There are many reasons why someone would like to move abroad, in order to start again. Some have to do with relationships, other with work and sometimes they are even about social issues. But what are the steps that you need to take in order to make this desire a reality? Here is what you need to know.
Finding a New Place to Live
This is certainly the first step that anyone needs to go through when they decide to move abroad. However, this may not be as easy as it would seem. Every country has different legislation with various rules and regulations when it comes to legal immigration. Therefore, you may be eligible for a residency card in some countries, while in others you won’t. Some States are known for how difficult it is to immigrate to. They include Australia, Norway and Saudi Arabia. America is also known for its complex immigration laws and enforcement, but that won’t be an issue in your case.
Then, authorities in each of the locations that you will apply to, will require a series of documents that will vary from one country to the other. They will also need to be certified, in order to confirm that they are valid. This process will be different according to the State where you are applying for residency. Those who are part of The Hague Convention will require the documents to be apostilled. In order to comply, you can call upon a company that provides apostille services in New Jersey. It is the safest way to get your documents in order rapidly. Otherwise, you will have to navigate governmental offices and agencies by yourself, where you will lose a lot of time just to understand what they require from you. In the end, you will probably lose your patience as well. If the country that you are planning to live in is not part of the Hague Convention, then you will need for your documents to be legalized before you send them, instead of having them apostilled.
What You need to look Into before completing Your Decision on Where to settle Next
Choosing where you are going to live next should not be like a lottery. In fact, most people that go through the process already have a destination in mind when the idea comes up in their head. It is a place that they have travelled to before (hopefully more than once) where they felt at home. For example, imagining that you would fit right in, in Italy, just because you like pasta and you have seen beautiful images of the country, simply won’t be enough. In fact, you wouldn’t even know in which city to live, if you were to pick one without having been there. Rome looks good online, but in real life, it can be quite chaotic, and Milan may look efficient (which it is), but it gets cold often and it is not recommended for people who suffer from depression, as the sun is not a common guest of the city. All things that you would not know if you haven’t spent time in both these cities.
But even if you did visit the city where you would like to live next, you still need to look up a few things before you come to any conclusion. The first being the cost of living. For example, if Europe is where you want to move to, the difference in the cost of life can vary greatly from one country to another, and even between cities in the same state. The cost of renting an apartment in Paris or London will be quite different than in Berlin or Rome. Spain and Italy are known for their lower cost of life, but if you choose Madrid or Milan, you will still need deep pockets in order to survive.
The two other most important elements to enquire about after cost of living is job availability and healthcare. Even if you work as an independent, you never know what can happen down the road. Living in a country where the unemployment rate is high could become an issue that forces you to move back to the US, in the future. Healthcare is also crucial. If you need to wait many months to see a doctor in a given country, it is prudent (if not intelligent) to choose another one.
