Expat Living Abroad News

Latest 10 news items tagged Living Abroad

9 Jul at 6 PM 2019

Survey shows US expat discontent over citizen based taxation

The hugely unpopular US tax regime imposed on American expats living and working overseas needs to change, but survey respondents are unsure as regards how changes would affect them. Some nine million USA citizens by birth are living and working overseas, but retain their citizenship as an automatic right, thus leaving themselves open to citizenship-based taxation. Results of a recent survey indicate the vast majority are more than unhappy about the effect on their lives and finances of what they see as unfair taxation policies. The...
27 May at 6 PM 2019

EU and UK Expats to sue UK lawmakers over EU election fiasco

Claiming a ‘systematic denial of the right to vote’, both British and EU expat campaigners are preparing to sue the UK government. In an interview with the media, lawyer John Halford said the electoral chaos was intolerable for any country which considers itself a democracy. The right to vote, he added, is the foundation of citizens’ rights, with the events of last Thursday a systematic, large-scale discriminatory denial of the right. The case, he continued, will show the law will not tolerate such actions. Halford is working...
21 Dec at 6 PM 2018

Would-be British expats rejecting financial advice before they leave

Financial advice on how to plan for expatriation is being rejected by three-quarters of those planning to leave the UK. According to a YouGov survey commissioned by a leading financial advice firm, only 27 per cent of respondents had taken financial advice before planning to leave the UK on a permanent basis. When asked why they’d made the decision not to get advice on their pensions, tax liabilities and other financial matters, 50 per cent of those surveyed cited the high cost of employing a financial advisor and 30 per cent...
23 Nov at 6 PM 2018

Brit expat state pensioners on benefits worried over continued entitlement

British expats in EU member states who’re in receipt of UK benefits are afraid they will no longer be eligible post-Brexit. A number of Brit expats living in Spain and other popular expat hubs are receiving disability, illness and other benefits from the UK’s Department of Work and Pensions. The crucial benefits allow British citizens living in the EU to preserve their independence, remain safe and take care of their personal needs with dignity. Should these essential benefits be withdrawn post-Brexit, the vast majority would be...
19 Oct at 6 PM 2018

Expat voters with representatives could change the world

Over the last five decades, the number of expats living abroad has soared to 250 million, but almost all have no effective political representation back in the home country. Whilst it might seem illogical that citizens who’ve opted to spend many years overseas should have a say in the politics of the home country, the last few years have shown how necessary this is. Across the world, recent elections and one referendum have brought in disastrous changes which would possible not have happened should expat opinions and their votes...
28 Jun at 6 PM 2018

UK Labour party betraying disenfranchised expats over private members bill

Campaigners representing UK expats in Europe are accusing the Labour Party of betraying Britons living overseas. Cancellation of the hated 15-year disenfranchisement law disallowing British citizens living abroad for more than 15 years the right to vote was promised yet again in 2017 in a Tory party election manifesto, but no action was taken. Recently, campaigners introduced a private member’s bill sponsored by Tory lawmaker Glyn Davies, with the bill now slowly working its way through various stages in parliament. However, a...
16 May at 6 PM 2018

Australia is still a favourite with Brit retirees but its own are leaving

Australia is still popular with UK expat retirees, but its own seniors are leaving for more affordable foreign destinations. The numbers of elderly Australians leaving their home country for a less expensive life overseas have dramatically increased over the past decade, with Oz expat communities forming in Spain, Cambodia and Thailand. In 2016, almost two thousand Australian pensioners over the age of 55 relocated to various retiree hubs in Italy and Greece as well as New Zealand, mostly due to rising property prices and the soaring...
17 Apr at 6 PM 2018

Data debunks myth of Spain as elderly expat retirement haven

Contrary to the widely-held belief that Brit expat communities in Europe mostly contain retirees, statistics suggest two-thirds of UK expatriates are below retirement age. Recently-released data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics shows 66 per cent of the estimated 784,900 Britons living in Europe are between the ages of 64 and 15, with more living in Spain than in any other EU member state. In addition, the data shows Spain is home to 293,500 long-term British expatriates, and the UK has fewer emigrants living In Europe...
26 Feb at 6 PM 2018

UK expats votes for life bill moves to second stage

The private members’ bill aimed at reversing the hated 15-year disenfranchisement of British expat voters has passed its first hurdle. Friday’s debate saw the bill debated as required, with Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale suggesting it should be known as ‘Shindlers Bill’, in honour of the Italy-based, now 96-year old WWII veteran who has campaigned for decades to get the law reversed. Only 20 MPs turned up for the debate, but the low turn-out was enough to ensure the bill was passed through to the committee stage for detailed...
12 Feb at 6 PM 2018

British government vows to give long term UK expats the right to vote

A press release from Westminster seems to confirm the government is now resigned to lifting the hated 15-year disenfranchisement rule for long-stay UK expats living overseas. British expats unable to vote Remain in the Brexit referendum due to the ban could well be forgiven for believing the vow is just another promise to be relayed or broken at a later date. However, the press releases stated ‘all those living abroad will be enfranchised to vote'. Under existing laws, it adds, voter registration of British expats is the lowest of...