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Each year thousands of people make the decision to move permanently abroad and to make a new life for themselves in a new land. For a significant number of these people this turns out to be one of the best decisions they have ever made, but for a large number of others the dream will rapidly turn into a nightmare. Here are just a sample of the numerous things that you will need to consider. � Make certain that you really do wish to move permanently abroad. There is no doubt that the grass is always greener on the other side and it is far too easy to paint a heavenly picture of living in your chosen country. But, when you get there, you might discover that the grass is now much greener back home. It is also generally the case that your opinion of a foreign country when you are a holidaymaker is very different from your view when you are a resident. Not only must you visit the country a number of times before you make any decision to live there, but you need to make your visits at different times of the year and for increasingly lengthy periods of time. You also need to try to 'live' in the country by renting a condo or house and living as far as is possible as you would be living as a resident and not as a holidaymaker. If you still think that moving is the right choice after spending a few months or so 'living' in the country, then it is a fair bet that you will not regret your choice. � Make sure that you understand the immigration rules for the country in question. Look at the current immigration policy of your chosen destination and also take a look at its past history on immigration and any known or rumored plans for change. In the majority of cases you will be required to meet strict visa requirements and these might be inconvenient, expensive and leave you with little security. The absolute last thing you ought to do is to cut your ties with home, purchase a condo and settle the children into school only to discover that you cannot extend your visa and have three days in which to leave the country. � Examine your financial position carefully. Think carefully about just how you plan to support yourself in your chosen country. For example, do you plan to seek employment after you arrive to provide you with an income, or will you fund yourself from investments, savings or retirement income from home? If you wish to seek employment abroad then just how easy is it going to be to get a job? If you do find a job, what kind of salary can you expect? Will they permit you to work at all? Many countries will require you to apply for a work permit and these are often issued only in exceptional circumstances or for employment that requires specific qualifications or skills. In a lot of cases your visa will expressly say that you may not seek employment. If you intend to fund yourself from sources back home, do you have enough resources not just for today but for the next ten or twenty years or more? For instance, if you are receiving retirement income abroad will it keep pace with rising costs? In many cases you are permitted to receive retirement income abroad but, if you choose to do so, you will lose any cost of living increases and your income is fixed at the level at which you start to receive it abroad. � Consider what to do with your assets at home. If you own your home will you sell it, rent it out or just leave it empty? What will you do with your car, furniture and other personal belongings? Of course your home is much more than merely as asset as it also provides you with a tie to your home country and provides you with an address back home which might be very useful if you do not have friends or family who would be happy to let you use their address. You only have to wait until your credit card expires and your credit card company informs you that they will only send the new card to the registered address in your home country. As far as your other belongings are concerned you can of course dispose of many of them if you want to, retaining only those or particular sentimental or real value, or you might decide to take them with you. But just how easy will it be to ship things overseas and what will it cost? Look carefully too at the rules in your chosen country. Some countries will permit you to bring just about whatever you wish into the country, while others will have strict limits or levy high import taxes. In many cases for instance it is far cheaper to purchase a new car than to import your own car and to pay high import duty and maybe to need to have the vehicle adapted to satisfy local requirements for registration. � Examine the facilities for healthcare. You might be on top of the world now but, if you are considering moving abroad permanently, then a time is going to come when you will need to avail yourself of the local healthcare facilities. Just how good are the facilities and how do they compare to the facilities that you are used to? Yet another extremely important factor is the availability of public healthcare. If you come from a country with a publicly funded healthcare system, like the UK, then you may be more than a little shocked by the cost of medical treatment when you are in a country with only private healthcare. On the other hand, if you are used to paying for your own healthcare, you could be pleasantly surprised to discover that you obtain the same level of or even better medical treatment far more cheaply. Whatever the case, however, healthcare is one thing that you will need to examine very carefully and you will most certainly have to have some sort of expat health insurance plan. This brief list of only five tips is far from exhaustive but hopefully it will provide you with a starting point and set you in the right direction. Deciding to become an expat is a very big step and one that requires considerable and careful thought.
Article Source: http://www.rightarticle.com
Donald Saunders writes on many subjects, in particular health, and is also himself an expat. For more information on expatriate health insurance or on low cost health insurance in general then please visit MedicalHealthInsuranceToday.com
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