Has Anyone moved to UK?

[WhiteDaisy128]

I'm currently living in the UK (we arrived Summer 2016 and will go home Summer of 2019; we previously lived in the UK from Summer of 2009 - Summer of 2012).

We *LOVE* life here in the UK, but we are only on a 3 year contract, so we know we'll have to go back to the USA when our time is up. Because of the way my husbands work arrangements are made, it's not the same process you are going through - but it sounds like you are on the right track.

It's amazing how different things are - considering we all speak English; but it's all wonderful. :-) There are great travel opportunities, awesome schools, etc.

Good luck in the process and if there are any general moving to the UK questions that I can answer, I'm happy to do so. Will your new work pay for a shipping crate? Make sure you ask about relocation benefits - in general, EVERYTHING is so much more expensive here.

[tcsparky]

Whoo hooo!!!

I heard from the school today. They have received permission to sponsor me, and are waiting for their sponsorship license to arrive, so they can email a scan to me. I will then use the license to apply for the Work Visa!!

I keep reminding myself not to get impatient. School doesn't start there until September, so there is no reason to feel rushed. My term here doesn't end until the second week of June, so I couldn't go before then anyway.

But I am doing a little happy dance right now!!

[navane]

Congratulations!!

[tcsparky]

Originally Posted by WhiteDaisy128

Will your new work pay for a shipping crate? Make sure you ask about relocation benefits.

I don't know. The vacancy advertisement didn't mention relocation benefits. I priced a small shipping create today.....over $2,000. Yikes!!

[WhiteDaisy128]

Before you commit, make sure you know what you are getting in to price wise. Moving to a foreign country is very expensive. Are you going to ship your stuff? Sell it all? Put it in storage? In general the cost of living in the UK is much higher than in the US. Will you buy a car here? Car insurance is crazy expensive.

It's an AWESOME adventure, but make sure you know what you are getting into as there is quite a bit of upfront costs.

[tcsparky]

Some of this is already worked out. I'm sharing a house with a friend there. Our salaries are about the same, only instead of me paying all the bills (like I do here, now) I'll only be paying half. The bills are equivalent or cheaper than what I am paying now, so I am calculated to actually be paying less in bills after I arrive. As far as a car, I won't need one right away. The school is right on one of the main bus lines that run almost from my front door to the corner of the street near the school. So- perfect!

I plan to take with me as much of my clothes as I can, along with some personal items (laptop, ipad, a few books & DVDs, photos, my diplomas). I am allowed 2 suitcases on the flight, and can pay to bring one extra, so three large suitcases should get me enough stuff to last til Christmas. The rest will be put into my sister's attic, and I'll bring it over with a few suitcases at a time as I need, or whenever my sister comes to visit.

Other things, like my sewing machine, china set and cedar chest, will be given to my niece. A lot of stuff, like my vast set of professional education books, have been donated to the library of the school where I currently teach.

I've visited 2-3 times year for the past 5 years, so I've seen that things cost more. Lunch here is $10, and there it's £10 (which is close to $14), so it does cost more. But we've gone over how much we each make, and how much each person will pay, and so far it looks like it will be a win-win for moth of us!!

Originally Posted by WhiteDaisy128

Before you commit, make sure you know what you are getting in to price wise. Moving to a foreign country is very expensive. Are you going to ship your stuff? Sell it all? Put it in storage? In general the cost of living in the UK is much higher than in the US. Will you buy a car here? Car insurance is crazy expensive.

It's an AWESOME adventure, but make sure you know what you are getting into as there is quite a bit of upfront costs.

[NYCMS]

Congrats on all the progress - I hope you'll keep posting about your experiences once you're over there teaching!

[WhiteDaisy128]

Originally Posted by tcsparky

Some of this is already worked out. I'm sharing a house with a friend there. Our salaries are about the same, only instead of me paying all the bills (like I do here, now) I'll only be paying half. The bills are equivalent or cheaper than what I am paying now, so I am calculated to actually be paying less in bills after I arrive. As far as a car, I won't need one right away. The school is right on one of the main bus lines that run almost from my front door to the corner of the street near the school. So- perfect!

I plan to take with me as much of my clothes as I can, along with some personal items (laptop, ipad, a few books & DVDs, photos, my diplomas). I am allowed 2 suitcases on the flight, and can pay to bring one extra, so three large suitcases should get me enough stuff to last til Christmas. The rest will be put into my sister's attic, and I'll bring it over with a few suitcases at a time as I need, or whenever my sister comes to visit.

