B2B, HAKUNAMATATA and other friends in UK...
A few questions for you guys...
What do you guys think of the option for people LIA to consider-accept jobs in UK and make a living in UK???
[LIST=1]
What are the things to be considered while contemplating such a move? Provide you thoughts both in terms of personal (family related) as well as individual career perspectives.
How much of a change is it in terms of life style?
What are the good, bad and ugly things that one needs to be aware of?
What are the positives and negatives of US-PR Vs UK-PR and USC Vs UKC?
Are there any inherent benefits or special considerations to US-PRs and USCs?
What are the tax implications?[/LIST]I'll stop for now...and perhaps ask for more details after I hear from you. People...please feel free to picth in.
Thanks!
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One should always be aware of all alternatives. -DJ :cool:
UK- Life in UK
UK- Life in UK
I don't think there are any benefits for a USC to move to UK. It will be a big stepdown in terms of standard of living. Everything is so expensive here in UK compared to USA in most cases double the price and also taxes are a ripoff.
UK- Life in UK
<>
Depends where u r in UK?
If u r in(or near ) London or places like Birmingham, Manchester then getting desi stuff ...food items/hotels/movies/social-network
is not at a problem.
But if u r not in(or near) desi areas then u may find u r self isolated as networking will be difficult.
<>
Good:
--can earn/save more money than india but I doubt whether u can compare it with US
--few months in summer are nice...
--direct flight to india is only 8 hrs
--u r spouse can apply and work right from day 1 even if she is on a dependent visa, provided u have a valid workpermit for urself...
--u get 25 holidays every year apart from 8 public holidays
bad/ugly:
--long winters, at least for myself / my family its depressing, in fact most of friends
who are from India have similar complaints, more than low temperature its short days..its dark most of the times ... u have to stay indoors and I don't like watching telly so its a big problem for me...
--train service outside London is not very reliable.. it might have improved now..
but in 1999-2000 I used to travel by train... my experience was very bad...
for a 20 min journey...I have waited even 1-2 hrs very frequently..that too in harsh winter
--trains are very expensive as well
2-3 yrs back for a short assigment I had to travel approx 60 miles one way since direct train was available
i dropped the idea of travelling by car after 2-3 days but the train fare was approx 400 GBP per month:-(
--high taxes + vat
<>
UK-PR:
--u can apply for any job here and u don't need any work permit for u r self
--u can stay indefinitely here in UK
--but if u stay out of UK for 2 yrs then counter is reset i.e. no PR.. new WP is required
--u have recourse to public funds which I think means u r eligible for
benefits like unemployment etc
UKC
--can apply for UKC after 12 months of getting PR
--u can work anywhere in europe without any work visa
--can visit many countries without any tourist visa
<>
I would say its a highly taxed country.
Basic income tax rates are:
£ per year 2005-06 2006-07
Starting rate: 10%* £0-£2,090 £0-£2,150
Basic rate: 22%* £2,091-£32,400 £2,151-£33,300
Higher rate: 40%* Over £32,400 Over £33,300
Apart from this there is approx. 8-9% National Insurance(NI) Deductions irrespective of u r salary.
So u end up paying approx. 50% tax on anything above 33300 per year.
Apart from this there is a VAT of 17.5% on u r purchases irrespective of location in UK.
Depends where u r in UK?
If u r in(or near ) London or places like Birmingham, Manchester then getting desi stuff ...food items/hotels/movies/social-network
is not at a problem.
But if u r not in(or near) desi areas then u may find u r self isolated as networking will be difficult.
<
Good:
--can earn/save more money than india but I doubt whether u can compare it with US
--few months in summer are nice...
--direct flight to india is only 8 hrs
--u r spouse can apply and work right from day 1 even if she is on a dependent visa, provided u have a valid workpermit for urself...
--u get 25 holidays every year apart from 8 public holidays
bad/ugly:
--long winters, at least for myself / my family its depressing, in fact most of friends
who are from India have similar complaints, more than low temperature its short days..its dark most of the times ... u have to stay indoors and I don't like watching telly so its a big problem for me...
