous countries on the planet – want to relocate elsewhere?

For most people the interest is spurred by a desire to find a “better life,” whatever their definition may be.

Many are stirred by the potential benefits they hope to find by relocating – better weather, more leisure opportunities, lower living costs, attractive employment openings. Others see moving abroad as an escape from the unfulfilled lives they are living in their current location.

Finding Happiness

However, this desire for movement is not necessarily the path to happiness.

Yes, moving abroad can lead to a healthier, happier, richer life. But switching one country for another won’t by itself be enough. Ultimately it is an internal shift, rather than the external one, that leads to happiness and fulfilment.

Hence the importance of gratitude.

Rather than think about the things that are wrong with our lives, we should devote more attention to the things that are right.

It could be your health, or the health of your partner or children, the love of family, laughter with friends, the joy of a sunrise or waves on the beach, thanks for the food you have to eat.

Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t want to improve your current situation. It is human nature, one of the driving forces of evolution. But by stopping to give conscious thanks for those daily blessings we too often take for granted, the chances are you will be a happier person, wherever in the world you happen to find yourself.

Who could ask for a better life than that?

Related posts:

1. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist
2. Is Your Family Ready for Your Move Abroad?
3. Good Housekeeping Article on Moving Abroad

Is it finding or settling in to a new job? Making your retirement savings stretch far enough to provide a decent quality of life? Having a healthcare system that is up to scratch? Getting your children into good schools?

According to Expat Experience[1], the latest report in HSBC’s Expat Explorer series, the top concerns keeping expats awake at night prior to relocating are:

• Being able to re-establish a social life (41%)
• Feeling lonely, and missing friends and family (34%)

The survey also found these worries affected female expats significantly more than men.

Meanwhile, missing family and friends is a particularly big concern for expats based in Australia (49%) and Canada (46%) – not surprising, since the majority were from the UK originally, and so the distances involved make regular face-to-face contact difficult.

Overcoming concerns

Such emotive issues have an obvious link – if you are worried about establishing a social life in your new destination then you are more likely to miss the existing network of family and friends you have back home.

On the flip side, if you can form strong friendships and develop a bustling (and satisfying) social life once you move abroad then you are less likely to be lonely and dwell on what you have left behind.

In short, once you land in your new location you have to make a concerted effort to get out, meet people, make friends and take advantage of whatever exciting lifestyle opportunities the country has to offer.

It’s not always easy to do. Sometimes you may have to force yourself to step out of your comfort zones. But the success of your expat venture depends on it.

Related posts:

1. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist
2. Canadian Charm
3. Agassi’s Open Secrets to Living Abroad

On those criteria, the UK government’s newly-announced plan to increase university tuition fees has to be a black mark.

Under the policy, universities in England can charge as much as £9,000 per year in tuition fees – a steep rise from the £3,290 at present.

With the government having slashed funding for universities in its October Spending Review, it means many students are set to bear most of the cost of their courses. And that is in addition to the living expenses they already have to pay.

Some, inevitably, will be put off from attending university at all. Those that do go will either need affluent parents able to finance their education, or face a pile of debt at graduation.

Spanish Lessons

The comparative cost of university was a hot topic with some English friends we have just seen on a recent trip back to our former home in Spain.

Their daughter is due to finish her baccalaureate next summer, and is now weighing her options. If she were to go to the local university in Spain her parents would only have to pay for her books – approximately €1,000 a year. Back in the UK, by contrast, they could not afford to give their daughter the advantages a university qualification brings.

Mind you, there is a flipside: the countries’ relative job opportunities.

With unemployment soaring to over 20%, there is a big question as to what career prospects she would have in Spain post-graduation.

Related posts:

1. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist
2. International Cost of Living Comparisons Blueberry-Style
3. European Quality of Life Advantages Called Into Question

Unlike our actual wedding day, when we were fortunate to be bathed in sunshine from dawn to dusk, yesterday saw uninterrupted grey, glowering skies. The sort of poor excuse for summer for which Britain is renowned.

But that is what the English weather holds. One day it can be glorious, when you think summer is finally here to stay; the next it is cold, wet and windy. Temperamental.

It’s not what we had become accustomed to during our years living on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where a long summer of heat and sunshine were guaranteed, promising endless days in the pool or on the beach. Indeed, it was one of the major reasons for us moving abroad in the first place. Re-acclimatising to what England has to offer will not be easy.

The upside to repatriating to the UK is the contact it gives us with family and friends, and the support network that is now on hand.

