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Living abroad has become so much more viable as the cost of travel plummeted.
The rise of the budget airlines, and the need for other travel operators to slash prices to compete, means moving overseas is no longer the one-way journey of old.
Instead, expats within a short-haul flight of home have suddenly been able to afford to pop back for regular weekends to catch up with family and friends. And those who relocated to another continent can make their annual pilgrimage home without needing an investment banker’s salary or a second mortgage.
For those expats flying to or from the UK though, the November 1 rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) may shift the balance.
The new rates mean a family of four flying from the UK to Europe will pay £48 in APD when travelling economy class. For journeys to the US the family will be charged £240, to the Caribbean or South Africa £300, and to fly to Australia it will cost them £340 in tax (a rise of 55%).
Add in the actual cost of the ticket, plus the inevitable wad of spending money, and face-to-face contact with old friends and family looks a lot less appealing.
Tags: afford, Air Passenger Duty, airline, APD, Australia, budget, Caribbean, economy, Europe, expat, family, flight, friend, home, journey, living abroad, money, overseas, price, relocate, South Africa, travel, UK, US
Moving to Canada to work or start a new business can be an exciting venture. To make the most of it though, it is important to know how to go about obtaining a visa.
Canada values immigrants who come to their country to help contribute to their economy. Nevertheless, there are a few restrictions you should know about when applying for a work visa.
In the case of immigrating to Canada for business purposes, it is important to understand the specific visa requirements and the points system.
Some key points to know:
- Education: This section offers a maximum of 25 points based on the amount of school completed. It starts at secondary education and below, which offers 0 points. PhD or Master’s degree holders receive 25 points, on condition they have completed at least 17 years of full-time study.
- Language: Canada’s two official languages are English and French, and you can receive a maximum of 24 points for fluency in both. Fluency in one yields 16 points, provided you have mastered reading, writing, listening and speaking proficiency.
- Work Experience: Points are only rewarded when you have had at least a year of full-time experience in a managerial, professional, or highly skilled occupation. One year earns 15 points, and four or more years earns the maximum 21 points.
- Proof of Funds: 10 points are awarded to people who have an offer of employment approved by the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). Otherwise, you will need proof you have either a set amount of funds in a bank account, or have secured work in Canada.
The eligibility requirement is based on the number of household members. As of May 2010, single applicants were required to have at least CAD $11,086, whereas a six-member household needed CAD $26,350.
Securing work in Canada exempts immigrants from this requirement. However, failure to meet any requirements results in ineligibility.
- Age: Because most people in the workforce are aged 21-49, the highest number of points is awarded to this age bracket. Applicants under 16 and over 54 do not receive points in this section. Other age brackets are awarded in two-point increments up to eight.
There are a number of Canada Immigration Services that can help you get started if you plan to immigrate from the UK to Canada in search of work. Whether you plan to move to Canada for business or hope to move there permanently, knowing the basics in the immigration process can help you become acclimated more quickly and avoid any procedural snags along the way.
This article was provided by Global Visas, the leading immigration experts for private and corporate clients locally and worldwide.
Tags: age, bank, business, Canada, country, degree, economy, Education, employment, English, experience, fluency, French, fund, Global Visas, household, human resources, Immigrant, immigrate, immigrating, Language, move, occupation, points, professional, School, study, system, UK, visa, work, workforce
So France has the best quality of life in Europe. Or at least that was the finding of a recent study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com, as I highlighted in a recent posting[1].
I imagine the residents of France may be thinking something different as this week’s round of strikes and protests gets underway.
News reports say the strikes are set to widen to include a range of sectors, including road transport, energy, posts, telecommunications and public service. The industrial action has brought fears of fuel shortages as workers at oil refineries walk out, and rail chaos as train staff join in, threatening to bring the country to a standstill.
The protest has been spurred by moves to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and the full retirement age from 65 to 67 years – a change that rather undercuts one of the advantages of French life highlighted by the uSwitch.com survey. The government claims it is needed to prevent the country’s pension deficit from spiralling out of control and threatening the system as a whole.
In total, Nicolas Sarkozy’s government has announced plans to cut spending by €45bn over the next three years in a bid to meet its budget deficit target.
