Considerations for an Oversea Move?

An Anonymous Coward asks: "I'm currently working as an 'IT technician' (lowly tech support position) in the southern United States, but I am considering a move to the U.K. to be with a significant other. What's the best way to gather information like the U.K. technology job market, immigration laws, cost of living, housing arrangements, and of course, how I would move my belongings? Sites like this would be most helpful." While the link that is provided is fairly comprehensive, other sources of information, both referential and anecdotal would be appreciated.

Comments

Moving from the U.S. to the U.K.

[Mordant]

is a move in the wrong direction, pal. Confiscatory taxes, grossly over-regulated work environment - and that's -if- you can get a work-permit. It's very, very difficult for foreign nationals to get work-permits in the U.K., especially in the high-tech field.

Moving

[isorox]

I live in the UK, and my parents have just moved to greece. I'm also researching where I can move to escape the oppresive police state that labour have us in.

Moving your belongings though
1) Forget your car, sell it. We drive on the left over here, and have right hand drive cars, not left hand.
2) TV. It might work, but I doubt it. We use Pal. Get one over here. 28" widescreens are from £300 ($450) up. DVD players about £90 up ($140). Sky TV (multichannel) or cable arround the £40($60) per month charge. ADSL/Cable arround £30 ($45)pm.

Make sure you get a region free dvd player otherwise your region 1 disks wont work in our region 2 players.

Digital terrestial TV is taking off here too.

Your Computer will work, but SWITCH THE VOLTAGE before you plug in! We use 230VAC, not 110. You'll need new power cables.

Try this one too
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/ 06/19 17250&mode=nested&tid=99

Cost of living varies drastically

[Tomah4wk]

As a uk resident, i know that the cost of living varies hugely across the country. The north and west of england (including wales and scotland) are fairly reasonable, but the south east (where the jobs are) is VERY expensive. In your sort of job you wouldnt even be able to consider owning a property in or around the London area. If you look at the bbc's website (www.bbc.co.uk/news) there have been many stories in the press recently about this.
Hope this helps a little, and good luck with your significant other :)
Tom

Finding a Job

[skaffen42]

A good place to start looking for a job in the UK is on Jobserve. Another usefull site is Lester Associates. Although they specialize in people from commonwealth countries they can find you a job, help with tax information, visas, etc. so they are probably a good place to start. I used them a few years ago when I spent a year in London and have no complaints. Another usefull site is 1st Contact

Managing a work permit is going to be tough. There are ways though. One possibility might be a student visa. IIRC there are some types of student visas that allow you to work 20 hours a week, so it might be a way to get some studying done while working on the side to pay the bills.

Be prepared for the culture clash. They do things a lot differently there in the old world. It is worth it though. Even if you weren't going there to be with your significant other it would still be worth the experience of living in another country.

Good luck...

Re:the hardest part

[Usquebaugh]

It's common in every country, espically the UK & US

Work Permits hard to get

[Danious]

If you're looking to go under the Work Permit system, you can almost forget about it. For a start, there's no Green Card or visa category allowing you to enter the country to look for work or move between jobs as you feel like it. The Work Permit is for a specific job offered at a specific employer at a specific location for a specific duration. Due to the downturn, the IT Contractors Association have recently convinced the government to tighten the fast-track regulations. Where as there used to be a generic list of job descriptions that qualified for automatic approval, it's now a hard-and-fast list of specific, top-end skills that the job must require before it gets approved. Otherwise, you have to go the long way round of proving that there's no-one in the whole of the UK and Europe who can do the job. I've yet to find an employer willing to spend the time and money when they can have their pick from off the street. The one ray of hope is the latest list still has "Network Specialist, NT/2K/UNIX", but this is more at a design and consulting level, not so much the admin level. You need either an IT degree, any degree plus 1 years experience, or 3 years experience. Full details at the work permits website. Note: currently Work Permits are free if the employer applies directly, but there are unscrupulous agencies out there who try to charge the employer an extra GBP2000 to do it for them, which tends to scare them away.

You only need 1 job site in the UK, JobServe, as everyone advertises there. Be warned, though, the downturn has made for lean pickings.

You can find the regulations for joining significant others at the Home Office, friends have done it and it does take time. You have to apply from outside the country. You can only join your partner and work if you are legally married, if you are unmarried but there is a legal reason you can't marry (i.e. previous marriage and not yet divorced), or if you are engaged to be married within 6 months (but then you can't work until you are). After 2 years together, you can apply for permanent status.

Of course, if you happen to be qualified as a teacher or a nurse, they will pay for you to go there... The down side being the schools and health system are the scummy pits of hell, far, far worse than any call-centre or help desk you've ever been enslaved by.

Re:Were your parents or grandparents from Europe?

[will_die]

The US does not recognize dual citizenship, as far as the US is concered you are or you are not a US citizen. So, just watchout what passport you use when you travel into and out of the US, beyond that it is no problem. Now taxes are another story, as a US citizen you are expected to pay taxes no matter where you live or earn your money. However the US has aggreements with most countries over taxes and who you have to pay them too. Just read the requirements, you can info on them on most expat sites.