Yesterday, for instance, my in-laws offered to babysit, giving my wife and me the chance to head off to a restaurant for the evening. It was the first time we had been able to go out to celebrate our anniversary since our children were born, as living abroad meant there was no extended family around to watch them.

Such constraints don’t affect all expats. But If you’ve been used to having parents or siblings around to lend a hand while you go to the shops or the doctor, or look after the kids while you have a well-earned night out with friends or your partner, then their sudden absence can come as a big shock. Something to consider!

Related posts:

1. The Cost of Living Abroad
2. Agassi’s Open Secrets to Living Abroad
3. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist

However, in the UK it is one of the major events of the calendar – Guy Fawkes Night (also called Bonfire Night).

It commemorates the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, when a group of leading Catholics planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in an attempt to assassinate King James I and replace him with a Catholic monarch. Guy Fawkes was supposed to execute the plot, but was discovered in a cellar underneath Parliament along with the gunpowder.

Ever since November 5 has been celebrated with large bonfires and firework displays – nowadays some are huge public spectacles; others are private celebrations in people’s back gardens. As a child in particular though it is a night of high excitement.

It’s one of the things I miss about living abroad, the gatherings with family and friends, the chance for our children to share in the excitement the night brings. Spain certainly has its own share of wonderful fiestas. But it’s still hard to beat the traditions of home.

Related posts:

1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
2. Air Fare Rises Hit Expats
3. Mass British Exodus Waiting to Happen?

It’s probably just in time too. After an unusually wet and cool spring in our north-eastern corner of Spain the weather has taken a sudden change. Summer has arrived with a vengeance – cloudless skies, little more than a zephyr of breeze, and soaring temperatures. And the forecast is for more of the same, only getting hotter.

The full heat of a Spanish summer therefore makes the long vacation something of a necessity. And of course it’s fantastic for the kids. When I was growing up our six week summer break from school seemed like forever. But three months! And being able to spend it on a Mediterranean beach … it makes me green just thinking about it.

Still, it’s not so great for the parents, for two reasons.

Firstly, three months is a long time to be out of the school routine, with its timetable and the habit of learning that comes with being in the classroom. So how are you going to keep them from going crazy with boredom and in that learning mindset through the extended break, so they’re not hardened against school and all it represents when they go back in the autumn?

And secondly, if both parents go out to work, as is increasingly common, what are you going to do about childcare? Foist your little angels off on the grandparents for three months? Get a nanny? Quit your job?

Or maybe do what many of the Spanish parents seem to and enrol the children in summer school for the duration. Makes you wonder then though why the education department bothers having the long summer break!

Related posts:

1. Starting School In A Foreign Country
2. Living Abroad and the Joys of Family Support
3. Holiday Season

I guess we went through all the usual trepidations parents feel as their ‘babies’ step through the school gates for the first time. Will she make friends? Will she like the teacher? Will she think we’ve deserted her? Will she be scared? Will she go to the toilet OK? What if she falls over in the playground and hurts herself? Will she behave? Will she like it, and want to go again tomorrow?

But there were some added concerns too. For one, the classes are all in Catalan, and she doesn’t speak a word of it, since we speak English at home. She’s also a chatterbox. So how would she be with this sudden entry into a world where she understands nothing her teacher and classmates say, and vice versa? Will she be bored in class? Frustrated? Resentful?

We know many kids from other countries have gone through the same process, and that as a result of this total immersion they pick up the language quickly. As the saying goes, kids are sponges. Nevertheless, to see them struggle through the transition phase from blank bewilderment to eventual fluency tugs on the heartstrings.

But the main, underlying reason for the worry is that our daughter has severe food allergies. At six months old she had an anaphylactic reaction to a doctor-prescribed, supposedly safe milk formula given to allergenic kids. We had to rush her to hospital as her mouth and tongue became swollen and she started to turn blue. I’ve never forgotten the terror of that car journey.

But now we have to let her out into the wide world, to a place where the kids bring breakfast and snacks into the classroom: bread, cheese, chocolate, biscuits and crisps, all the things that could produce another, potentially fatal, anaphylactic shock. To keep her safe we applied, and were eventually given funding, for a classroom assistant whose sole responsibility is to keep an eye on our daughter and see she doesn’t come into contact with these dangers. It is a comfort, the best case scenario we could hope for given the educational set up here in Spain. Still, it’s not easy to let go.

Related posts:

1. Spanish School Holidays
2. Your Moving Abroad Location Checklist
3. Cost of an English University Education