--train service outside London is not very reliable.. it might have improved now..
but in 1999-2000 I used to travel by train... my experience was very bad...
for a 20 min journey...I have waited even 1-2 hrs very frequently..that too in harsh winter
--trains are very expensive as well
2-3 yrs back for a short assigment I had to travel approx 60 miles one way since direct train was available
i dropped the idea of travelling by car after 2-3 days but the train fare was approx 400 GBP per month:-(
--high taxes + vat
<
UK-PR:
--u can apply for any job here and u don't need any work permit for u r self
--u can stay indefinitely here in UK
--but if u stay out of UK for 2 yrs then counter is reset i.e. no PR.. new WP is required
--u have recourse to public funds which I think means u r eligible for
benefits like unemployment etc
UKC
--can apply for UKC after 12 months of getting PR
--u can work anywhere in europe without any work visa
--can visit many countries without any tourist visa
<
I would say its a highly taxed country.
Basic income tax rates are:
£ per year 2005-06 2006-07
Starting rate: 10%* £0-£2,090 £0-£2,150
Basic rate: 22%* £2,091-£32,400 £2,151-£33,300
Higher rate: 40%* Over £32,400 Over £33,300
Apart from this there is approx. 8-9% National Insurance(NI) Deductions irrespective of u r salary.
So u end up paying approx. 50% tax on anything above 33300 per year.
Apart from this there is a VAT of 17.5% on u r purchases irrespective of location in UK.
UK- Life in UK
punjabi;12479
I don't think there are any benefits for a USC to move to UK. It will be a big stepdown in terms of standard of living. Everything is so expensive here in UK compared to USA in most cases double the price and also taxes are a ripoff.
[/quote]
I'm really surprised...to say the least.
Worst case, I'm hoping they would compensate (salary, bonus, commissions, hikes, other incentives etc.) better to make up for the high tax and higher cost of living - just like how it is done here in the US, where location and cost of living is factored in while finalizing the benefit package.
Am I making sense? It would probably help if one were to know how much an individual making 100K USD in the American Mid-West make in UK. In the US, an individual making 100K USD in the Mid-West could easily make 120K USD in the Bay Area.
By the way, I did not realize you dialed-in from UK...thanks your feedback is appreciated.
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Am I missing something here??? -DJ :cool:
UK- Life in UK
fantoosh;12531
Apart from this there is approx. 8-9% National Insurance(NI) Deductions irrespective of u r salary.
So u end up paying approx. 50% tax on anything above 33300 per year.
Apart from this there is a VAT of 17.5% on u r purchases irrespective of location in UK.
[/quote]
Thanks for taking the time to provide clear and detailed information for each question. Can you think of anything else that might be relevant to this topic of discussion? Or would you rather suggest that people not think of as an option at all. Please let us know....
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Second thoughts and forgotten information is important too. -DJ :cool:
UK- Life in UK
I think the salaries are about the same in US and UK, maybe a bit higher in US. Most of the IT salaries are in the range of £35k-£50k
Check jobserve.com to get an idea.
Check jobserve.com to get an idea.
UK- Life in UK
punjabi;12751I think the salaries are about the same in US and UK, maybe a bit higher in US. Most of the IT salaries are in the range of £35k-£50k
Check jobserve.com to get an idea.[/quote]
Well I can tell from first hand experience that this is not correct. IT salaries range from 40K-120K (or even more but I am not going there). Depends on skill set, experience.
I know even Indian IT companies pay in the UK in the range of 70-100 K easily for 5+ years experience in ERP or other skills in demand.
And the finance industry - banking / FI - salaries are much higher. Their bonuses are to the tune of 100+K.
UK- Life in UK
b2b;12752Well I can tell from first hand experience that this is not correct. IT salaries range from 40K-120K (or even more but I am not going there). Depends on skill set, experience.
I know even Indian IT companies pay in the UK in the range of 70-100 K easily for 5+ years experience in ERP or other skills in demand.
And the finance industry - banking / FI - salaries are much higher. Their bonuses are to the tune of 100+K.
MAybe I was a bit generalizing there. ERP and Banking are niche areas and always command high salaries. I am a DBA with 6 years experience and I get only 45K outside London and in London I know its not more than 60k
So what are these skillsets which pay 120k ?
UK- Life in UK
Excellent post Fantoosh. I will chip in my 2 cents...
1) Horribly expensive childcare (£45 to £65 per day).
2) Horribly expensive private schools (on an average £1000 per month plus other charges ).
3) Very few public schools are good. However, housing near good public schools could be twice as expensive (or £100,000 pounds more to buy than neighbouring locations )
4) Horribly expensive University education. (£3,000 to £6,000 per year for simple BA, BSC. For MBA and others £14,000 to £40,000 per year depending on the school. Most of the students have an average debt of £25,000 by the time they come out of University ).
