Moving to UK...advice?

Hello! I'm Erin, from Victoria BC. I think I just need to let out my thoughts and see if anyone else can sympathize, or even give some advice.

My family is all from the UK. My father came over when he was little as did my mother's father. None of them have ever pined for their 'home country' but since I was a child I've had a fascination with anything British. As a kid I talked about visiting so much my mother promised to take me one day. That didn't happen unfortunately, so here I am at 27 considering moving there. I get the urge every couple of years and make arrangements in my head to save up and look into everything that needs doing in order to make the move, or even a visit, but after a while I end up abandoning the idea.

My roomates, who are American and Australian have said to me recently, why don't you just go? I don't have a VISA problem, what with family being immigrants. So just go!

SO The last few weeks I've been on the net tryign to get shipping quotes, looking up cost of living, jobs, schools, etc. I haven't gotten far I'll admit. But I am trying.

One board I posted on last week, saying I was thinking of moving to the UK and did anyone have any input, got 3 replies. They all said the UK was overcrowded and I wasn't welcome. Has this been an issue with anyone who's moved? Are you resented at all for taking their jobs, their houses, their air? If so, I'd like to be aware of it before I go.

Anyhow, what I am figuring is to look at moving in about 2 years, Spring-ish 2006. I'd move before the summer (hopefully good for job hunting) and go before the flight rates climb for high season. I am thinking I should save up between $12-15,000 before I go. Airfare would come out of that. I couldn't save more than that on my budget (I have a son, single mom) and that should cover us for 3-4 months while I find work. If I get work before then, then I already have a cushion.

At this time I am looking into Durham County. Anyone familiar with the area? I haven't found much info, but it seems the further south you go, the more expensive the cost of living is. Is this at all right?

Does any of this sound reasonable to anyone? Is there something I am missing? Anyone have any moving stories they'd like to share?

Thankyou. Looking forward to talking with some of you!


Erin

Well, England is relatively crowded compared to North America. The social and public services are completely overwhelmed by the large influx of immigrants over the past decade or so.

Most English I've talked to are simply confused why I would come here. The trend is for English to emigrate to Canada (or elsewhere in the Commonwealth), not the other way around. There is a very low national self-esteem here, they've been told life in North America is much better, so they do become quite confused as to why we'd want to move to the UK.

I don't hear much resentment about foreigners coming here, and especially not members of the Commonwealth whose ancestors originally came from England.

But having said all that, I've found job hunting extremely difficult despite the overwhelmingly large economy here in London. I guess summer isn't a great time to be looking for a job without a "trade" or professional degree.

It is generally true that the further south you go, the higher the cost of living. However, the reason for this is there are usually more jobs in the south.

You don't say what kind of work you will be looking for but, unless you have a transferable professional qualification (in which case you may find work anywhere in the UK) you might struggle to find decent work somewhere like Co. Durham.

London has the most variety of work and also the most cosmpolitan population, so there is a double benefit, as people in London are used to those from other countries. Having said that, if you're not used to big city life, you may find London oppressive - it is very big and has no beach, lakefront etc.

If you possibly can, I would advise you to come over for an extended holiday - say one month - so you can get the feel of things, and decide whether the UK is what you hope it is.

Thankyou Themeone! I am looking for a city about the same size as Victoria, maybe a little bigger. Victoria I think is about 100,000 pop. so I think I will stay clear of London!

And good you mentioned taking a trip first. I was originally going to go over for a month long vacation with my son, but instead of investing about $5000 in that alone, I thought I may as well move over so I can work while I am there. Since I will have 4 weeks vacation for 2006 I thought I could go over with the intent to stay, but if I find right off that it's really not the place for me I can return in that month to my old job here in Victoria. Of course nothing's concrete. And this move won't be happening for a couple of years yet.

Does 4 months sound like a good amount of time to give myself to find a job? I expect I can save enough to be able to live that long with no income if I move. Should I expect more like 6 even?

And thanks Blue! I'm glad to hear it's maybe not so much a anti-immigrant thing, but more of a shock that we'd leave Canada thing.

That sounds like a reasonable plan, Cedar.

What kind of work would you be looking for?

