Brits Abroad

Who helps Brits move?

As we progress through the analysis stage of the Brits Abroad project, we would like you to be involved by giving us comments and feedback on some of our ideas. Our research has revealed that there are services for almost every aspect of moving and living abroad. Migration from the UK is a business.

Below (in orange) is a list of the services that a Brit moving abroad for a better quality of life may call upon. Of course everyone is different. Some Brits use few expatriate services and some use many. Some services are extremely specific to the reason people are leaving, for example gap year students, and therefore do not appear below. It would be extremely helpful however, if you could give us your comments on other services that are available to British emigrants.

The idea to buy a property abroad might have been formed whilst flicking through a Sunday supplement on foreign property or watching a programme on moving abroad. Their curiosity awakened, the Brit then might look at on-line travel guides or buy a book or magazine on how to emigrate overseas to help them decide on their destination and may even attend one of the overseas homes exhibitions which take place across the UK.

Once they have fixed on a country, they might buy a cheap flight and rent a car to investigate the properties that they have seen on a real estate directory website. Property purchased, they may decide to settle in permanently and join an on-line expat forum to ask others what it is really like to live abroad. Depending on the immigration rules of the destination country, they may have already found out if they are eligible to live there by inputting some of their characteristics into a ‘points calculator’ either on a government website or at a visa specialist in the UK.

If they are accepted, the visa specialist or immigration lawyer will then process the application on their behalf and suggest other services like British schools overseas, cross-cultural communications consultants, expatriate health insurers, professional pet movers and overseas tax advisors. A new job can be arranged from the UK using an international job portal. Before they leave, they might log onto the FCO’s Know before you go website to find out about the location of the Consulate and other British organisations near their new home. Once they are there, Directgov’s webpages for Brits abroad provide information about regulations for healthcare, pensions and tax. As well as joining British associations, they may also opt for an orientation tour or become a member a of a British expat meet-up group, which provides suggestions about where to buy British goods, either on-line or in British shops abroad.

As emigration increases, learning foreign languages decreases

Figures released last week showed that there was a decline in the number of students taking languages at GCSE level. A BBC article suggests that languages are 'at a point of no return'. But with more and more people emigrating to non-English speaking countries, this trend has serious implications.

It is extremely difficult to integrate into a new society if you do not speak the language. It makes filling out a form for a drivers license much more challenging, let alone socialising with the locals. Yet some Brits do not see language learning as an essential part of moving abroad.

What is behind this pattern? Do Brits think that everyone else will speak English? Do people intend to but then find it too hard? The government is trying to encourage more language learning at school, but what is the best way to teach adults who are considering emigrating?

The article also suggests that some feel that the current focus on French is too narrow and could be widened to include Mandarin and Portuguese. With greater numbers of Brits moving to Bulgaria, should this language also be offered at school?

Brits in Lebanon

As the first British nationals are evacuated from Beirut, the crisis in the Middle East is a reminder of the important role that British embassies and high commissions play both in the security of British nationals and at a more emotional level. In an interview on the BBC Radio Four's Today programme, the British Ambassador in Lebanon describes the difficulties in planning any evacuation as the data on British people living in the country is not accurate and subject to change as people move. As violent conflict unfortunately shows little sign of abating in many of the world’s regions, it raises the question of the extent to which governments should be able to track down their citizens in a more systematic manner in order to provide quick aid when security issues arise.