"The number of Britons heading abroad to live is on the up, but life for 1 in 3 does not turn out as planned according to the stats"........Well all I can say is that 2 out of 3 make it work! There you go... what was presented as a scaremongering statistic just became an encouraging statistic...I am one of the 2 in 3, but the reasoning behind the news came from a survey carried out by Global Visas and the Telegraph covered the news with a very negative slant ... we wouldn't want people to flee the country now would we?
Telegraph Article :
Visa applications are up as more Britons choose to flee the cold weather - but many find their move turns out to be a poisoned chalice.
The news was revealed by a company that specialises in immigration and relocation.
Global Visas said applications to emigrate from the UK in the first four months of this year were up 15 per cent on the same period last year.
The company handled 257,389 requests for help from people wanting to leave the UK this year, compared with 223,042 the year before.
One of the main reasons cited by clients was the weather, after Britain suffered a bitterly cold spring.
Gary Smith, global sales and marketing director, said: “The bad weather combined with a lack of jobs has prompted an increase in the number of requests for visa applications to our UK office. People are currently looking to move overseas for brighter career prospects, better living conditions and quality of life”.
Despite not being known for its warm temperatures, Canada was the most popular country to move to, with 27 per cent of customers heading that way. Australia was a close second, at 22 per cent.
However, further research by the company suggested that life does not necessarily work out as planned for those who decide to leave Britain.
A third of expats ended up coming home earlier than intended, with the majority citing financial difficulties as the main reason. That statistic came from a poll of 1,246 British expats who returned in the past year.
The top five explanations given by those polled - who were allowed to choose multiple reasons - were financial difficulties (62 per cent) homesickness (47 per cent), cultural differences (44 per cent), visa expiration (39 per cent) and lack of social interaction (27 per cent).
The eurozone crisis may have been a factor, as 56 per cent of those who returned to Britain due to financial difficulties came from within the EU.
The top five countries experiencing an expat exodus, according to Global Visas, were Spain (21 per cent), Greece (11 per cent), Turkey (eight per cent), Australia (seven per cent) and France (six per cent.)
Mr Smith noted: “Leaving home to live or work abroad is a huge step and one that not everybody manages to cope with, especially in the volatile financial markets that we’re currently experiencing.
“Money is obviously going to be a big factor. Many people who had believed themselves to be set up for life have been met with a sharp shock to find that their savings have become devalued.”