marty_t3

Should i want to move myself and my family to another counrty (e.g. France, Spain) what do i need to do? Do i still need a work permit type thing? Is there an easy way of getting out of this counrty? Are there any conditions i have to meet financially? How long would it take?

zero_to60

I am looking into this myself - as I understand it a UK citizen can live anywhere within the EU - you domicile yourself there - cut all ties with this place i.e taxation and then pay the local countries tax whatever that is

don't think you need a work permit

I might be wrong but only just started looking into this recently

Claudius

Hello my friend

I find it a very good idea to move to a country with less tax on everything from income to cigarettes and cars like France or Spain. You'll also find better weather, less speed cameras and many small advantages that will make life more enjoyable.

To move to Spain or France, all you need is a suit case with your clothes or a lorry if you've got lots of stuff and your bank references to wire the money to your new account in France or Spain. You'll need to find a place to rent or buy, best to get a LHD car as well, and that's basically it. Most people will understand English although they do not speak it too well, but if you go to an area where there's a lot of tourism, you wont have many problems. Yellow pages and stuff start to be available in English... Do you speak other languages but English?
When you say Spain or France, have you got particular areas in mind?

Claudius

zero to 60 jumped in here while I posted.

No, you dont need a work permit. I dont think you even need a passport unless you want to travel outside the EU!

Local tax here in France includes "taxe d'habitation" which is a local tax on a place you live in (rented or owned), like £1000 a year. If you own a place, you will have to pay "taxe foncière" as well, another £1000 - 3000 depending on the place's value.
Income tax is a national tax paid directlt to the state, but with local reprzesentatives who will help you with it, give you another month to pay, etc.. You get a form, fill out, send back, and they tell you how much you owe. You have to pay this 3 times a year or on a monthly basis.

Claudius

Forgot to say a colour TV costs £70 a year "redevance" tax, and the garbage men like £100 a year. VAT in France is 19.6%. Cant think of anything else ATM.

Claudius

Spain has very low wages, but the cost of living is about half that of the UK. But expect to be paid half, too, so...

My brother is in Spain, he likes it but I dont. Because I cannot understand anything they say, dont like the people there too much with there misplaced pride, and because the country is, let's face it, a little backward...

zero_to60

I think you'll find a lot of people fvcked off with the way things are here - at the end of the day there's nothing the individual can do to change things here - it's too late for that but instead of moaning about things people are being proactive and thinking about what options are available - one of which since joining the EU is to f*ck off somewhere else on the basis it can't be worse than here and in the case of Spain a hell of a lot better

up to now the Government has had us all over a barrel but now we can move elsewhere (and our money) they will find more and more people doing just that - I'm sure the Spanish Government love all the Brit's taking their hard earned over there and spending it on houses built by Spanish builders and boosting their economy

There's loads of building work happening on the coast between Malaga and Marbella for a kick off - if you can do it get down there

When you see all the **** that's happening in this country its easy to feel negative and trapped but when you look into it you find there are alernatives out there - just a case of exploring them

God save the Queen!

south-star

The UK does have one of the lowest rates of income tax in the EU.

marty_t3

The income tax doesn't bother me... it the fuel duty, tax on cigarettes, not punishing criminals, not being able to defend your property, anti car policy, worrying about your childrens safety, ludicrous house prices etc that bother me.

WRX SEE

Most questions already been answered - so I'll just tackle the one of work permits and the like...

Within the EU you can now get a job anywhere - no work permit required. However...you still need a residence permit for the country you are moving to. Typically, this is not an issue if you can show you have a job (e.g. letter from new employer).

WRX SEE

Not to rain on your party, but do you really think this is much different in the rest of Europe?

marty_t3

Well, fuel and cigarettes are cheaper so thats the only 2 i know for sure that i'll benefit from.

I'm sure the French jail burglars too?? I don't think there's as much anti car policy either (judging by lower fuel prices)??

As for the rest, well it won't be any worse than it is here.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

SouthStar: Don't doubt you mate, but income tax isn't everything. A recent survey put the UK as the second most taxed country in Europe, second only to Germany, who are still trying to come to terms with taking in a practically 3rd world country in E.Germany!!
Alcazar
BTW: we were a long way ahead of the next country!!
A

marty_t3

I don't mind integrating myself into their society. I've moved several times before and i don't see it being any different this time (apart from the language barrier). I'm happy to learn French again anyway.

As for 'research'... yeah that would be a good idea. Ideally i'd like to make contact with someone in any area i was thinking of moving to just so i can get a better idea of what it's like there... (ICQ can come in handy for that)

Claudius

Cars are cheaper in France; cigarettes and alcohol and petrol are cheaper;tax is lower; weather is better; pubs dont close at 11 but at 1 or 2 or 3 depending on authorisations. real estate is normal, not shiddy like in the UK. And yes, we jail buglars! The new government has reinforced the police and you can see a lot of security in strategic areas like airports, city centers, football stadiums and the like. Lots of CRS ( = army subsection, thirty year old trained soldiers patroling around with Famas machine guns and 9mm pistols, and no, they dont shoot you). Makes you feel comfortable when walking a group of dodgy looking young immigrants in a pedestrian zone and no, I'm not racist.

marty_t3

Well, I discussed it with the g/f at lunch time and she's not going to move to France.... however, she was quite taken to the idea of moving to Spain.

