Emigration
WHAT’S DRIVING BRITS ABROAD? UK CITIZENS HAVE NEVER BEEN KEENER TO PACK THEIR BAGS FOR GOOD. WE LOOK AT THE FACTORS WHICH ARE SENDING US OVERSEAS IN DROVES – AND MAKING IT EASIER THAN EVER TO START A NEW LIFE ABROAD WORDS CHRISTOPHER NYE PICTURES GETTY
L
og on to the Daily Mail’s expat forum and you read a comment from ‘Simon in Switzerland’, which echoes the thoughts of many British people today. “I left ten years ago and have never been sorry for one single second. England is sick. Last one out please turn off the lights. I feel extremely sorry for those left. I can sit here now and laugh at what my once beautiful and proud country has become.” Figures just released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that Simon is not alone. In 2005-2006, 196,000 Brits moved abroad. The year before was even worse: a bumper
exodus of 198,000 left our shores, amid a welter of surveys detailing the failings of modern Britain. A generation of educated, aspirational and motivated Brits are bailing out, and there are plenty of countries welcoming them with open arms – notably Australia, where a change in the points system is set to dramatically boost the chances of English-speaking visa applicants. Surveys indicate two principal drivers of rising UK emigration. Firstly, the growing belief that Britain is in catastrophic decline. Secondly, the ease with which Brits can permanently move abroad, including
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the lowering of immigration barriers by the most popular Commonwealth countries and the ‘Brit-friendly’ attractions of closer countries like Spain and France. Supporting the ONS statistics are myriad smaller surveys, including one conducted at the A Place in the Sun Live! exhibition this spring. The developers behind the LaVanta development in Turkey asked over 500 of our exhibition visitors why they wanted to leave the UK. The three most popular reasons were: firstly, high property prices; secondly, high living costs; thirdly, crime and degenerating standards of behaviour. Anti-social behaviour was the top reason to leave in a survey by Foreign Currency Direct, followed by rudeness in public places, telephone cold callers and ‘political correctness’. Out-of-control immigration to the UK, high taxes, and a clapped-out infrastructure also got honorary – "
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Emigration USA Total population 297 million British expats 680,000 Quality of life ranking 10th
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Environmental performance index 28th
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Economic performance World ranking/annual growth of GDP: 1st/3.3 per cent "
or, rather, dishonourable – mentions. But to suggest that all the reasons offered up for emigration are negative is to play into the stereotype of the Little Englander or ‘whinging Pom’. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the LaVanta survey said they were leaving for the attractions of a more laid-back lifestyle and a better climate. It also reflects a taste for adventure: the UK is a collection of small islands holding 60 million people, and there is a wide world of 6.6 billion people out there, so why not join them? And far from being a clichéd choice for people who, as Jeremy Clarkson
‘‘A generation of
aspirational Brits are bailing out – and plenty of countries are welcoming them”
jokingly put it, “have just sold their taxi”, living in a country like Spain is for people with big ideas: ‘blue sky thinkers’ with ambition for themselves and their families. These people are seeking something that they feel is lacking in the UK today, whether that is improved family life, year-round warm weather, clear roads or police officers who are still happy to give young tearaways a sound talking to when they step out of line. So where do they imagine they will find all this? A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research in December 2006 showed that ten countries accounted for 75 per cent of all Brits living abroad. Top of the list is Australia, with 1.3 million, then Spain with 760,000, USA with 680,000 and Canada with 600,000. Next is Ireland with 290,000, New Zealand with 215,000, South Africa with 212,000, France with 200,000, Germany with 115,000 and Cyprus with 59,000. A further 41 countries had more than 10,000 British expats, making us one of the most geographically dispersed nations on earth. While Britain has always had a ‘nomadic elite’ of empire builders, the surge in UK house prices has given the rest of us the financial freedom to travel that few could have imagined years ago, with British communities springing up in Cape Verde or Cambodia. On the other hand, those escalating house prices are driving many others abroad too, as getting on the ladder becomes impossible for young British people without rich and generous parents. The continued rise in emigrants from the UK has been helped along by changes in the target countries. Emigration is now relatively painless, with cultural barriers and communication with home so much easier. Brits moving to, for example, Spain, can choose to live in British enclaves, with ‘Full English’ available in the cafes, British newspapers in the shops and premiership football on in the bars. Or Brits can choose to go as ‘native’ as they like: the Spanish have certainly welcomed the British migrants, with several elected to
Immigration system A range of visas on offer, based on either special skills (and a firm offer of employment in America) or investment Timescale Visas usually dealt with in under a year
AUSTRALIA Total population 19.9 million British expats 1.3 million Quality of life ranking 3rd Environmental performance index 20th Economic performance World ranking/annual growth of GDP: 13th/2.7 per cent Immigration system Various classes of visa, with points awarded according to a system. Priority to skilled workers under 45, but ‘parent visas’ available Timescale Changes currently in place should reduce waiting
political office, schools welcoming British schoolchildren and local councils offering free Spanish lessons. Emigration is no longer the enormous wrench that it used to be; you even have Euro-commuters who spend the working week in Blighty and return to the family abroad at weekends. The eastern end of Europe is also now open for British emigrants. Debbie Gibbs, MD of Bower Properties in Bulgaria (www.bower-properties. com), has seen a major shift, with the holiday resort of Bansko now becoming the gateway to a new life: “We are seeing more and more ‘young retirees’ coming to live here permanently. It’s so affordable and you can have
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THE WORLD IN FIGURES
HOTSPOTS AROUND THE GLOBE THAT BRITS HEAD FOR WHEN THEY LEAVE BLIGHTY FOR GOOD
