How to Move Overseas: A Brief Guide

There are many different reasons that people want to pick up their lives and move to another country. Sometimes it may be to do with the relaxed atmosphere away from the grind of their own country. For others, it could be that you have a strong connection with the area. Maybe you have friends and family living in the area, or you are moving to be nearer to your partner. You may also be moving there for reasons associated with your career. 

Whatever the motivation behind the move, emigrating to another country is a vast undertaking, and there is a lot that you need to think of before making the move. 

Here are many of the things that you will need to think of when it comes to moving overseas.

Finding a Job Overseas

If you already have a job lined up and are moving because of it, this will save you a great deal of stress. You may get help with the relocation costs of your employer. 

However, if this is not the case, you will need to find a job so that you have a regular source of income. 

You will need to have some savings put aside already to help with the cost of the move and living expenses once you have moved. This won’t last you long, so you will need to work fast to find work. 

One option that may be available to you is to find a remote working job where you are and continue to service clients back in your home country, or wherever in the world they happen to be. There are several career choices that would suit this way of working. For example, you could work as a copywriter, web or app developer, or graphic designer. There are always plenty of remote working opportunities developing all of the time, and it may be something that would work for the sector that you have work experience in. 

If language is a barrier to you gaining employment, then you should start some online courses ahead of the move. This will prepare you for when you eventually move. Of course, once you move and are immersed in the language, then you will improve quickly.

If there is a community of ex-pats in the country that you are moving to, try and make connections to help you find work with English speaking employers or servicing English speaking clients or customers. 

Finding the Right Place to Live

You will, of course, need somewhere to live. One of the challenges that you will come up against is finding somewhere to live when you are not in the country. This may make it harder to look at the properties that you are interested in. If you know anyone that lives locally who can look at the property for you, then do this. 

If the move that you are making is a permanent one and you intend on buying a home, make sure that there are no restrictions on foreign nationals buying or owning property. You may want to consider staying in a rental property until you have settled into the area and you are sure that you want to make such a big commitment. 

Whether you are looking for a house or an apartment, you’ll be able to find real estate agents that share listings online. Take, for example, these properties in the Empire Damansara development.

Obtaining The Right To Work and Live

Before you commit to your plans to move and live overseas, you should first of all, make sure that you will be able to legally live and work in the country that you intend to move to. You may need to get residency permits or visas. These will need to be in place before you spend any amount of money or start to give up your existing life back home. 

Get in touch with the embassy of the country that you plan on moving. They may have an office in your country, and you may need to attend to get your application approved. Most embassies will have phone or website support to help you find out what the restrictions and requirements of moving there will be. 

Start to apply as early as you possibly can. Very often, the process of getting approved for a visa can take a long time. You will need to know that you have been approved before you can start to find work and home. 

There may be restrictions on how long you can live in the country. Find this out along with what happens at the end of the visa. 

You may also need to get vaccinations. You can find out whether you need these from your doctor.