England, "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" are concepts that are often used interchangeably, but are essentially different from each other. First of all, let's start the article by briefly explaining these concepts that are confused with each other. Geographically, the region comprising Great Britain, Ireland, The Isle of Man, The Channel of Islands and about 6000 islands is called the British Isles. The term Great Britain is essentially used to denote the largest island in this region - the island consisting of England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom (United Kingdom) is a political concept consisting of the states of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full official name is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". In many foreign press and official organizations, the concept of England as a UK substitute and the term British instead of British citizenship status continues to be widely but incorrectly used. Another important issue is that the Republic of Ireland is politically located outside the UK. Because, ignoring that "Northern Ireland" belongs to another state, the island continues to be used as if it belongs to "Ireland".
After the introduction above, let's continue with the main topics of our article. The Brexit process, which officially started on March 29, 2017, finally ended with the parties reaching an agreement 3 days ago. I say it has ended, but the draft, which is the final state of the negotiations, will become valid after the approval of the British and EU countries councils. While discussing the negative effects of the long-lasting uncertainty of the Brexit process on the British economy, the addition of the covid-19 pandemic, which the whole world is facing, has seriously damaged the economy. The service sector constitutes approximately 80% of the country's economy. Lockdowns brought in accordance with the fight against pandemic affected this sector the most and made almost half of its capacity unable to work. The largest public borrowing in the history of the country was realized in this period.
The Ankara Agreement ends automatically as of December 31, 2020. Those who have started the application process until this date will be finalizing their applications in 2021 according to this agreement. As of the new year, both EU and Turkish citizens will now apply with the rest of the world under the new immigration law based on scoring and will be evaluated according to this new law. Those who can get at least 70 points in total from the following criteria will be eligible to apply. As can be seen, there are very radical changes. More detailed information can be found here.
I should state that the information I will give is the result of my personal experience and researches from official authorities. I must confess that I am nourished by the official sources of the state here and my own experiences, and that I will be trying to give you as understandable examples as possible while conveying them to you. I must say from the beginning that the information I will give does not appeal to the "caravan is flattened on the road" group. "Let's put the cover on a UK and we'll look behind." big disappointments will be waiting for those who say. I will be appealing to people who have arranged their work for more work, or who have made their entrepreneurship plan on real grounds. I will be trying to summarize the whole process in terms of items by sticking to the official data, and I will try to squeeze my own comments and recommendations. Let's cut to the chase!
1- Teak - Tok
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, this article will be an article from this perspective, explaining the procedures for the arrival of a person with EU citizenship as well as Turkish citizenship (or any other citizenship). There are two milestone dates for EU citizens who wish to continue living in the UK after Post Brexit: December 31, 2020 and June 30, 2021. EU citizens until June 30, 2021, provided they are residents of the UK as of December 31, 2020 ". By applying to EU Settlement Scheme, if they have been living in the UK for less than 5 years, receiving "Pre-settled" status (I am currently living in London for 2 years) a 5-year session in the UK for more than 5 years If they are alive, they can obtain "Settled" status and obtain unlimited residence rights. Those with "pre-settled" status can apply for "Settled" status and then British citizenship when they complete their 5th year. After 12 months of having "Settled" status, anyone can apply for British citizenship.
The application fee for EU Settlement Scheme was removed during the term of former Prime Minister Theresa May. The application is made completely online with the following application. By installing the above application on an Android and iPhone 7 and above phone and your biometric passport, your Nino (National Insurance Number) and "Proof of Adress" (your residence address) documents / information will take your application for a total of 10-15 minutes. You can do it within a period of time. The application is completed after all the requested information is entered. Extra documents / information may be requested prior to the decision. The result is delivered by mail within a maximum of 2-3 weeks.
