wedgeman

My wife and I have been living in Canada for 17 years and we are seriously considering a move back to the UK. Our main reasons are, being close to older parents, being mortgage free (Vancouver housing is nuts), better education for our children. I was hoping to join this forum and ask for advice and hope that other folks share their experiences of moving back to the UK after living in Canada for many years and what we should prepare for and the pitfalls we can expect.

durham_lad

Welcome to the site. We moved back from the USA after 29 years away for similar reasons except the children, ours were adults when we moved back and we left them behind. I can't give specific advice on moving from Canada or suitable schools for children but will respond to other questions where I think I can help.

brits1

Norfolk is a lovely county never far from the coast and a lot less busy then other counties, we moved back from Aus in 2010 after nearly 14 years of living there, our two sons can with us one went straight into 6th form the other to Uni, we did not have any “pitfalls” to be fair as this wonderful site really helped and we also had the experience of migrating and “moving around” a lot we knew certain “things” had changed whilst we had been away and also that we had ourselves, so we took the move in our stride and “dealt” with situations when they arose and tried not to worry about things that might never happen, we also treated the UK like a new adventure and have tried to visit new places as often as we could/can, we also relocated to a newish area which was good for us. Schooling, work and then a home/rental usually works in that order, I would rent first if you do not know the area and have a good look around to make sure it’s a good fit for you. There will be plenty of advice about removal companies on this site from people who have moved from Canada, Banking is fairly easy if you do not have a UK bank account, up to date school reports are excellent help to the schools you are “looking into”. Good luck

Moses2013

Good point and I think it will always depend what one expects with the move. We've seen it here in the past and some people might move back because of family and then complain it's changed too much and not the UK they remember. Might not work for all, I still think it's sometimes better to pick a new area and a 3 hour drive would still be better than a 9 hour flight. Look at your preferences first and then see what options are out there.

wedgeman

My wife and I use to live in Suffolk prior to moving to Canada, so North Norfolk will be a change for us both, but maybe not as different as some other areas in the UK. The main reason for selecting that area is distance from our parents, as they live in Suffolk and Lincolnshire, we have also considered Leicester as its close to friends and centrally located for visiting other folks that have moved since we left, plus there are likely more job opportunities vs North Norfolk. To be honest as others have mentioned any location is closer than a 10 hour flight from Vancouver.

I have read that our finances will likely require advice from an international tax expert as in Canada we have union pensions, registered retirement savings, tax free savings, registered educational savings and stocks from employers, so there is a lot to consider. I assume that purchasing or renting property will be difficult initially as we have no existing residential address in the UK, at least I heard this is true when it comes to opening bank accounts.

I appreciate all of the responses so far.

durham_lad

Renting can be difficult but if you are prepared to pay up to 6 months rent in advance you can do it. When we rented from the USA I provided proof of income and that i was prepared to pay in advance but only needed a month in advance plus security deposit.

Our daughter moved in November and initially stayed with us while looking to buy. She open a UK bank account online with Chase.UK very easily, no proof of residence required. Before moving back she also opened a Wise account with a GBP denominated account so she had a GB debit card ready to use and a UK bank sort code and account number to pay bills from etc.

wedgeman

I already have a Wise account as I required it for some US funds, glad to hear it works well for UK requirements.

durham_lad

Even before she had set foot in England she was using her Wise £ account to pay bills such as house searches and inspections on a house she had decided to buy.