CANADA Total population 32 million British expats 600,000 Quality of life ranking 4th equal Environmental performance index 8th Economic performance World ranking/annual growth of GDP: 9th/3.4 per cent Immigration system Points system, based on educational attainment, knowledge of English and French, work-based experience, age, ‘adaptability’, family connections in Canada and offer of work Timescale Full citizenship can take up to two years, but temporary work visas are available
SPAIN Total population: 41 million British expats 760,000 (estimated) Quality of life ranking 29th Environmental performance index 23rd Economic performance World ranking/ annual growth of GDP: 8th/3.4 per cent
NEW ZEALAND Total population: 4 million British expats 215,000 Quality of life ranking 19th
Immigration system EU nationals are generally allowed residency but are strongly urged to register with the local authority, since government money is allocated to regions according to population
Environmental performance index 1st Economic performance World ranking/ annual growth of GDP: 44th/1.5 per cent Immigration system Points system based primarily on skills according to ‘long-term skilled list’ and pre-existing job offer (there are also recruitment firms who can help process your application) Timescale Six to nine months
a family-friendly lifestyle at a fraction of what it would cost in the UK.” Perhaps the biggest change in emigration to Commonwealth countries right now has been the lowering of barriers to entry. Many countries now use a points system, whereby would-be immigrants are rated according to their ‘usefulness’ to the host economy and society. In Canada, the points required for entry were reduced in 2003, and the Canadian government’s user-friendly website readily gives tips on how to improve your chances. They really seem to want British people to come. Similarly, Australia has recently decided to give extra points for
English speakers. As Paul Arthur, Director of The Emigration Group (www.emigrationgroup.co.uk), explains: “Australia is short of around 240,000 skilled workers, and the UK is the preferred market to fill those places. Australia is aiming to fill more than 25 per cent of those positions with people from the UK, so this September it changed the rules to make it easier for us.” And the response from the British has been extraordinary, with applications up 50 per cent since last year. So can just anyone get a visa now? “Absolutely not,” says Paul. Australia is still being choosy in whom it lets in, requiring police checks, medical checks and skills assessments. “What they are after is experience, expertise and qualifications,” he says. If anything, such rigorous entry criteria are welcomed by British applicants; the last thing they want is to be followed across the world by the same social misfits who drove them out of the UK in the first place! New Zealand is also desperate to see more qualified UK residents arriving, offering a fast visa turnaround time of six to nine months and an upper age limit (for the skilled and professional visa class) of 56, compared to just 45 for Australia. Both countries maintain a list of occupations that they wish to encourage, with nurses, midwives and engineers at the top, and demand in the IT industry growing. As Paul Arthur points out: “With the emergence of China as an economic "
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The surge in UK house prices has given the financial freedom to travel that few could have imagined
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Emigration
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" superpower, those countries on the
Pacific Rim are set for massive growth in their economy. These are exciting times to be in Australia and New Zealand.” For many of the world’s people, the USA will always be the number one choice, but it is often seen as a difficult and complicated one for emigration. Yet even America has effectively reduced barriers to immigration for British applicants, by keeping the threshold for the EB-5 Investment Visa at $500,000 since 1990. By investing this sum in a business within a designated region, most Brits can retire or move to anywhere in the States on a permanent visa. As Douglas Hulme of Rapid US Visas (www.visausa.com) explains: “With the pound so high against the dollar, the $500,000 minimum investment is a fraction of the cost when it came into effect 15 years ago.” Many of the usual
restrictions apply as regards good character – a criminal record will instantly bar you from most countries – and good health, but age is not so restrictive to entry to the US. With all this encouragement to emigrate, the Foreign Office has been raising a note of caution in its Know Before You Go campaign. Press reports of UK pensioners ‘living in squalor’ in Spanish hospitals, too ill to look after themselves and unable to afford a return to family and homeownership in the UK, have not been entirely inaccurate. So they are urging wouldbe emigrants to consider carefully how they will look after themselves in the long term, and not be seduced by the idea of endless barbecues on Bondi Beach. Life abroad isn’t all sea, sand and sundowners. It can require hard work, energy and commitment – but the rewards, as Simon from Switzerland can attest, can be sensational. !
WOULD YOU EVER RETURN TO THE UK?
‘‘You can have a
family-friendly lifestyle at a fraction of what it would cost in the UK”
NO!
YES! Neil Maclean, Brussels, Belgium
“I think living outside of Britain is something that everyone should do at some point in their lives, but I don’t see myself as having moved away from home permanently. Ultimately, I still consider the UK as home, but at the same time I’m not in any rush to come back. I like living and working in an international atmosphere here in Brussels and the quality of life is so much better.”
Tina Davies, Wellington, New Zealand
“It’s certainly possible we could come home. Our children have a better way of life here and much greater freedom. We’re five minutes from the beach, and while there are three or four jungle gyms in the playground, nobody tries to sue if their kids fall off! Against that is the emotional guilt of seeing so little of our families back in England.”
Toby Woolrych, Malaga, Spain
“All the reasons we left Britain still apply but have got infinitely worse. Health and safety, political correctness, taxes... The UK now has a totally divided society, not through so-called class, but because a large portion of the new wave of immigrants has made no attempt to integrate with the majority, and do not share the values, ethnic background and culture of the indigenous population.”
John Hall, Cyprus
Our new house in Cyprus, which we bought through Parador Properties, is now a real home to us. Our household bills are way down, the dental and medical care here is superb and we have all the shops and amenities we could wish for. We felt sure we could make a better life for ourselves somewhere sunnier and cheaper – and I’m glad to say we did! So, no, there’s no going back for us.”
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