General work. I don't hold a degree, though have done a couple of years university in Education. No sales or childcare, but anything else sure. I've worked in the health field, sales, customer relations, office, with the City animal Control Dept. but my main bit of work the last 4 years has been in employment services with the Gov't getting welfare recipients back to work. I'm sure I'll find something, and I'm not too too fussy on what that is.

I have considered doing a 1-2 year diploma program, although there's no guarantee that it'll be transfereable to use over there. SO I think I'd best stick with what I have.

Well, certainly in London I don't think you'd have a problem finding some kind of work. I would say your best plan would be to find temporary office work, rates approx £7 - £15 per hour, and take it from there. You tend to get more if you can say you'd had secretarial experience, can type and can use MS Office reasonably well (you'll be tested).

There are literaly hundreds of temp agencies in London - the good, the bad and the indifferent. The advantage of doing temporary work here is that eventually you will probably go somewhere which will offer you a permanent job.

I know you have reservations about London but I suggest it would offer someone with your background the best chance of finding work quickly. Outside London, even in the southern UK, non-professional work is usually less plentiful and much less well paid.

You could maybe try somewhere on the edge of London e.g. Croydon, Bromley, Kingston, Uxbridge. These places are commercial centres in their own right, and have significant employment opportunities of their own, yet are within easy reach of central London should the need arise.

As you are looking two years ahead, you might want to start organising your National Insurance Number, if you haven't done so already.

Hi There Erin,
I would really suggest a visit before you move here, especially since you will be bringing a child with you. Fantasy and reality can be two different things. I certainly don't want to put you off moving here but I think it's important to see what life is like here, especially for your son.

I have lived in 4 countries and when I left home (Toronto) I moved to San Francisco without ever having visited. I had a horrible first year but grew to love it. I was young and single at the time but now that I am a married mum, I don't think I'd do it again. We visited here 2x before moving and have been here almost 2 years now. My daughter was born here and we are now considering moving back to Canada as she is so far away from family.

I don't know much about Durham specifically as I am in central Scotland however, looking at the property sites, it looks like a two bedroom place would run a low average of £500-600. Your $12000CAN would at current exchange rates be £5000, so that sounds reasonable. You do have to pay utilities, phone which is paid per call, TV license and council tax so that all adds up. Also, don't forget the cost of shipping your stuff over (it cost us thousands).
I think if you are willing to be flexible with the type of work you do you shouldn't have too much trouble. The cost of living in the north is less but as has been mentioned there are more jobs in London and area. If you were willing to commute to Newcastle or something you would have even more opportunities.

Personally I have never experienced any negative reactions from anyone I have met here. Like I said I don't live in London so it may be that people up here in Scotland are more open, who knows. I don't find it unfriendly or over crowded where we live either. I think the UK is a great place to live and I am all for a child experiencing other countries.

Moving countries is one of the hardest things you can do in your life, no matter how much you want to be where you are going. There are things you don't even think about like it can be hard to make friends as people seem to be more reserved, in my experience anyways. You will be leaving behind everything you and your son know and it can take a while to settle in.
I found a couple of sites for you:
http://www.evenmoreproperties.co.uk/EMindex.htm
http://www.durhamcity.gov.uk/

I think it would be a good adventure but one that needs lots of thought.
I would also suggest you check out the American Expats in the UK site and see what people there are saying. I only recommend that as it is a very active forum and people there will have some similar experiences.
http://www.americanexpats.co.uk/

Michelle

Well.. I moved from Quebec to Cheshire and then Wales.

As far as shipping goes, use an airline, not a boat. if you have a lot of stuff but doesn't weight much. Airlines mesure cost by weight, boats by volume.

Some people seem to be a bit jealous of how quick I'm progressing in my field, but the way I see it is that every opportunity is there for the picking.. so I don't care.
And there are many opportunities here!
Lots of apprenticeships! Just open Jobs North West and pick a new career! (well..if you were to be in the north west..)

As far as the crowding thing, as I said before, everywhere I've been exept london seems to have more than enough space. I'm a keen hiker and I'm always up and about the coutryside and loving it!

Hope this helps!