2- Moving Phase
Actually, this phase is the first phase of the process, but since the hourglass has been started for the topic I am talking about in the first place, I found it more appropriate to make such a sequence. It is obvious that you will have to move to a city or neighboring residential areas with commuting, depending on the address of the company you have contracted. Assuming that this city is clear, let's talk about the steps you need to take next.
a) House Search
This process differs a lot depending on whether you are a single family or a family. I have to say that London costs are almost 2-3 times as much as other city costs and I will be making comparisons in London. A deposit and rent down payment is usually enough for you to rent only a room from a shared house, but if you are going to rent a house or apartment, I can say that it is a very chaotic process. In this option, there is a reference and / or an extra down payment. London is divided into 6 regions for travel planning from the center to the outside. The rental prices in these regions, known as Zone 1-6, naturally increase / decrease in direct proportion to the proximity to the center.
The real estate sector is very strong here. Almost all of the homeowners rent out their homes through a real estate company. The best and most efficient site where you can search for a rental room is SpareRoom for me. I rented a room in Canary Wharf (Zone 2) with this application when I was not bringing my family with me yet.
When you rent a house or flat, the most effective market places are RightMove and Zoopla websites. Here, you can filter the schools around the rental property, subway stations, and the distance to the center by various criteria. Realtors have been banned by the government from taking commission from the tenant as of June of this year. I rented Detached House through OpenRent, which is not so known, which gives the opportunity to rent directly from the landlord. Both my and my wife's credit status and history were tested by a loan agency when renting this home. At the same time, a reference letter was requested from our companies. After you like the house and show the rental will, the credit check process begins. If this process is completed positively, a deposit of 5 weeks is required. This deposit is kept independent of the landlord in a fund under government protection. After this is deposited, the contract is signed. Subsequently, the process ends by paying the first rent. There are those who have a bad credit score or those who do not get approval in the credit history check, who say that the rent can still be kept by paying the rent for a period of 6 months or longer with the initiative of the landlord.
b) Rental Costs
As for the rental costs, the average room rental prices in Zone 1-6 range from £ 600-850. Of course, these prices can vary considerably depending on the distance of the house to the center and subway stops, whether it is a house with a garden or a flat. The 2 bedroom detached house I rented is located in Bromley, Zone 5. London Bridge is 40 minutes away by train and 85% of the population is British and EU's, and London's largest borough (county) is water. As seen below, we pay £ 1200 monthly rent + £ 145 council tax (municipal tax) for this house with a garden at the back and a small garden and car driveway at the front. The monthly cost of the house before the bills is £ 1345 for us.
c) GP (General Practitioner)
The National Health System (NHS) provides free services to anyone who is allowed to live in the country. Of course, in order to receive these services, you must first go to the closest family doctor (GP) to your residence address and register via the form. Except for very urgent health-related situations, the first place you need to apply will be your GP. You can also subscribe to an application that offers function services such as booking appointments, medication and results tracking via mobile. Turkey's weed shit emergency mode, enter the emergency service with getting your habit, I advise you to leave aside here also where the "emergency" concept in Turkey in a very different perspective.
d) School Registration
In the UK, schools are regulated by a higher authority such as OFSTED and are divided into 4 categories accordingly:
OutstandingGoodRequires ImprovementInadequateNaturally, all families want to send their children to "Outstanding" or "Good" level schools. For this, renting a house from the regions where those schools are becoming a criterion, it also becomes another factor that increases the rental prices. School preferences are made online via the eadmissions platform until the end of January of each year, with the first 6 choices according to the catchment area of the address. Those who missed these dates because they came from abroad and changed their address during the interim period, apply for "In Year" status to the municipalities where their address is located. Since we missed this eadmissions application deadline, we were placed in our second choice, the school, by applying via the Bromley municipality with our preferences for "In Year" status.
e) Getting a Driver's License
Regardless of which driver's license you come to the country, you can drive here for 1 year with your current driving license. If your driver's license belongs to one of the EU countries, you can send it to DVLA and have it replaced with a British driver's license. If you do not have an EU license, you must first apply for the Provisional Driving License here for £ 34. You will receive this license by mail within 1 week. You can drive with your provisional license on roads other than the highway, provided that you are at least 21 years old, have a full license for 3 years and you put an "L" (learner) sign on the front and back of your car. The next step is to register for the Theory Test when you are ready. You can register at a test center for £ 23 for any date and time. The theory test consists of two sub-categories, "Theory" and "Hazard Perception". While the Theory section consists of general theoretical questions about traffic rules, Hazard Perception mostly measures your speed and accuracy to react to potential hazards while driving with driving simulation. To pass this test, you must answer at least 86% of the total questions correctly. After passing the test, the validity period of this test result is 2 years.
