Relocating to the UK- how do you start?

Hi Yes I know my friend is Doctor at NHS.

Sarah Pitcher wrote:

Hello everyone! This is my first post. Some background: My husband is a UK national, and I am Maltese. We live here in Malta with our two small children. Our plan has always been to move back to the UK, and we feel that time is fast approaching. At the moment, we're getting some extra qualifications sorted out so we can improve our chances of finding a good job there, then we're out of here. The thing is, we're so lost on how to start and what to do first. If anyone can help me with any of these questions, I'm really grateful to you!

1. There are so many things to do. Sell the house, find a place there, find work, close the bank account here, open one there, sort taxes, now visas too after brexit etc. So many things to think about. What do you start with? What's the "easiest" way, if there is one? What did you do first?

2. What is moving pets like? We have 3 cats. By the time we move, the likelihood is that we'd have 2, as one of them is pretty old. We really want to bring them with us, but I'm terrified the journey will literally kill them. One small car ride is traumatic enough for them (they pee themselves, stay in one room for hours after the car ride is over), I can't imagine how they would survive transit and quarantine.

3. What was moving your children like? Ours are 4 and 1 at the moment, they'll be 8 and 5 when we leave here.

4. Does anyone here work for the NHS? I'll be a qualified nurse by the time we leave here, and I would love to join the NHS. What is it like working for them? Is it true that Maltese nurses working for the NHS get free accommodation for the first 6 months?

If you're still reading, thank you so much. I appreciate your time and any help! x

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Assuming that your kids and husband have UK passports, then they will have no problem entering the UK; you will need to apply for a family visa, although as a nurse you could also almost certainly qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa in your own right, so you certainly have options as well.  Whatever, all the details of the different work visas are on the UK Gov website; this link will take you there.

My daughter has recently done this (albeit from the Netherlands to the UK), so anything I say is based on what she has gone through:

To answer your specific questions:

1.  She sold her house first; she did that knowing that we had space for her and her family in our house in the UK, or at worse, would be able to use an Airbnb (or similar) until they could sort out something more permanent.  They've been back here with us for just over 2 weeks now.

2.  Pets are a problem; the UK does not recognise companion pets like in the USA, so the only realistic travel option is to drive, or as cargo in the hold of the aircraft.  We've done this before, the pet was not traumatised by the experience.  You also need to consider that 4 years into the future, the UK's relationship with the EU may influence how you have to travel with your pets as the different rules take effect.

3.  They will be of UK school age; albeit we're talking 4 years into the future.  If it's anything like now, you will probably be choosing where you live based on where the best school is - you could be excused for thinking that it is a postcode lottery.  My daughter's son went straight into a local pre-school - they are very good and the local schools where we live in North Yorkshire are also excellent.

4.  My wife and younger daughter are both NHS nurses.  The NHS has a website devoted to overseas nurses; this link will take you straight to it.  Please read it and all the links it contains.

If you have any further specific questions, then please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

You're a star, thank you so much for taking the time to type all this! I've read about joining the NHS and all the perks nurses would have, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to it.
My husband has a British passport, our children still need to get theirs done, hopefully that won't be too much of a problem to do.
We're hoping to sell the house soon- these days it takes around 9 months to sell a house, so we really wanted to start thinking about this and getting our stuff together as soon as we could.
We've chosen an area in Somerset, which is where my husband is from. Schools are mostly great from what we've seen, and there are quite a few good rental options until we have a credit history and are able to apply for a home loan.
Just so much to think about, but your comment has helped, thanks again!