SO YOU'RE MOVING OVERSEAS?

I've been meaning to write this for a while now. Just a general overview of what it actually takes to move overseas. I'm no expert on the matter... I'm winging it over here. However, there is a list of things that you need to get sorted before you will even be let into the country.

(I should also mention this IS NOT written with a family in mind. These are the steps I had to take to come over BY MYSELF - will definitely be more involved with children)

First & foremost. Get a passport. 

I'm not going to go into how much everything costs - the specifics will change year to year. Obviously, if too many people request the info I will put it up - websites, costs etc.

For a passport, you will need to fill out a bunch of forms. They will need to be signed by a JP & you will require a photo of yourself. I got mine done at a local post office a few years ago (I look like a mob boss - quite an achievement). As far as I am aware - you are STILL not allowed to smile in your photos... something to do with cheerful terrorists (???)



Second step - once you've received your passport back is to organise your visa. You can go through a company (I did this because I was too lazy to figure it out for myself - also I thought they would do more than they actually did)... the alternative is to print your visa documents off from the country's immigration website.

The company I went through wasn't all that bad. They did set my bank account up, organised a sim card for my phone & also a NI number (which is equivalent to an Australian tax file number) .. so that was a plus.

Once you've filled out all your documents, you have to take them (and a photo of yourself - I used the post office one again as they gave me about 10 copies) to your local consulate. Being that I was intending to move to London meant going to the British consulate.

They will also need a copy of a recent bank statement proving you have enough funds to support yourself overseas. Again, depends on where you are going as to how much money you are going to need.

There they will set up your biometrics - which is a fancy way of saying they take your fingerprints, log it into their system & make sure you aren't a serial killer with an outstanding warrant. Also I guess they keep it in a database in case you decide to go all Jack the Ripper in their country. BAD NEWS if you burnt all your prints off hoping to get away with that robbery last Christmas... you are probably more easy to catch than someone WITH fingerprints.

Once that's all done you send away those documents, with your passport, and wait to hear back. Mine took about 10 days to come back to me with the Visa attached to one of the pages. Very exciting stuff.

I would recommend sorting out accommodation & work before leaving your country - or at least scheduling job interviews. Researching the country's employment expectations & rate of unemployment is probably a good idea too... just so you know what you are getting yourself into.

Travel insurance can normally be purchased at the same time as your flights.. so speak to your travel agent about this. Alternatively, you can go through banks & other financial institutions. Shop around to get a good deal. Normally, they can only sell you insurance for 1 year - then you would have to renew when it was getting close to running out (depending on how long you plan to stay).

My mate set up (before she left) her will, executor of her estate and other various legal documents just in case anything happened over here. I don't really own anything for people to inherit so I didn't do this. I might look into it while I'm here though - you never know.

Then all that's really left (that I can think of anyway) is to get suitable clothing. If, like me, you are coming from a fairly hot/tropical climate to a cold climate - don't bother buying clothes before you leave. They ARE NOT going to be warm enough.

I mean - we all remember (those of us who saw it) the movie "COOL RUNNINGS". Obviously, they were going from one extreme to the other - but when they got to the airport and saw the snow outside - they were not prepared (even after all that freezer training).

Also if you purchase clothing when you get overseas there is less chance of going over your check-in baggage allowance, and you will get to explore the area you are going to be living almost straight away - good to get your bearings. You can pick clothing up cheap while you are living - take some so that you don't freeze within the first 24hrs of landing but don't stress too much.