Throughout history, humankind has always liked moving and exploring new lands. Also, when natural disasters such as drought-hit certain areas, people tend to move to other lands seeking shelter or more food and water. These days, many of us explore new countries for traveling or working. Some are expatriate and others may just be migrants passing through. Have you ever thought about how to not remain an outsider and how to integrate into another society?
Expatriate (expat) usually refers to the term for highly skilled employees of Multinational Corporation living temporarily or permanently somewhere other than their native country. A visitor to another country, however, can be there just for a visit or a holiday, but often doesn’t intend to invest time or money in their destination other than for tourism purposes. For expat’s, living in another country can bring many benefits such as varied cultural experiences, opportunities for work and also a considerably cheaper way of living. For the long term, you can choose in a quiet suburb, making it comfortable to rest. For items you don’t want to leave in storage, you may want to consider international movers for some necessities from back home. That being said, if you don’t prepare yourself, it may be a lot of sunken costs that can be avoided with a few simple steps.
All countries have different cultures as well as government bureaucracies which can be very complicated. In addition to taking care of things relating to immigration and residence permits as visa, here are our top tips that are important for those of you who will stay abroad as an expat.
1. Health insurance
Have health insurance from a local hospital is the main thing. The differences in geography and climate may make your body needs some time to adjust the immune system. At the beginning of your arrival maybe some diseases will attack, but if it ignored it will interfere with your activities. Good relationships with local hospitals will help you to get information about the endemic diseases and how to prevent it.
If the companies you work for have been providing health insurance, make sure it’s covering the payment in the local hospital. But it’s better to get your own health insurance because companies often covering the only common diseases. If you are not sure whether the health insurance policy you have right now is giving you the best medical cover, it may be worth doing some research into sites similar to https://www.bakerhudsonhealth.com, as you may find speaking to a health insurance specialist beneficial to your current situation.
You certainly do not want to get in the emergency situation and find out that your insurance does not cover your treatment. So take a time to choose an insurance company and the type of coverage and the premium you have to pay. You could always select your options with iSelect for health insurance, they offer comprehensive cover for a range of treatments and medicine. Today was already a lot of insurance companies that issue health insurance products for the expatriate.
2. Social circles
You need to understand, there will be always a cultural shock at the beginning of your arrival in the destination country. It is a good idea to try to contact other expat friends. Expat connection is very important as a first step acquainted with the local community. Those who come first must better understand the habits of the people around. Fill the invitations as your welcoming party or some parties that held by your relatives.
Do not shut yourself off from the local people because they’re the closest people that you can call when you get into trouble. You can take some advantage of the kindness of the local people to share their cultural knowledge, and other minor information such as the nearest pharmacy, nearest hospital, the nearest laundry, etc.
3. Banking (savings and current)
For business banking, you can use the services of foreign banks in the destination country. In general they have a requirement to open
a personal bank account including a reference letter from the company that employs you as well as a copy of your passport. Many of the banks do not handle or report your income and leave it up to you. It is very advisable to considering opening offshore saving account in addition to the offshore current account.
In an effort to open a personal account and filed a debit or credit card you can make requests directly to the bank’s customer care that you want. You will need to look into applying for credit card with no credit history because you’ll have no score when you move abroad. It is important to hold credit and debit cards because you will be a little difficult to bring money in local currency. To buy at the official store or mall you should use a credit card, as you will be in need of cash in many transactions.
Remember that the cost of living where you’re moving too may be different to where you’re coming from so always take that into consideration. For those going to Montenegro, this guide will give you an overview on the cost of living in Montenegro.
4. Housing option
Choosing a place to stay for the long term or short term is actually related to the funds you have and your accommodation budget. For early arrival, you should choose a place to stay that is close to your office work. So you do not find it hard to spend money on rent or buy a home. If you intend to stay longer than the time you work taking housing loans is the right thing. In the long term, you can choose in a quiet suburb, making it comfortable to rest. And do not forget to select the best accommodation from the residence to the places where all your business is held.
5. Learning Local Language
Some Destination Countries of expat currently already has pretty good English. But you also have to consider how sellers and old people in the country who do not understand English. Learn the local language to facilitate transactions and your journey. Feel free to use the local language even your ability is still very bad. Local people will probably laugh at you nicely and help you improve your local language fluency. The more you get to interact with the local community, the faster your local language skills will increase.
So, managing your social life and your spending is an important thing in your early arrival in the destination country. If you are able to plan properly is not impossible that you will fall in love with the destination country. But the core of it all is your happiness, don’t be too much complaining in your early arrival. Enjoy every day that might be a great adventure as you’ve never tasted before.