One final question.... Credit ratings? Mine is shot and has been for quite some time. Do Spain use the same companies (Equifax/Experian) that we use?? or do they have their own??

Claudius

So what? Find a richer, slimmer, bigger breasted, nymphomaniac here

Lots of English tourists go there on vacation...

I think you'll start from scratch again. They may, however, do a search in the UK, not sure...

Claudius

Absolutely! LOL

Cool, huh?

Let me see if I can find info for you on immigration to France. Or are you going to Spain?

WRX SEE

As you say...once you have a job the rest is pretty straightforward. Problem will be finding a job where you don't require local language skills.

Katana

Get into the back of a lorry and hope it drives through the channel tunnel..

marty_t3

Well France is pretty close to Spain so hopefully i can talk her round I thought she'd be totally against the idea of moving but i think she realises that it'd be a good opportunity for our kid as well as ourselves.

Any info you can get would be appreciated. Think i'll start looking to see what kind of jobs are available myself.

marty_t3

I had a quick look on Jobserve and it appears that there are a reasonable amounts of job there... most of them require fluent French/Spanish as well as English. I guess needing to be fluent in 2 languages would reduce the amount of potential candidates and make finding a decent job easier. Looks like i'm gonna have to dig out my old french books. Good to see that it's achievable though.

TopBanana

Isn't there an emigrating to France show on at Olympia some time soon?

ptholt

hey claudius thats twice in two weeks you've been trying to help uk people get out this country

(which was my reason for trying to to purchase a lhd car funnily enough).

AFter looking at the french and german car sales magazines i picked up at the airport and the websites you mentioned, i actually find the German and definately French MUCH more expensive than there used equivalents here....
I'm a little confused by this as i alwyays thought this country was expensive, but the used car market in the above two countries seems much higher priced! I Can buy a much newer car for less money in this country than you can abroad...

(not sure on spanish car prices, but certainly Germany, France and Portugal used car prices seem VERY expensive when compared to the uk.....) Am actually looking at picking up a LHD car here (uk registered) and taking it abroad and paying the taxes as it looks like being cheaper than purchasing abroad (depending on where your going and the taxes involved to register!

Even a RHD version is looking like a £3000 saving over a LHD equivalent purchased in Germany/France/Portugal, im almost tempted to just buy a uk RHD car and use it over there and just struggle, as £3k is £3k! (was only looking at spending approx 15000 euros)

Am still baffled by the above.....

Claudius

ptholt

I am extremely confused as to your car prices. They are in EUROS, you know, not in GBP LOL It's got to be cheaper, WTF

Claudius

marty

There is some official info on France here:
http://www.franceguide.com/home.asp?z1=9U7VkLT1BDaS4kmwmO9QGNLA

I checked the site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and entered UK residence, UK nationality, permanently immagrating to France (over 3 months) for salaried employee purposes. The server spit out the following information:

"As a citizen of the European Union, you do not require a visa to enter France. You may bring with you your valid national passport"

Stephen Read

ptholt,

Perhaps because cars cost quite a lot in france & Germany due to the 'luxury goods tax' the used prices are going to be a percentage of a higher starting price than you might have considered.

The whole 'cars are cheaper in Europe' game is based on the fact that a Brit can import a Dutch car without having to pay the local Dutch 30% tax but yer Dutchman has had to pay full-whack and thus a one year old car may be 25% less than the new local retail price but still be more expensive than the cost of importing a new one into the UK!

The solution is to buy a new LHD car from holland and inport it into the UK and drive it for 6 months and then take it with you to wherever else (in Europe) that you want to go.

PS. ! paid approx £16k (after taking all costs into consideration) for my RHD MY00 in Nov'99 but if I had gone for a LHD it would have been a further £1,500 cheaper as Subaru started slapping on a ridiculous RHD premium to try and make something out of the situation.

ptholt

don't really want to go for a new car as where im going it will be trashed.. hence the used car, doesnt matter so much then.

Perhaps because i know of decent places to purchase cars here and im comparing that to 'in the paper prices' in France and Germany....
But certainly looking for a 7 seater 4x4 @ 15000 euros then comparing that to what i can get here, i can get a much newer equivalent in RHD, so much so thats why im contemplaying just sticking with RHD.

If i could find a LHD here (as there residuals are even worse) i'll save even more!

Stephen Read

Sounds like a good idea, there must be some people in the UK that specialise in shifting 'unwanted' LHD cars that are cirulating in the UK. 30% less than the equivalent RHD value is probably ballpark. I've seen adverts in various car agazines but I forget which ones.... sorry.

unclebuck

What's all this France and Spain stuff??

One word - FLORIDA Did you see A place in the Sun last night.

Fantastic properties - cheap as chips. I was amazed. What a place and no language barriers.

Beats Australia IMO.