People choose to move overseas for a variety of reasons, and throughout the pandemic, there have been many reasons for people to consider making the move.
Maybe they have found the job opportunity of a lifetime that they simply cannot refuse, or they’ve found love online and want to make the move to start a new life with their overseas partner. Or maybe they just crave a change of scene and pace of life.
Regardless of what led to the choice being made, this is a choice that cannot be made lightly.
Any big move requires plenty of planning, saving and organization in order to be a success. However, before the denials are planned and the organization can begin, two questions need to be asked about the long term goals of the move.
The answers to these questions will help to determine what needs to be put in place prior to making the move.
Will you keep your residential status?
This is one of the first questions somebody considering moving overseas should ask when they are a citizen of one country. Will they be keeping their residential status after the move?
If the answer to that question is yes, then they should speak with a qualified immigration lawyer who will take them through the process. They will need to find out if associations related to keeping their residential status will come with any form of financial obligation.
Some countries ask for a specific amount of money in the bank or savings to be able to emigrate, others may have spousal income requirements or both.
It is important to understand some of the implications of keeping your residential status that may affect their financial plans in the future.
What are your financial ties?
Even in the event of somebody choosing to leave your immigration status behind, there could still be incidences where you have to keep some financial ties to their home country. For example, a spouse who is a citizen of the country or that have accumulated a large amount of pension benefits that cannot be immediately accessed.
This kind of event requires some careful mapping and financial planning in advance of how to access that money should their resident citizenship be left behind forever.
How flexible are you?
Any of the answers to the above questions are likely to cause some financial challenges in the future. Even with a good enough reason to take on these challenges, it is still important to be aware of them. It is important to be prepared in these areas and know that they could become time rich tasks.
People seeking to make a change to their citizenship should consider speaking with a range of professionals before making the leap as not doing so could cost dearly further down the line.
Emigrating to a new country or moving overseas is never going to be something short of challenges. Stay informed and stay prepared for any events, but most importantly stay flexible to changing timelines that may impact plans.
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