hey, First off, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm a 21 yr old from Israel, just about to finish my service as a medic in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Seeing as I don't intend to start college any time soon I wanted to find out a bit about life and work in the UK from an unbiased source. I was hoping sense this is a UK site, you could shed some light for me on a few things. The questions: -If I have a a Romanian passport, do I need a work permit? -How much do I need to make a month to balance my budget? rough estimate of course. -Anyone here ever worked in a pub? what are the job requirements? -any basics I should know? I know this is a rather unusual bunch of questions with no definitive answers, but that's what makes it interesting thanks.
1) Romanians are allowed to work in the UK without a work permit http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/workpermits/ 2) Depends on where you lived, London would be considerably more then the North 3) Yes, can understand what a drink is called, do simple maths, and very good at working in a team 4) Probably, but it depends on what area you want to relocate to...
Not sure if you will need a permit. There is certainly freedom of movement across EU states, so it shouldn't be too bad. You probably need to be taking home at least £600 / month, and notably more if you are wanting to live in London. Bar work doesn't really require anything apart from an ability to count. Most pubs in the UK are fairly relaxed on that front.
There are no real job requirements for 'working in a pub', however having an alcohol license will help you become a manager/supervisor. Expect to need £1000 per month after tax to get by, more for pleasure. If your spoken english is as good as your written english, you should be fine .
Especially in the south housing is your main issue, as it's ludicrously overpriced. In my area (sussex) expect to be paying £500-550/month minimum for the cheapest studio flats you can get, though it's a bit cheaper if you can share and just rent a room out somewhere.
Avoid it like the Black Plague itself. The UK, in my experience, has low wages with high prices/costs of living. If I had known what I know now, after one year and five months, I would not have moved. Unfortunately, as I lost all my money looking for work here, I am stuck here for the time being. And, I hate the bring this up, but... a foreign name may be a problem (read on): I live in the South East, and I have experimented quite a lot with the "being foreign" issue - basically, every company is interested in me (companies in my field of business anyway, call centres don't really care about me ) until they hear my name. Then suddenly the awkward silence and "uhmm" pops up. I don't want to make any accusations, but I feel that the influx of immigrants into this area has caused CVs with foreign-sounding names to be ditched more easily than others. Again, this is just my personal opinion, personal feeling and personal experience, nothing more. Also, expect to overpay for everything, from food to housing - with wages the same or even lower than continental Europe (which has a "cheaper" standard of living costs). As I said before, if I had known... it's quite ridiculous, really - it's like a mix of the US's high prices (in numbers anyway) and Europa's "low"-sounding wages. I would say learn from my mistakes, and find an area that is at least cheaper on housing (avoid the south). You need a place to live, not just for a roof over your head but also for an official address for your bank account etc... Housing-wise: I pay £250 per month, bills included, to share a house with eight (8!) other people. I paid £380, bills not included, for a studio flat seven minutes' walk from here - my girlfriend's sister pays £395 (bills not included) for her two-bedroom flat in Shropshire... (I know where I'm going if my application for a job in France does not go well!) Ah well, rantish post over. I'd like to conclude with "do your homework and lots of it" - be very, very, very sure what you're getting into before you find yourself stuck in a foreign country with not enough money to leave it!
Actually, it's one of those things i've been wondering about as well. I'm German by nationality (oh crap... ze dshermans got here - but i see i'm not hte first), living in Namibia right now... and trust me, despite the grass always seeming greener and all that, i wouldn't DARE whine about the income/expenditure ratio in the UK. Give you a scenario (real life): Senior programmer at a bank. makes roughly 200K a year (~13K in GBP) here... that's GROSSLY underpaid, but normal for NAM. In SA (johannesburg), the same job would make a MINIMUM of 360K Said person lives in a house where he pays 48K a year, electricity excluded, so make it 50-52K. A car that costs 150K will cost you roughly 42K a year... so you already spend half your salary on things you need, no food, petrol (no public transport either) Then there's other bills: Petrol at a rough estimate of 12K a year (with increasing fuel prices worldwide that's just going to go up). Cellphone bills of 6-8K a year Landline bills of another 3K a year. Car services, Something the eat, etc. It boils down to looking at something like 1K of spare cash a month. that's not even enough to START any hobby, as things do happen to go wrong at times...
The main factor should be the weather and the women. Go to France instead. They have nice bread there too.
Off what Joe said, don't sleep with anyone in Kent unless they get screened first from (painful) experience
Weather and women. If i wanted weather, i could stay here... 300-odd days of sunshine... as for the women, well...let's just say chewbacca is pretty damn hot compared to some of the creatures running around here... and screening women - i do that all the time... incest is BIG around some parts of NAM, and you really don't wanna hit on a person who's her own mom's sister or some such "jerry-jery" symptoms...