Then, when you think you have had enough driving practice, you should register for a "Driving Test" for £ 68. You need to go to the test center by renting your own vehicle or the instructor's vehicle (with the L mark on it and an extra rearview mirror for the inspector inside). Here you have to go with the suitable car for which type of license you want to get from manual or automatic gear. While at the same time passing the test with manual gear, they can also drive an automatic transmission vehicle, while only automatic transmission vehicles that pass the test with automatic transmission can use.
f) Getting a Phone Number
If you do not have a credit history in the country, you will probably not be given a postpaid line. Instead, you will need to buy Pay As You Go lines. Here it is very easy to move your phone number between operators. You can compare prices and choose the most suitable package for you here. I can say that Giffgaff is the operator that offers the best offer in the unlimited internet and talk package. You can have this package for £ 25 per month without quota worries.
g) Buying a Car
Even though London's subway, train and bus lines are all-encompassing, I can easily say that if you want to buy your own vehicle (which I assume you have done your driving license), all you need is money to buy the car you like. The rest is very easy. Get a detailed report online for £ 8-10 with the license plate of the car you like. Get your copy of the vehicle's log book (V5C) from the seller, make the money transfer to the seller's account, and return home with your vehicle. It's that simple! (If you are going to drive the vehicle home, you must have daily insurance).
As you can check vehicles from Facebook marketplace and various marketplaces, the two places that I would recommend to you the most are Car Giant and Auto Trader. Of course, you can buy your vehicle from the brands' own distributors.
The parameters that affect the annual costs of a vehicle are as follows:
If your vehicle is ULEZ free, you do not pay extra while passing through low emission zones.If your vehicle has a Euro 5 engine and above, your annual Road Tax will be low.Your annual insurance premium depends on your age, risk status, vehicle type, where you parked the vehicle, and in which area you live. If you have a no-claim bonus, your annual premium is reduced.I can give an example from my own vehicle for the average monthly cost of your average vehicle:
Vehicle Type: Audi a3 1.6 Turbo Automatic Gasoline ULEZ Free 2014 model
Annual Road Tax: £ 30
Annual MOT: £ 50
Annual Full Care: £ 180
Annual Insurance: £ 880
Annual Gas: £ 600
Average Monthly Expense: £ 145
By the way, one-way bus, metro, tram price is £ 1.5. Local train prices range from £ 2.5 to £ 5 depending on the routes.
e) Buying a House
Buying a house in this country is a process that takes some time. The period between the application date and the date that the house belongs to you can take up to 1 year in some cases. You must work with a solicitor and financial / mortgage adviser-broker when buying a home. The home buying process starts with the budget work. You don't need to be married; here, by law, the person you call "my lover" or "my partner" is almost like your legal spouse. The maximum amount of mortgage a person can receive in this country can be at most 4.5 times of gross annual income. In this case, when you multiply the total annual income of your partner or spouse by 4.5 times, you reach the maximum mortgage amount you can obtain. If you add the down payment that you can put on this, the down payment for this house must be at least 5% of the sale price of the house.
London is a city where house prices are very high. It is possible to buy a mansion in Newcastle for the price you buy a 3 + 1 house in London. Again, I would like to give an example from the house we live in. Its current market value is £ 320000. I would like to talk about two financial models before moving on to calculations: "Help To Buy" and "Shared Ownership".
1- The Help To Buy model is a model put forward by the government for first time buyers who do not have a home on their own in the world. The state, which is suitable for sale with this scheme, which must be zero houses, participates in the down payment part of the houses with 40%, becomes a partner to your house in proportion to the share corresponding to this price. You do not pay any price for this rate for 5 years. From the 6th year you start to pay interest on this amount, which is 1.7% per year for the first year. In parallel with the increase in the value of the house, your debt increases in proportion to the share of the state (of course, this is fictitious and it only comes into play when you sell the house without paying off your debt to the state; that is, if the state sells your house without closing its share and the value of your house has increased by 10 from the value you bought it for the first time, the new sale price of that day. you must be paying the state as much as the state's share).
