Every year many thousands of people decide to move overseas permanently and to make a new life for themselves in a new country. For a lot of these people this will be one of the best decisions that they have ever made, but for a number of other people their dream rapidly turns into a nightmare. Below are just a small selection of the numerous things that you will have to consider.



? Make certain that you really do want to move overseas permanently.

It is a simple fact that the grass is always greener on the other side and it is all too easy to conjure up a heavenly picture of life in the country of your choice. But, when you arrive, you may well discover that the grass is now much greener back at home. It is also usually the case that your picture of a foreign country when you are a holidaymaker is quite different from that when you are a resident.

Not only should you visit the country a number of times before you make any decision to live there, but you must do so at differing times of year and for increasingly lengthy periods of time. You also have to try 'living' in the country by renting a house or condo and living as far as possible as you would as a resident rather than a holidaymaker. If you still think that moving is the correct choice after you have spent a few months or so 'living' in the country, then it is a fair bet that you will not regret your decision.

? Make sure that you understand the immigration rules for your chosen country.

Look carefully at the present immigration rules of your chosen destination and also take a look at its immigration history and any known or rumored plans for the future.

In many cases you will have to meet strict visa requirements and some of these might be inconvenient, costly and leave you with little security. The very last thing you wish to do is to sever your ties with home, purchase a condominium and get your children settled into school only to find that you are not permitted to extend your visa and have forty-eight hours in which to get out of the country.

? Sit down and work very carefully through your finances.

Think very carefully about just how you will support yourself financially in your chosen country. For instance, do you intend to look for a job once you arrive to give you an income, or will you fund yourself from saving, investments or a pension from home?

If you plan to look for a job overseas then just how easy will it be to get a job? If you are lucky enough to find a job, what kind of salary are you going to get? Indeed, will you be allowed to work at all? Many countries will require you to apply for a work permit and these are frequently only issued in exceptional circumstances or for employment requiring specific qualifications or skills. In a lot of cases your visa will clearly state that you may not seek employment.

If you are going to fund yourself from sources back home, do you have enough resources not simply for today but for the next five or ten years or more? If you are taking a pension overseas will it keep pace with rising costs? In many cases you may receive a pension overseas but, if you opt to do so, you will lose any cost of living increases and your pension is pegged at the level at which you begin to draw it abroad.

? Think about what you will do with your assets at home.

If you own your home will you rent it out, sell it or just leave it sitting empty? What will you do with your car, furniture and other personal possessions?

Naturally your home is a great deal more than merely as asset because it also gives you a tie to your home country and gives you an address back home which may be extremely useful if you do not have friends or family who would be happy for you to use their address. You only have to wait until your credit card runs out and your bank informs you that they can only send the replacement card to the registered address in your home country.

As far as your other possessions are concerned you could of course dispose of many of them if you want to, keeping only those or particular sentimental or real value, or you could take them with you. But just how easy will it be to ship things out and how much will it cost? You must look carefully too at the rules in your chosen country. Some countries will permit you to bring practically whatever you want into the country, while others will have very strict limits on importation or levy high import taxes. For instance, in many cases it will be far less expensive to purchase a new car than to import your own car and pay high import duty and maybe to have to have the car altered to comply with local requirements for registration.

? Examine the provision of healthcare.

You may be fit and healthy now but, if you are considering moving overseas permanently, then the time is going to come when you will have to make use of the local healthcare facilities. So, just how good are the local facilities and how well do they compare to the facilities that you are accustomed to?

Another very important consideration is the availability of public healthcare. If you live in a country which provides publicly funded healthcare, like the UK, then you might be more than a bit surprised by the cost of treatment when you are living in a country that has only private healthcare. On the other hand, if you are accustomed paying for private healthcare, you may be very pleasantly surprised to discover that you obtain the same or better treatment at a fraction of the cost.

No matter what the case, healthcare is one thing that you will have to examine very carefully and you will certainly have to have some form of expatriate health insurance policy.

This short list of just five tips is far from exhaustive but it will hopefully provide you with a starting point and get you going in the right direction. Deciding to become an expat is a huge step and one that needs considerable and careful thought.