5) Children cannot play outside from October to March (because of the weather). It rains so much, as Fantoosh has said even in those few months of summer it could rain and th weather will go grey. Infact, weather is in the main reason i am planing to move out of the UK. It is indeed very depressing. Pain to get up in the morning. Also if you body is very Sun dependent, you are likely to have heart problems (mild pains) and panic attacks. Seasonal affective disorder is very common.
6) Work culture, this may vary from co. to co. however th eimpression i got from some senior desi friends is, If you are a technical person and want to remain technical then it is easy for you but the moment you think of moving into management it is hard. The generally don't like other nationality people as managers (this includes other European countries as well not just desis)
7) Housing in London is extremely expensive. On an average people could spend half of their salary or even more for house rent + council tax + bills.
8) According to latest news public transport is going to get more expensive as some saver fares will be scraped. Roads are very narrow so driving in the city is bad. Every traffic light or a round about there will be traffic Jam. I got so frustrated with the traffic and public transport that i started cycling to/from work. This worked well for some time but in winter a fellow cyclist had a fall because of black ice and broke his hip etc. That made me very alert. Also many times the wind is so strong it can literally push you on sides. And of course careless car drivers who hate cyclists, park their cars in cycle lanes leaving the cyclist in a mess.
9) Most of the day to day use things are expensive in Britain, especially, as compared to neighbouring EU countries. Many people I know do their car repairs etc in Belgium or France, that way they have a trip in the money they save plus some shopping.
10) Finally, almost 60-70% of britons want to leave their country and immigrate somewhere else.
1) Horribly expensive childcare (£45 to £65 per day).
2) Horribly expensive private schools (on an average £1000 per month plus other charges ).
3) Very few public schools are good. However, housing near good public schools could be twice as expensive (or £100,000 pounds more to buy than neighbouring locations )
4) Horribly expensive University education. (£3,000 to £6,000 per year for simple BA, BSC. For MBA and others £14,000 to £40,000 per year depending on the school. Most of the students have an average debt of £25,000 by the time they come out of University ).
5) Children cannot play outside from October to March (because of the weather). It rains so much, as Fantoosh has said even in those few months of summer it could rain and th weather will go grey. Infact, weather is in the main reason i am planing to move out of the UK. It is indeed very depressing. Pain to get up in the morning. Also if you body is very Sun dependent, you are likely to have heart problems (mild pains) and panic attacks. Seasonal affective disorder is very common.
6) Work culture, this may vary from co. to co. however th eimpression i got from some senior desi friends is, If you are a technical person and want to remain technical then it is easy for you but the moment you think of moving into management it is hard. The generally don't like other nationality people as managers (this includes other European countries as well not just desis)
7) Housing in London is extremely expensive. On an average people could spend half of their salary or even more for house rent + council tax + bills.
8) According to latest news public transport is going to get more expensive as some saver fares will be scraped. Roads are very narrow so driving in the city is bad. Every traffic light or a round about there will be traffic Jam. I got so frustrated with the traffic and public transport that i started cycling to/from work. This worked well for some time but in winter a fellow cyclist had a fall because of black ice and broke his hip etc. That made me very alert. Also many times the wind is so strong it can literally push you on sides. And of course careless car drivers who hate cyclists, park their cars in cycle lanes leaving the cyclist in a mess.
9) Most of the day to day use things are expensive in Britain, especially, as compared to neighbouring EU countries. Many people I know do their car repairs etc in Belgium or France, that way they have a trip in the money they save plus some shopping.
10) Finally, almost 60-70% of britons want to leave their country and immigrate somewhere else.
UK- Life in UK
#11 b2b,
I am positively surprised. Which cos. pay in the 70K to 100K range. Will you please let me know ?
I am a Technical Project Manager (apm certification, java and oracle projects, ecommerce in fast transaction environment), currently in one of the top sw cos. I am resigning this month and would really appreciate if there are cos. paying out in that range.
I have UK citizenship so visa is not an issue. My overall IT experience is 14 years (development + project management ).
I am positively surprised. Which cos. pay in the 70K to 100K range. Will you please let me know ?
I am a Technical Project Manager (apm certification, java and oracle projects, ecommerce in fast transaction environment), currently in one of the top sw cos. I am resigning this month and would really appreciate if there are cos. paying out in that range.
I have UK citizenship so visa is not an issue. My overall IT experience is 14 years (development + project management ).