Meanwhile Spain, which came second in the uSwitch.com quality of life rankings, has seen unemployment more than double (to about 20%) since 2007. In a bid to curb its budget deficit, the government is raising the top level of income tax and introducing a range of austerity measures for 2011 designed to cut spending by 8%.
Of course, the UK faces its own economic difficulties – as, for that matter, does the United States. But if you’re aiming to escape your home country’s problems and find a better quality of life by moving abroad, it’s important to remember the grass is not always greener on the other side.
[1] http://expatliving101.com/living-in-spain/what-quality-of-life-can-you-expect-abroad/
Tags: budget deficit, country, economic, Europe, France, French, fuel, government, home, income, industrial action, Moving Abroad, pension, protest, quality of life, Retirement, Spain, strike, survey, tax, transport, UK, unemployment, United States, uSwitch
A new report published by the City of London Corporation[1] suggests the lack of tax predictability in the UK is now “out of control,” and is threatening the country’s position as a leading global financial centre.
The report polled members of the banking, insurance, asset management, hedge fund and private equity communities on six factors: predictability, overall tax burden, attitude of tax authorities, network of tax treaties, complexity and cost of compliance.
Every respondent gave the UK a poor rating on predictability. It is the area where the UK fared worst compared to other countries, but which the report says is the most important factor in judging competitiveness.
The authors said surprise changes such as the introduction of the bank payroll tax and bank levy, and the increase to 50% in the top rate of income tax were creating uncertainty and changing the financial services industry’s perception of the UK. In addition, the new rates and measures meant “the UK is now seen as a high tax jurisdiction not dissimilar to continental countries.”
However, despite fears that changes to the UK’s regime would lead to an exodus of financial institutions and people to more favourable tax jurisdictions, such as Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong, that has not materialised in practice, at least thus far. Instead, for the time being London remains a key financial hub, attracting international investment, as well as expatriate and domestic workers.
Holding on to its position in the world as an attractive place to live and do business is the UK’s challenge going forwards. Relying on its weather as a source of appeal certainly won’t do the job!
[1] Taxation of the Financial Services Sector in the UK: Predictability and Competitiveness, prepared by Charles River Associates for the City of London Corporation, October 2010,
http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/E3CEF4F7-479B-46B4-AB93-29DF5F673B53/0/TaxationofFinancialServices.pdf
Tags: bank, business, city, continental, countries, country, exodus, expat, financial, fund, global, Hong Kong, income, industry, international, investment, London, pay, Singapore, Switzerland, tax, UK, weather, world
We’ve long suspected it, and now it appears to be true – the French, those lucky blighters, have the best quality of life in Europe.
Or, at least, so says a new study by consumer comparison service uSwitch.com[1].
Its research examined 16 quality of life factors – such as net income, food and fuel costs, life expectancy and working conditions – across 10 European countries to see how they stacked up.
France emerged with the best overall score, followed by Spain. The UK came ninth, with Ireland propping up the bottom of the table.
The reason for the UK’s poor score, said uSwitch, included its high living costs, below average government spending on health and education, shortage of holiday entitlements, high retirement age and lack of sunshine.
France, by contrast, was found to have the lowest retirement age, the longest life expectancy and the highest healthcare spend.
Meanwhile, Spain benefited from low living costs (especially for alcohol and cigarettes!), the highest number of holidays (at 43 days per year) and most sunshine hours.
The firm went on to note that three in ten people in the UK believe now is a good time to emigrate[2]. Given the low quality of life it seems they can expect to enjoy, is it any wonder?
The Full Picture
Yet before everyone starts packing their bags for France and Spain, it is important to remember that while such surveys make for attention-grabbing headlines, they don’t show the full picture.
For instance, the uSwitch report gives no consideration to the countries’ current or expected economic growth rates. Or what about the 20% unemployment rate afflicting Spain?
It gives no weighting either to the burdensome red tape that is so often cited as a feature of life in France and Italy.
The percentage of GDP spent on health is a blunt tool too by which to measure and compare the efficacy of countries’ systems. The United States, for one, spends a considerably higher percentage of its GDP on health, yet millions of its citizens remain without adequate, or indeed any, health cover.
