Emigrating with debt
 

I've just read some old forum post (not NZ specific) stating that when you apply for immigration they do a credit check and will not allow you to emigrate with debts. Is this true? My partner has a mortgage that will not be paid off and also we have a joint credit card debt that we were planning on continuing repayments from overseas as we are doing now as we're not in a position to pay off the lump sum. Is this going to be a problem?

We were also talking about trying to take out a small loan to help us with a few relocation bits and bobs (we have most of the amount we need but are a little bit short) if we don't get offered an employer relocation package. We weren't going to mention the fact that we are leaving the country obviously but fully intend on making monthly repayments and not defaulting (we are moral people with a decent monthly income but short term cash flow issues!). Anybody know if this is feasible?

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Many people still have a mortgage in UK when they emmigrate, so don't worry. Also some people do use a credit card to help with the move. Just watch you don't come stuck if your wages are less here :(

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Thank you - I'm guessing what I read must have been rubbish then! My OH is an accountant and we have every last expenditure over the next 3 years calculated virtually down to the nearest penny (yawn - lol) so he knows what he needs to be earning in order to meet our repayment responsibilities etc (with NZ living costs taken into account) and won't take a job that pays less. Crossing our fingers he will find something! So do you/anyone know how the practicalities of how to handle debts when we move, do we notify lenders etc or can we just continue paying from UK bank accounts?

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

have you checked the salary for an accountant over here? Is his requirements achievable, not forgetting that you get taxed on every cent you own ?

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

I still have a mortgage in the UK it,s not a problem over here as far as i know


Neil

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Hi,
What you have read is rubbish!
We still have a big mortgage back in the UK and we rent out the property. Both of us have also had credit cards and I came out with some finance on a piece of jewellery still owing.
We have kept our UK bank accounts and still use them to pay bills in the UK etc - the banks know we are here as we've changed addresses.
To cover our relocation costs etc we re mortgaged the house and borrowed back the £40k we had paid off the mortgage a few years previously :thumbup:

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Absolute tosh

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Any chance of a quick borrow of your husband's crystal ball. I can't accurately plan my expenditure for next week, never mind the next 3 years!

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

When I worked out my numbers the loss of the tax free allowance was balanced out by not having to pay NI at 12%.

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

You can have debt up to your eyeballs when you emigrate, they won't know a thing. In fact I'm sure some people emigrate just because of their existing debt and want to start fresh.

Also kind of related, here's a post I answered before...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...4#post10187144

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

I love it :)

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

Yes, he has obviously worked the NZ tax rate and all the other differences into the budget and has been in touch with recruiters and employers and knows what salary range to expect. Our break even point (with pessimistic cost assumptions when we don't know with certainty) will be at the lower end of the incomes on offer and to have a bit left over for savings will be somewhere in the middle of the bracket - so fingers crossed.

Lol feel free, I am far more a 'bury my head in the sand and hope for the best' person myself! He has records of previous years budgets and adjusts forecasts for known and expected price/spending increases; obviously things get tweaked as we go along where little differences occur but he's surprisingly accurate. As a rule of thumb anything he's not sure he assumes worst case scenario so there are no nasty surprises and hopefully leave us with a surplus. Obviously the NZ forecasts are more assumption/research based than normal ones so more room for error but again all assumptions are the worst case scenarios so theoretically if they're incorrect it should leave us with surplus rather than loss.

Famous last words I'm sure!

Thanks all for your reassurance, this has made me feel a lot better, also good to know that others have gone over with unpaid debts too - I was half cowering expecting to be told we shouldn't contemplate emigrating until we're clear!

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

There is usually an obligation to get the mortgage lender's permission to rent out your UK property and sometimes they insist on changing your interest rate to a Buy To Let one.

If you are leaving your UK property empty pending sale, you need to tell your insurance company, as usually house insurance is invalid if the property has been left unoccupied for say 6 weeks or more (check your policy wording). An expensive mistake should there be a house fire.

Keeping UK accounts open is the easiest way to deal with UK issues through on-line banking and also makes returning easier should it come to that eventually.

If debts in the UK are being serviced from income earned in dollars then you need to take the exchange rate fluctuations into account.

Re: Emigrating with debt
 

For others looking in

Accountants.
Source: Careers NZ