UK Immigration: What to prepare, where to live and expenses

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently reported that the unemployment rate fell to 3.9% - which is the lowest since January 2020. The current minimum wage in the UK (National Living Wage) is £9.50. If you don’t mind changing your profession,  there are many job opportunities in the UK. For example, labor shortages are common in occupations like  truck drivers, cleaners, construction workers, butlers, nursery workers, etc. To find jobs in the UK, you can make use of recruitment boards such as Indeed, Reeds, LinkedIn, Glassdoor or CV-library. If you are looking for an office job, you can also try using an agency such as People First, Michael Page, Office Angel, etc.

How much does it cost to live in the UK? It depends on which city you live.  If you live in a first-tier city like London, the cost of living must be more expensive than living in a second-tier city. 

If you want to save money, even if you live in London, you can choose to live further away from the city center (Zone1). You can choose to settle in Zone 2 and Zone 3, such as Stratford. Taking a two-bedroom as an example, the rent is about £1,700 a month. If you're single, you can rent a  room for roughly half the rent.

It is not expensive to cook in London. If you are tight on a budget, you can go to more affordable supermarkets such as Asda or Lidl. Take a family of four as an example, food roughly costs you about £600-700/ month assuming you cook every meal.  Eating out will be more expensive due to the high minimum wage in the UK and the consumption tax.

In terms of transportation, as far as London is concerned, as long as you pass through Zone1, the transportation cost can be as high as £7-8 per trip, but some jobs allow you to work from home, so you can save a lot on transportation costs. In addition, utilities and miscellaneous charges such as Council Tax (Municipal Tax) are about £400-500 a month for a family of four. Electricity charges in the UK continue to increase due to rising costs of raw materials. 

An offshore account allows you to transfer funds overseas for you to manage day-to-day expenses. To open an offshore account in Hong Kong, the threshold is often more than HK$1 million - which is quite high. However, such requirements for offshore accounts do not usually apply for securities such as Firstrade and Interactive Brokers and the whole application process can be applied online. With that said, it is important to note that not all offshore accounts are protected by US Securities Investment Protection Corporation (SIPC) Assurance Assurance. Alternatively,  you can open a bank account when you arrive in the UK, but generally, you must provide proof of your local address, so it could be difficult for new immigrants to apply.

If your existing policy applies globally, it is recommended that you keep it to get protection. However, if it is not, you can consider surrendering it. Also, please be aware that the UK charges up to 40% inheritance tax.

The National Health Service (NHS) gives citizens free access to outpatient, inpatient, emergency and other medical services from a British family doctor (GP), but does not cover dental, ophthalmology or prescription drugs. However, due to the long waiting time, many Hong Kong people prefer to purchase additional medical insurance.

Even if you are an immigrant, the best way to get the best protection is, of course, to buy travel insurance. Once you have booked your flight or hotel, you should buy travel insurance. In this way,  you can enjoy protection in case your journey is delayed or canceled due to accidents.