The uSwitch survey also takes it as given that the greater the hours of sunshine the better. Yet the impressive sunshine quota seen in southern Europe – as well as places such as California and parts of Australia – bring with it high summer temperatures that frequently provoke raging forest fires, water shortages, pest infestations and crop failures.
In addition, the summer heat may force residents, especially the elderly, to spend weeks of the year trapped indoors, and can even lead to spiking death rates (as seen in Europe during the 2003 heatwave).
In short, these types of reports and surveys – a plethora of which are produced around the world each year – can give some helpful indication of the life you can expect to find when moving abroad. But to get a real picture, don’t forget to consider all the elements, the pros and the cons, and what they mean specifically to you.
[1] UK and Ireland Trailing the Rest of Europe for Quality of Life, uSwitch.com, 22 September 2010,
http://www.uswitch.com/press-room/press-releases/uk-and-ireland-trailing-the-rest-of-europe-for-quality-of-life-1769.pdf.
[2] uSwitch.com Consumer Opinion Panel, May 2010, amongst a sample of 3,640 adults.
Tags: Australia, California, citizen, cost, countries, Education, emigrate, Europe, Food, France, French, GDP, growth, health, holiday, income, Ireland, Italy, living cost, Moving Abroad, quality of life, resident, Retirement, Spain, summer, sunshine, survey, UK, unemployment, United States, uSwitch.com, work
After a nail-biting finale, the European team just pipped the USA to the post at this year’s Ryder Cup. The tournament is golf’s showcase international event, and its prestige was served well by some remarkable performances on both sides.
Unfortunately, it was the atrocious conditions that dominated the early stages of the competition though, with long rain delays that forced play into overtime on Monday … when, sod’s law, the weather made a volte-face and bathed the country in glorious sunshine.
Well, what can you expect from Wales in October?
In truth, Britain in autumn can be a challenging place to live. Hurricanes, like the famous one of October 1987, might be blue moon events. Wind and rain, however, are guaranteed. Add in the fading daylight as the days shorten and it starts to sound a bit bleak. No wonder so many millions of Brits dream of escaping to a life in the sun.
Mind you, in New York, where I spent a year at the turn of the millennium, the descent from the broiling heat of summer to freezing winter is even more precipitous.
By contrast, in the corner of north-eastern Spain where I lived until recently, the thermometer frequently nudged 30°C through to the end of October. Calm, sunny days meant there were a lot of leaves on the trees right up to Christmas, and oftentimes we could still venture out in T-shirts.
But now we’re back, experiencing our first autumn in the UK in eight years. I confess, weather-wise it is nowhere near as appealing as where we have come from.
The upside is the warmth we enjoy from being back among family and old friends.
Tags: autumn, Britain, Christmas, Europe, family, friend, Golf, New York, October, Ryder Cup, Spain, sun, UK, USA, Wales, weather
The headlines this morning are full of the news that Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated film editor, Sally Menke, has been a victim of the heat wave that has hit Southern California.
Ms Menke reportedly died from heat stroke while hiking in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park on Monday. The day saw temperatures in the city climb to a record-breaking 113°F (46°C). Tuesday was cooler, reaching a high of 99°F, but that was still 17 degrees more than is normal for the time of year.
To make matters worse, the record demand for electricity as people turned up their air conditioning caused outages that left 11,000 Los Angeles residents without power.
Seeking Better Weather
You couldn’t get much more of a contrast with the weather hitting northern Europe at the moment. In the UK, we woke up this morning to cloud and heavy rain showers. More is forecast for the rest of the week.
And with October just around the corner we can hardly expect an improvement. Nope, autumn – with its shortening, squally days – has well-and-truly taken hold.
Faced with such weather conditions, moving to somewhere that promises year-round sunshine, short winters and long, guaranteed summers has an obvious appeal. No wonder places such as California, Australia and the countries of Southern Europe are so popular with expatriates.
But a life in the sun can brings its discomforts, as LA’s population can attest. And as Ms Menke’s tragic death shows, it has its dangers too.
Tags: Australia, California, death, editor, Europe, expat, film, Griffith Park, heat stroke, heat wave, LA, Los Angeles, Menke, rain, record, sun, Tarantino, temperature, UK
If anyone doubts the beauty Britain has to offer take a trip to Salisbury.
