You’re out on vacation, travelling in a foreign country of choice. The weather is perfect. The people are friendly. Your family loves the atmosphere. You wonder what it would be like to live and work here – to perhaps make this place a permanent home. These thoughts are not uncommon. But before you get carried away into tourist fantasyland, there are a few points to ponder regarding business and legal matters. It’s always good to dream, but it’s important to have a reality check along with it as well, especially if you have a spouse or kids along for the ride.
Citizenship
How important is citizenship in maintaining a life in a new country? It depends on the country, but you absolutely have to have this information on hand. There are drastically different rules in European countries, Asian countries, South American countries, etc. You need to look up what the requirements for citizenship are, how long it takes to apply for them, if there are temporarily passports you can get while going through various legal processes, if there are any criminal or credit background checks you have to go through with, and a myriad of different legal constructs to look through.
Getting a Job
Does your current career translate to this new place? What about your spouse’s job? If you are in the medical field, will your experience transfer? How does the pay change affect your style and standard of living? Are you going to be able to live near where you want to work? What are transportation options? All of these things are vital questions when getting a job in a foreign country, and you will need vital answers before you can seriously consider relocating. It might be, though, that your job is sending you on behalf of their company. That could be a good segue from one place to another.
What About Starting Your Own Business?
Especially if you are retirement age, you might want to retire, move to a sunny location, and start your own business. In that case, come up with a reasonable business plan, find out about business loan opportunities, and start working you way through the process. If you’re already independently operating without having to worry about finances, that will ease up the possible stress of starting something new as well.
There are tremendous opportunities available in the connected world today to pull up your roots and head somewhere new to begin a whole different set of life experiences. It could be for business, or it may be for pleasure, but in either case you want to make sure you think through the process completely so you don’t end up stranded in paradise, but with nowhere to go!