2- Shared Ownership model allows you to buy 25%, 50% and maximum 75% of the value of the house. After the shares you bought, you pay rent for the remaining shares. In other words, in this model, the part you pay for the house can actually be considered as savings, while the part that goes to rent can be considered as an expense.
Of course, you can buy the house you want to buy completely in cash or by giving 5% -10% down payment and mortgage for the rest. This is an alternative that can only be possible with your annual income and the price of the house you want to buy. So let's calculate with the Help to Buy scheme over the house I live in to make the subject clearer.
Market Value of the House: £ 320000
Help To Buy Equity 40%: £ 128000
Down payment 5%: £ 16000
Mortgage 55%: £ 176000
Now we need to get a £ 176k mortgage as seen above. Let's calculate our annual gross income that we need to have in order to get a mortgage of this amount. As I mentioned above, our maximum coefficient was 4.5.
£ 176000 / 4.5 = £ 39111 (this is your gross annual amount you or your partner should earn)
Suppose you earn this amount. Everything went well and with Help To Buy you were eligible to buy this house, and your mortgage was accepted. In this case, what will your monthly payment be? Of course, the interest rates offered to you will vary depending on your credibility, but assuming you have a "Good" credit score, we can say that you will have an annual mortgage interest of 1.7% -2.5%. According to these conditions, the monthly amount we will pay for the first 5 years for the mortgage with a total maturity of 20 years will be £ 850. As of the 6th year, the interest payment of the state share will start, which will be £ 250 per month for that year. 6-year installments will then be £ 1100. While you are only paying £ 1200 for rent today, when paying for your own home, you still don't pay that amount even at the end of the 6th year.
4- General Economic Situation and Purchasing Power
If your annual income is over £ 80,000, you are in the top 5% bracket. The average salary of the total working population in the country is estimated at £ 30 000 in 2020. Here, the fiscal calendar starts with April 1 and ends with the last March of the following year. The current financial year will end on March 31, 2021. The minimum wage for the current financial year is £ 8.72 gross per hour. That means a gross monthly gain of £ 1511 for someone who works 8 hours net a day and 5 days a week. Of course, paying the income tax and Nino's shares will have a net disposable income of £ 1300 per month. I will try to compare the minimum wages of both countries with the purchasing situations within them. I will try to do this under two groups as "compulsory" and relatively luxury goods. Of course, for a more technical comparison, we will need to calculate the purchasing power indices and the prices of average basket products, but without entering these calculations, I will try to do it as in the table below. .
The UK is leaving the European Union on contract at the end of this month, where it entered 47 years ago. Likewise, while he was already a member of the union, he had an independent political attitude: not being included in the euro currency, staying outside the Schengen area; like the continent's traffic flowing from the right, using securities to itself in measurement units. This is an attitude that is partly due to the economic and political power you have. Although this is one of the factors underlying the attitude of the United Kingdom, which is one of the countries that financed the European Union along with Germany and France, it was the first time in 1975 that the EP questioned its exit from the EU due to the vetoes it ate, but it was period failed.
First of all, I must say that, as in every developed country, I should state that the first immigrants to this country live a much better life in this country compared to the "immigrants who came recently" with the benefits they have with numerous advantages. Based on my observations and research, I can say that the number of immigrants who have not passed the qualification filter is very high. There are large masses who could not contribute economically and socioculturally in their own country and migrated to these places seeking the remedy in the relative economic superiority of the developed country. It is absolutely necessary not to consider everyone who migrated abroad from their own countries as a "brain drain". I can easily say that 75-80% of the total immigrant population is "body drain". We can say that this is a win-win change for both countries as long as it stays on its dose. Likewise, thousands of immigrants who can fall into the relatively qualified category in their own country survive here by doing jobs they have never done before at minimum wage levels. Especially in the absence of major differences, such as employee salaries paid in Turkey; An economic picture in which the salary difference of a department manager with the least earning person of a company does not exceed 2-3 times and parallel to this, the fact that the purchasing power is at a level that allows the minimum wage to reach many luxury products, so to speak, "class difference" is eliminated. I can easily say that professional titles are not given any importance. Where a train driver almost earns a deputy salary, I can say that a teacher works for a little over the minimum wage. I can say that people who want handicraft and perform jobs such as craftsmanship and craftsmen make good earnings. The fact that there are too many kebabs / restaurants in the list of the richest people in the country is a result of this. Of course, there is "service inflation" in all profitable and relatively easy businesses in these areas. Like those who do not work as barbers in their lives, they open a barber shop saying "There is good money in this business." As a freelancer, it is one of the things that makes me happy that people get their labor and what they deserve. Of course, it is a fact that there are exceptions to this situation. Especially the extent of the labor of the people they work with most Turkish companies and service sector tradesmen is well known.