Before moving to Spain I was wont to focus on those aspects of life in Britain that were inciting me to leave: the weather, grey and litter-strewn streets, high living costs, crime levels, images of the country’s rundown inner cities, overburdened health and education systems.
Spanish life promised a more gilded existence. Towns of quaint narrow streets and sunshine burnished buildings, café-lined plazas and open-air markets, the turquoise Mediterranean, vast tracts of undeveloped farmland and forest, lower prices and a more relaxed pace of life.
But having now repatriated to the UK after seven years of living abroad I am seeing the beauty of my homeland with fresh eyes. I have a new appreciation of the rolling green landscapes, its woods of oak and elm and beech, those chocolate-box villages, the BBC.
And historic cities such as Salisbury.
I had my first visit there a few weeks ago. Centrepiece is the magnificent medieval Cathedral, completed in 1258 and considered the finest example of its type in the country. Less jaw-droppingly impressive, but equally charming, are the surrounding Cathedral Close and the rest of the medieval city centre.
Sitting amidst the tourist throngs on the lawns beside the Cathedral I saw the city as they must. And it made me realise just how beautiful England – and the rest of the UK – really can be. Not a bad place to live after all.
Tags: Britain, Cathedral, Cathedral Close, country, crime, Education, England, health, homeland, living abroad, living cost, Mediterranean, Moving Abroad, Salisbury, Spain, Spanish, sunshine, UK, weather
A couple of months ago I was interviewed by the features director of the UK’s Good Housekeeping magazine[1].
She was writing an article on the pros and cons of moving abroad, and wanted my “expert opinion” on the topic … which naturally I was more than happy to provide (not least since the magazine has a monthly circulation of half a million readers!).
The article has just come out. And – aside from my own contribution – it makes for fascinating reading.
Expat Challenges
The piece features case studies of people who have moved from the UK to some of the world’s most popular expat destinations: France, Italy, Spain, Australia and the United States. Each highlights the issues they have faced, and offers pointers to anyone following in their footsteps (much of which echoes the topics I address in my book).
Among the biggest challenges the expats encountered were:
- Housing problems
- Unfamiliarity with local legal processes and requirements
- Acclimatising to the local weather
- Finding social outlets and integrating into the community
- Having a viable way to earn money
- Missing family and friends
Hopefully the tips and advice contained in the article will prove a valuable primer for those readers also dreaming of a life overseas!
[1] Good Housekeeping magazine,
http://www.allaboutyou.com/home/channel~index?source=1
Tags: advice, Australia, community, destination, expert, family, France, Friends, Good Housekeeping, Housing, Italy, legal, life, magazine, money, Moving Abroad, overseas, social, Spain, tips, UK, United States, weather, world
Spain 30 – England 20.
No, it’s not some freakish football score. It’s the current temperature differential between our home in the UK and our former one in the north-east of Spain.
The forecast for the coming week in England doesn’t look much more promising either. Temperatures barely struggling out of the teens centigrade, and the threat of heavy rain showers. Yippee.
Remind me – why did we move back to the UK?
Sort of summer
Still, that’s a British summer for you. The odd few days of glorious sunshine, when there seems like no more beautiful place to be on Earth, followed by leaden skies and rain squalls.
It’s a season of uncertainty – periods of joy mixed with gloom. One day you’re in shorts and sandals and the next it’s jumpers and coats.
As for making plans to enjoy the Great Outdoors … in the words of Hugh Grant in Mickey Blue Eyes, Forgeddaboutit.
In other words, hardly ideal conditions when you have kids who want to be spending their days building sandcastles on the beach, or splashing around in a pool.
(For that matter, have you swum in the sea around Britain recently? Are you crazy?)
Sunshine costs
Nevertheless, seeing the BBC News reminded me that the scorching summers seen across southern Europe and elsewhere do have their downsides.
For instance, parts of the Spanish coast are being plagued at present by an invasion of jellyfish, to the painful detriment of the people that have come in contact with them.
Meanwhile, swathes of northern Portugal are being cremated by a series of forest fires, an annual occurrence in many parts of the region.
There is, after all, a price to be paid for the sun.
Tags: beach, Britain, British, coast, Earth, England, Europe, fire, home, jellyfish, kid, outdoors, Portugal, sea, Spain, Spanish, summer, sun, UK
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