Moving to a new country? This is what you need to watch out for.
Tips to make your transition easier.
Are you interested in more actionable guides around expat life? Then maybe you are also interested in these:
After a couple of expat stories about baseball and parties in barns, it felt like a good time to switch gears and write something more practical, for anyone who might need it. So this post is about things that is good to know when planning your move to a new country.
Part of the challenge of moving to a new place, is not knowing how things work. Another part is that, some things require physical presence. This post is about tips and tricks you need to know before moving. It is also about red flags you need to watch out for.
What to expect to learn in this post:
How to spot housing scams
By far the biggest task one has to take care of before moving, is to find accommodation. In some places this is already difficult when you are there, but doing it from a distance also adds a lot of risk. In places with high demand for housing, accommodation scams are very common. Scammers live off of people desperate to find a (cheap) place to stay. The most common way the scams work, is that they will offer you an imaginary accommodation and ask some money in advance as a deposit. Once they get that, you will never hear back from them.
Luckily for us, the red flags are usually easy to notice:
If the price is too good to be true, it probably is.
Advice: check out the market prices. If someone is renting out an apartment for 60% of market value, you should be suspicious.Job advertisement doesn't include photos.
Advice: filter for accommodations that include photos.Job advertisement includes fake photos.
Since not having photos is too obvious, scammers might just download and use photos from other apartments they find online.
Advice: Google allows you to search for images. You simply input an image to your search query and Google will return matching results. If you do that and you see that the photos belong to a completely different house, run.No possibility for viewing.
The most obvious red flag, is that the scammers will avoid arranging a house viewing, even via video call. They will come up with excuses about being on a business trip, not having time, not seeing your email or even just not replying.
Advice: ALWAYS see the listing in real life. I would say travel for a few days, stay in an Airbnb/hotel and plan to see as many places as possible. However, in places with high demand for housing, the owner will usually not wait for you to do that and you need to act fast. If you cannot be there in person yourself, ask a friend to go in your place. If that is also not possible, ask for a video call, where they will show you around. In the case that none of the above is possible, I would strongly advise against making any agreements, especially sending any money.
You can also have a real estate agent look for you. It will cost you extra, but you will be safe from scams.
Personal experience
I have only experienced one such case myself. It was via Craigslist when I was looking for apartments in the US. The person listing it was polite and they gave me all the info I requested. They even sent me a photo of them holding their (open) passport. Of course I cannot know that the information shown in that photo is not tweaked. The red flag was that they would avoid replying to my request for an online viewing. They also asked me to sign a form with some sensitive information. Once I clarified that unless we plan a viewing, I am not willing to pursue this further, I never heard from them again.
I have (sub)let a room in the past, to people who were not yet in the country. I always encouraged them to have a video call, where we met each other and I showed them the apartment. If both sides felt like this was a good match, I would also encourage them -since they could not be there in person- to send a friend to see the apartment for them. That was both to avoid misunderstandings, but also for them to know that this is not a scam.
And if you spot a scam and have a bit of time to spare, maybe you can follow a less conventional approach, like Joe Lycett:
Know the salary nomenclature
Many people move for work. I will not go into the weeds of how to find a job in another country. I am confident that a simple google search will return a ton of answers. The one thing however that you need to know is, which number employers refer to, during salary negotiations.
Should you ask for a monthly gross salary? Or monthly net salary? Or maybe yearly gross salary? Does that number include pension or not?
Maybe you have never thought of that, but when talking money, you always refer to one of those numbers. But the number people refer to, changes from country to country.
For example in Greece, you would discuss monthly net salary. In Denmark on the other hand, it is common to discuss monthly gross salary. Usually companies will add some pension contribution on top of it, but my advice would be to clarify that. You can do that, by asking for the amount you would like and specifying whether it includes pension.
All in all, my advice is to learn the terminology. That will save you time and disappointment. I don’t mean to say that every employer is trying to scam you, but even if it is a misunderstanding, it might cost you a lot of money.
Adjust your CV
Similar to the previous point, you should also learn the local CV language. Should you include a photo? Do companies tend to use an ATS1 to go through CVs or is it done manually?
In Denmark, a photo is usually expected. In the UK it is a no-go2. A detail like that might cost you a position that you would otherwise be a good candidate for. Luckily for you, this info is not hard to find online.
Similarly, in Denmark a lot of people add 2-3 lines of summary at the very top of their CV. In other countries that might be considered redundant. Finally, I have never heard of a company in Denmark using an algorithm to go through CVs. You might think: what does it matter? Well, if I knew the company I am applying to, is using an ATS, then I would probably insert more buzzwords in the CV, or repeat some important words. This way, I would have better chances ranking higher and making it through the first filtering round.
I am not saying that doing these things will land you a job. But if you can improve your chances, shouldn’t you?
Arrive during business hours
That might sound odd. Why would you care about the day and time that you will arrive?
Of course you cannot always choose that. But if possible, I would try to arrive during a weekday and preferably while stores are still open. The reason is that, most likely, you will need some kind of store or service, the first day you arrive. For instance:
Maybe you need to activate your internet connection. I remember that in Germany3, each roommate needed to have a separate internet contract. And even though they knew my arrival date, they had not activated it, because they needed me to sign. Having arrived on a Friday evening, I spent the weekend without internet. Big deal you might think, but internet is actually much needed on your first days, to get things up and running. For me that meant that I would take my laptop and go to the university library to use their Wi-Fi. But because it was closed for the weekend, I had to sit in a bench outside.
Couldn’t you just use your roommate’s connection?
Don't get me started with that. The short answer is that after me asking very, very politely, he agreed to allow me to use it for a few minutes, just to let my folks know I arrived well. I bet my right hand, that he changed the password the moment I hung up the phone.
You will need some groceries. Even though in some countries supermarkets are open every day of the week, that is usually not the case. Germany is a prime example.
You will for sure need to make some appointments with a bank, local municipality etc. However these are usually not so urgent so you will probably not need to arrange them on your first day.
Get a local sim card
This also applies to travelling. In that case, it is just to be able to make cheap calls or have 4G/5G during your travels. In the case of relocating, it is also because you will need a local phone number for most things. Banks, services, any kind of registration will require a local phone number. You can also use it as hotspot on the first days, while you wait for the internet to be connected.
Get some cash in local currency
Again, this applies also to travelling. In the case of relocating, I would get some cash for the following reasons:
In many countries, paying by card is not possible in every transaction. Even in those where it is, I still feel safer having some cash on me. And unfortunately when you will need it, you will really need it.
Credit/debit cards some times charge you a fee for using them abroad. So while you wait for the local bank to give you a card, you can avoid that fee with cash. ATMs will also charge you a fee, so it is better to withdraw a lump sum, instead of withdrawing small amounts each time.
Register your vehicle
Just like registering yourself to the country/municipality when moving, you also need to do the same with your vehicle. I have never done it and I don’t have any tips for you, but I wanted to mention it because there might be cases where, if you don’t do it on time, you might be facing a fine.
Have I missed anything? Have you experienced something that might be good for others to know? Let me know in the comments ;)
-The Naive Ignorant
Application Tracking System.
I think the purpose is to avoid discrimination.
I have shared some details about my experience in Germany in these two posts:
It must be a bit of a culture shock moving to Germany,especially the fact that you have to carry cash because many shops don't accept cards.
I'd definitely say, for VISA purposes, open a bank account! that piece of proof will help a lot in getting identification documents etc.