The process of choosing an overseas holiday destination and arranging to go there via a travel agency will seem like a walk in the park compared to when someone decides to move to a new country with everything that involves including acquiring visas, hiring international removalists, and buying or renting a new home, to name but three of the many tasks that would need to be completed.
If you are considering moving overseas, prime amongst those tasks is choosing removalists because of their wealth of knowledge and vast experience in helping people move everything they own to a new home thousands of miles away in another country. In most cases, another continent, it will be invaluable to you when you do finally move.
However, before those removalists even get the chance to prove their worth, you, and those within your immediate family, such as your spouse or partner, have a decision to make. It is probably the most fundamental of them all, and that is what country you will live in.
Often, the choice of country is decided from the outset. Examples are when someone’s employment takes them to another country or they are moving from Australia to be with family-based overseas. However, what if you have no single country in mind but instead several countries or are considering countries of a particular type, such as those within South America or those known to have the best education system, which you want your children to benefit from?
Regardless of the criteria, you have a choice to make, so here are tips on how you can decide which country you will move to.
Holidays Do Not Equal Living There
Our first tip is to research what living in a country is like, rather than basing it on holidays you have spent there. Bear in mind most holiday destinations are far removed from the daily lives of the country’s population, so whilst you might be attracted to the culture, please make your research probe much further than how good the restaurant and bars are near the local beaches the last time you visited.
Decide Upon Your ‘Must-Haves’
We suggest you discuss with your family what benefits the countries you eventually move to must offer. This can be anything from English as its first language, year-round sunshine, excellent schools, employment opportunities, a top-class transport system, a sound economy, free of military conflicts, and so on. Whatever the list contains, this is what to look for in any country you shortlist. Ensure you eliminate any country that cannot offer your family one of your ‘must haves’.
Check The Entry Requirements
Near the top of your list of things to research regarding a move to another country is to check the entry requirements. Just as your circumstances will differ from everyone else’s, every country will have different immigration laws and requirements for those from overseas who wish to live there. You want to choose a country where you and your family fully meet the criteria for living there permanently.
Visit The Country (Again)
The county you are considering may be one you have not visited before. If so, we recommend taking your family there for a week or two to experience its culture and ambience first-hand. If, alternatively, you have been there on holiday before, we still recommend returning. Still, this time, they do so, not as a holidaymaker but as someone wishing to be sure that this is the country where they and their family will live happily for the foreseeable future.
