There will be many of you reading this who might happily contact your travel agent to arrange a holiday to London in the United Kingdom, but how many of you would similarly contact your local removalists to put a permanent move to London? Given that London's current population is over 9.5 million, more than Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide combined, you certainly would not be short of others who also call the UK's capital city home. Whilst arranging a holiday to London does take some effort, it does not come close to agreeing to move there permanently and make it your home. It will undoubtedly be more manageable if you employ professional removalists who specialise in helping Australians move overseas. However, there is much more to consider for such a bold step. Many of those considerations will be understanding what living in London means. You need to be aware of local laws, customs, health system, financial system, housing, employment opportunities, and so much more, including immigration requirements for the UK. To help you, here is a short guide to moving permanently to London. Immigration Requirements: Visas that might be available to Australians include: Skilled Worker: For professional administrative or managerial roles Intra-Company: For those working for muti-nationals with a London-based division Health/Care Worker: For those working within the health profession Global Talent: For those with talents and skills in emerging industries such as digital technology Innovator: For entrepreneurs with new businesses or innovative business ideas Family Visas: Required for family, including spouses and children Healthcare The National Health Service (NHS) provides healthcare across a vast range of specialities, and in most cases, treatment is free at the point of care. This includes ambulances, GPs, and hospital care, including emergency care. Private health care is also available in London for those who wish to pay and use it. London has a total of 309 hospitals and clinics, as well as 1,500 GP practices.
The process of choosing an overseas holiday destination and arranging to go there via a travel agency will seem like a walk in the park compared to when someone decides to move to a new country with everything that involves including acquiring visas, hiring international removalists, and buying or renting a new home, to name but three of the many tasks that would need to be completed. If you are considering moving overseas, prime amongst those tasks is choosing removalists because of their wealth of knowledge and vast experience in helping people move everything they own to a new home thousands of miles away in another country. In most cases, another continent, it will be invaluable to you when you do finally move. However, before those removalists even get the chance to prove their worth, you, and those within your immediate family, such as your spouse or partner, have a decision to make. It is probably the most fundamental of them all, and that is what country you will live in. Often, the choice of country is decided from the outset. Examples are when someone’s employment takes them to another country or they are moving from Australia to be with family-based overseas. However, what if you have no single country in mind but instead several countries or are considering countries of a particular type, such as those within South America or those known to have the best education system, which you want your children to benefit from? Regardless of the criteria, you have a choice to make, so here are tips on how you can decide which country you will move to. Holidays Do Not Equal Living There Our first tip is to research what living in a country is like, rather than basing it on holidays you have spent there. Bear in mind most holiday destinations are far removed from the daily lives of the country’s population, so whilst you might be attracted to the culture, please make your research probe much further than how good the restaurant and bars are near the local beaches the last time you visited.
