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A Post-Brexit Checklist for Expats

For a long time now, travelling between Europe and the UK has been relatively pain-free. With Brexit on the horizon though, it’s time to start thinking about how it may affect your travel plans, and so here is our post-Brexit checklist for expats! This article was written for Expat Network by Gordon Delaney, Regional Head...

Five Ways Expats Can Seamlessly Integrate Into A New Country

How do you integrate into a new country? Whether you’re moving 100, 1,000 or even 10,000 miles away, settling into a new area can be exhausting; not just the initial process of unpacking and acclimatising to your new environment, but also integrating. Not everyone handles change well, and for some who have the opportunity to...

Six Popular Travel Apps

Here are our top six travel apps! We’re constantly looking to technology – smartphones in particular – to make our lives easier. Anyone moving or travelling abroad 10 years ago, for example, would have been much more limited in terms of what they could learn about a new environment. With a long list of services...

Moving Abroad Checklist

Initial Considerations

Will your partner be travelling with you?

If so, what will they be giving up in your present home and will they be able to continue with their career in your new home? You will need to check whether a separate visa is required for your partner to work or if your visa gives that right. If they are unable to work you will need to decide on the effect on your finances and what alternatives are available to give a fulfilling life (home business, training, voluntary work).

Are you taking family with you?

Moving with family raises many exciting opportunities, but also can create challenges. The HSBC Expat Explorer survey indicates that expat kids can take six months to settle in to their new country (see article). Getting young or even older children to prepare to move and leave their friends and family behind can be a challenge and should be thought through.

The options for education is another area that needs to be thought through.

Moving your child to a new country with a different education system can be a great opportunity to broaden their experience, but if they are close to key exams the timing can make this inadvisable. If you do take your family with you, it is important to decide between joining the local school system or choosing an international school.

Where will you be living?

Whether you will be living in a house or apartment, furnished or unfurnished, these decisions will affect what you need to take with you. The time you are planning to live overseas will also affect whether you should leave your property at home empty, rent it out or sell it. See the article Sell, Store or Ship.