London is a very cosmopolitan city. 75% of the total immigrant population in the UK lives in London. Life is very colorful in a multicultural and religious city where more than 250 languages are spoken. This is a metropolis where you are not even aware of or felt different, let alone the effort to be different. Eating out and participating in social activities are not relatively expensive; It is a place where you can reach the most important and various events of the world almost every day. You can easily find every cuisine food, drink from every country, music, art and entertainment you can think of. London is a world center that lives 24/7 and never fails with a colorful festival atmosphere. Metallica comes to you at least twice a year for funny ticket prices, what more could you want?
Have you ever been bothered by the extreme respect and race to give way on the road or in traffic? The smiles of people you don't know; How would they say good morning / hello to you? How would it feel to live in a green world center where there is no social and neighborhood pressure, no daily political conflicts, and where nature and architecture are very tightly preserved?
Here, no one is in a hurry, including companies. You may need to wait 7-8 days to connect to the internet. Things are heavy, but done properly. Bureaucracy exists only for the prolongation of the process. Although almost all transactions can be done online (for example, you can take a photo of your electricity meter with the application you download to your phone and get your current bill after 3 minutes) communication by letter is very common in this country. The fast and economical services of all kinds of shipping / postal services are also magnificent, as is the immense public transport.
I'm not sure if there is another capital city that can stay as green as London. Approximately 50% of the total area of the city is green area. It has magnificent sized parks intertwined with natural life. These parks can be found at least 2-3 within walking distance of each different district.
You can step or do somersaults on the green areas in these parks, which are full of squirrels, ducks, and foxes, even if you bring tea in the thermos, including rolling around :) You can lie down and sunbathe with your clothes or topless in an environment where no one cares about you. Your children can run and play on the grass.
Of course, there are not only beautiful sides but also annoying ones. For example, the low number of policemen and the low number of policemen on shifts is a relative deficiency for me. Crime rates can be quite high among immigrants. There are complaints about the health system, but personally we haven't had a chance to experience it yet. This situation seems quite relative. Here you have to manage your time very well. If you are a family with children, you should do the daily operational planning and long-term strategic planning (holidays, trips, etc.) of your business and private life as you will have to do everything yourself (such as dropping the children to school) Since August is the only time when children do not have schools, the only time you can take a vacation is this month of the year. While this restricts you on the one hand, it also gives you the opportunity to plan 1 year in advance. However, because everyone is in the same situation as you in this country, the flight ticket prices in August can go up to 4 times the normal times. Even if you haven't bought the tickets before in May, it would be a miracle to find a suitable flight at that time. Turkey 'as is great whether you entrust your children with activities that you can do on your own for a few hours, unfortunately you do not have a chance to do here. You have an obligation to do everything as a family until they reach a certain age. Another issue is the constantly cloudy and rainy weather. Unlike most, I am not complaining about this. I do not agree with the idea that it is cold. In the coldest months (January-February) we see a maximum of -2-3 degrees. Perhaps the negative effect of being open to the winds of being an island country on the felt temperature may make people feel this way. But in those days, you can also see a lot of people walking outside in mini skirts or t-shirts.
The article is too long. Without further ado, let me end my article with a brilliant photograph that fits the spirit of the period despite the pandemic trouble at this time of the year. Stay healthy.
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