This blog post was LONG overdue. Here is my little guide to moving to the UK, or in my case, London!
Do Your Research
Before you decide to move to the UK, there a number of things you should consider. First off, decide where you want to move within the UK. Are you craving an exciting life in London, beach a lifestyle to Brighton, a quiet escape to the Scottish Highlands or do you want to hop to the other side and stay in Ireland or Wales? The list of UK spots to move to is quite long!
For me, the answer was always the glittering city of London. It offers everything from an amazing food scene, endless career opportunities and never being able to run out of things to do. The best approach to deciding your destination would also to use your finances, job prospects and the lifestyle you are after as a starting point. Better yet, before you decide on a move you absolutely MUST visit the place you plan on relocating to. Often times we fantasize about a particular city or country, only to get there and realize it’s not what we thought it would be. I had visited London many times both as a child and as an adult so I had known for a long time that London would be a place I wanted to call home in my twenties.
Getting the Right Visa
This guide to moving to the UK can only cover my experience with the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. If you are between the ages of 18 and 30 then Canada (bless it’s soul) has a treaty with the UK for people to go and live in the country for up to 2 years, no strings. While there you can work any job (apart from being a doctor or sports), however you must return to Canada once your visa is up. The Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme is not extendable and once you have used it up, that’s it! It’s annoying if you want to stay longer but you would have to apply for another visa after.
The application for the Tier 5 has a very fast turn around! It took a total of about 2 weeks from the day I submitted my application in person at the Visa office in Downtown Toronto. The main application costs £244 GBP and a Health Surcharge that costs around £600 GBP. This charge allows you access to the NHS (National Health Services) in the UK and is a one time fee for the duration of your 2 year stay. When you apply, you also cannot have dependents. At the time of application, you must also have £1890 in your bank account as it is one of the basic eligibility criteria.
Understanding and Managing Your Finances
So as mentioned before, you have to make sure you have £1890 in your bank account, but this is of course just a very minimal amount you should have in your account. As you prepare and plan for a potential move, you have to take into consideration how expensive your prospective city will be. For London, £1890 to start is simply not enough and it will barely help you out for a month! Depending on your lifestyle, it’s important to head over with the appropriate savings. I had a significant amount of savings so the transition was very seamless. Calculating the cost of rent, food, city transport, travel, bills and so much more is very important to have mapped out so you are not caught off guard especially by a crazy expensive city like London! This is a prime thing to consider in this guide for moving to any city in the UK.
Finding the perfect Accommodation
Where you live, will totally shape and define your experience so I would invest a lot of time and energy into this decision. There are a number of cites but my personal favorite (where I found my dreamy London apartment) was Right Move. Renting in London is again, a very different and interesting experience. You can go for a more modern building or an older refurbished Victorian apartment. It’s also important to figure out WHERE in the city itself you would want to stay! Each neighbourhood is very different to another and finding the perfect fit is super important, especially for your experience and not to mention your mental health! My first apartment was in a louder area of Hammersmith which I found charming in the first month but outgrew very quickly considering it was located in Zone 2 (too far from Central London for my taste) and also I didn’t like the location and how street noises would pour into my living room.
My second apartment was in a brand new building right next to Vauxhall station in Zone 1 and it was an absolute dream! The Victoria line is also my favourite tube line, connecting directly to Oxford Circus, and my office station of Warren Street. I could be in the heart of Soho in 7 minutes and it just made my life sooo much easier. Ubers were also a lot cheaper when living here so if I was to ever move back, I would stick to the reliable Victoria line and never leave Zone 1!
There are of course areas to avoid still so doing the research into that and safety/crime metrics is super important. For example, I was staying away from South and East of London as I didn’t like the vibe and the safety seemed more problematic. So if you are looking to move to London, explore the West side and see if you fancy it!
Job Hunting a new city
Lastly, but of course very importantly would be your job search. For us, Mustafa had already secured a role in London which again added another smoother element to our transition. I, however, quit my job in Canada and decided to pursue a career in Digital Marketing. The job landscape in London is much easier to break into and I got to experience an incredible role which has defined and shaped my career. So just make sure that wherever you decide to move in the UK, you understand the job market and how easy it will be for you to land something in your specialty!
I really hope this guide for moving to the UK post helped you guys out! As I have mentioned across my blog a bajillion times, moving to the UK was the absolute best decision (see Life Lessons I Learned Living in London post). We got to travel, explore and have so much fun. But this is also because we were careful in the decision and planned for it quite well, so before you hop over the pond just make sure to read all the guides to moving to the UK!