being originally form switzerland and living in the uk for almost a year now i'll put up a short summary. paperwork to make it legal to come: zero. once here, you need to get a national insurance number and if you are from one of the commonwealth coutries, the eu or uk (in case you are returning) have to sign up on the electoral register (note, that doesnt mean you get to vote, just they know you are here). I would recommend looking for a job before you come here, unless you have savings, because you wont be able to rent anyhwere to live without a income. While we are at it, when you have a job, you have to pay taxes and national insurance, yes, its expensive like everywhere else. however, its far less complicated, take swtizerland for example, there you have to save a part of the money you earn, then fill in complicated papers, submit them, they figure out the taxes, then you have to pay them, rinse repeat yearly. In the uk you have some paperwork when you start and quit a job, then taxes are taken directly from the salary, so you cant get into trouble with the tax guys for not paying them because you used the savings for the dentist instead of the taxes or something like that. And no, health insurance being private with competition, free markets and whatever doesnt make it cheaper btw, national insurance here is cheaper (not going to comment on the quality, if you are young and healthy it doesnt matter, if you are old and sick I'd move elsewhere). Quality of the education here is rather low, but people here go to school longer to make up for that (pretty much like america, not as bad, but going in that direction). There is also the problem that nothing is called the same across borders, which can make it hard for foreigners to find out what the equivalent to their education would be, which is something they will most certainly ask when you apply for a job. wankipedia or so can help with research there. Minimum wage is something around 5£ per hour (dunno exactly how much), yes, you can live with it, aslong as you dont have a family, no car and only rent a room (does not apply to london). About 1000£ net is required for a decent quality of living, except in london. Renting a room will cost 150£ - 300£, depending on quality and location (except in london). (ok, I'll stop the except in london stuff now, I promise). Flat / apartments almost dont exist, the problem is that houseprices used to be insane low, which alowed people that cant afford a house to have one (if they bought it like 30 years ago), but almost no blocks with affordable flats where built due to that, which leads to a low supply, so its not uncommon that a flats costs the same to rent per month as a house (exception, detached). You would be looking at 350£ - 800£ monthly rent for a flat or house (except in Lond oh damn I promised to stop that). Food is also rather expensive, car insurance is horrible, just like fuel. If you smoke, stop now, 20 cigs cost 5£. anything you should know? dont go to glasgow, ever, you wont understand the language they talk there. (not being 100% serious there). Another topic, bank accounts, mobile phone contracts and so on can all be a pain to get, they do credit checks for everything, so you need a good credit history, well, if you dont have one due to being new to the country most will turn you down. Its normal here. Also, rent from private, dont even bother with letting agencies, they will ask for a guarantor (a person who needs to earn a certain amount or own a house + be a uk resident who will have to pay if you cant pay the rent) plus many require that you have been living here for 6 -12 months. Banks are horrible here, if you want to open an account plan in atleast two hours, no, thats no bad joke, talking out of experience. anyway, its still nice, sure, the uk does have its flaws, but what country doesnt?
I have to confirm this as well i'm afraid. The constant uncontrolled immigration into the area has overall poisoned relations enough that (at least where i am) the word 'immigrant' is frequently used as an abusive term now
No offensive, by why england? of all the places you want to come to, it would have to be one of the crappest places at the moment. (ok maybe an over statement that, but..) No one is nice to anyone, at all! tax is beyond stupid weather isn't that great and we are over run by animals that call themselfs 'CHAV's' The government is a joke here! living in a major city is beyond depressing, and i would like someone to least give a decent reason to live in a city!
Agreed, the Daily Mail mentality seems to be growing, you might find it hard if you're an immigrant. Actually, I can't think of any benefit of coming here, I lived in Germany for a while - go there, it seemed to be nicer when I was there.
+1 for germany, everything seems to be slightly better in a way. for a country that requires your bicycle to have an MOT every year means you got to love them. plus there near perfect motorway system. iv been considering moving from the UK, to either europe, canada, NZ or Aus. And i am pure english, well my family tree goes back 150 years of pure english so i would say i am english! lol!
Why england? Cause I want to leave Israel for a few months and have a slightly different work experience. I speak Hebrew (not much use abroad), English, and a bit of French. that narrows down my choices sharply if I'm looking for a fun job and not housekeeping. NZ and Australia plain tickets cost more then I'll earn, and I have no green card or will to work in America. That leaves the UK and considering the fact I have an EU passport I can do it without worrying about legal issues.
Actually, you do need a residence permit for the first five years, even if you are a EU citizen. You register for a NI number as soon as you are working and thus are liable for paying tax. The upside is that you can access NHS health care. Cost of living in the UK is not as high as in the Netherlands or Germany for instance (and consequently, neither is standard of living), but higher than in the Mediterranean countries. Personally I'd go there, but keep in mind that the pay is consequently lower.
EU citizen’s dont need work permits, they are free to come and go within the UK to work, study, settle etc. They dont even need to bring a passport, there ID card is enough to verify themselves. Non EU countries like Romania and Bulgaria who are not a full member of the EU still have the same rights as EU citizens with the exception that they need permission to work from the UK Boarder Agency and require a Work Permit. They dont need anything if they just want to visit and settle, study etc without working. Deadteddy This section of the Home Office website is specifically for Romainians and Bulgarians which should explain everything you need to know. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/bulgariaromania/applying/
Why England? here's my list of reasons: -I'm German, but i dislike Germany. I dislike the language, the food, the people. They're an unfriendly bunch as well, and it's a bit too familiar. -As a German with a NAM permanent residence, my choice is limited to Europe. SA won't take me due to my German passport (which i'm sure as hell not giving up), US won't take me either. -There's music (at a price) in England. Being a bit of a metalhead, England is the place to be to catch the bands. -There's pro Paintball...