Other things, like my sewing machine, china set and cedar chest, will be given to my niece. A lot of stuff, like my vast set of professional education books, have been donated to the library of the school where I currently teach.

I've visited 2-3 times year for the past 5 years, so I've seen that things cost more. Lunch here is $10, and there it's £10 (which is close to $14), so it does cost more. But we've gone over how much we each make, and how much each person will pay, and so far it looks like it will be a win-win for moth of us!!

Sounds like you are on top of it! Get ready for a grand adventure! I love living in the UK and wish I could stay here forever!

[tcsparky]

WhiteDaisy,
Do you still have a US bank account? I'm asking, because I have a few bills that will still need to be paid here by direct debit. I don't know how to transfer money from my UK bank account to a US bank account. I asked at my bank (a small regional bank) and got blank looks.....then a shrug.

[WhiteDaisy128]

Originally Posted by tcsparky

WhiteDaisy,
Do you still have a US bank account? I'm asking, because I have a few bills that will still need to be paid here by direct debit. I don't know how to transfer money from my UK bank account to a US bank account. I asked at my bank (a small regional bank) and got blank looks.....then a shrug.

Yes, we do still have a US Bank account and US credit cards (you'll want to keep up your credit so when you repatriate you have enough credit to buy a house, rent a place, buy a car, etc.). Our Capitol One credit card does not charge and international transaction fee, so that's what we mostly use here. There are several companies that don't, so look around.

Our situation is a bit different because my husband is actually still paid in US dollars (as a direct deposit into our US bank). We use transferwise to move money back and forth and keep an eye on the exchange rant and try to move big chunks of money when it's most favorable. We can also take money out of ATMs with our US card and then walk it into our UK bank to deposit it - that's the absolute best exchange rate you'll probably get, but you are limited to X amount of money each day.

[tcsparky]

Yes, I learned pretty quickly that the exchange fees were awful! My credit union only charged a $2.00 exchange fee per transaction, so it was definitely a great deal. I pulled cash from the ATM on every trip after the first one.

My situation is a bit opposite yours, I guess. I'll be paid in pounds by a UK school into a UK bank account. But somehow I need to get money transferred into my US bank account to cover a couple of bills (student loan and storage). The credit union employee just shrugged and gave a strange look.

I do have a seldom-used checking account with Bank of America, but the person I spoke with there said that they don't do international banking. It can't possibly be this difficult. Bad guys in movies do this all the time!!

[WhiteDaisy128]

You'll have to have a UK account and a US account and use a service like Transferwise to move money. It's really easy. You should be able to keep your credit union account if you are happy with it and just turn pounds into dollars in Transferwise (or a similar service).

Definitely find a card that has no international transaction fee at all. We have a USAA Visa card, a Charles Schwab card, and a Citibank Mastercard with no international transaction fees.

You'll get a debit card from your UK bank and that's fine to use too, but make sure you don't let your US credit score suffer from lack of activity.

[navane]

One programming note: make sure you tell your US bank and credit card company that you are moving to the UK before you go. Back when I lived there, they put a freeze on my accounts and cards a few weeks after I arrived because they thought my transactions overseas might be fraudulent. Getting it sorted out was easy and only took a phone call; but, it took a day longer than it should have due to the time difference.

[tcsparky]

Thanks for the advice, WhiteDaisy and Navane! I'm sure I'll have more questions as I go along.

The school told me a few weeks ago that they would receive their sponsorship license on the 11th of May. I got in touch with them on Tuesday, because I hadn't heard from them. Bad news....temporary setback. The school's application to sponsor me was denied. Whoever filled out their form had checked me off as a supply teacher (substitute teacher), which isn't an approved foreign hire.

So, they have now re-filled out the form (hopefully correctly) and expect to have the sponsorship license in their hands in 4 weeks. Then send me a scanned copy. Only THEN can I fill out the Work VISA application. Which can take 2 weeks - 120 days, per the embassy website. <sigh>

I thought getting a job offer in February gave me plenty of time to get everything cleared to start a job in September. Maybe......maybe it will be cutting it close. We'll see!!

[tcsparky]

One piece of good news-- I heard from the DofE, and I should receive an emailed copy of my UK Teaching License on Tuesday! So, at least a step in the right direction.

A friend of mine there said that a report on BBC stated that there were the fewest number of Work Visas extended last month due to quotas. The school seems confident that a Science Teacher carries enough "points" that there should not be an issue.

So, back to waiting!