Moving is a very big decision with far-reaching consequences for your family, social life, financial life, and more — most people aren’t adequately prepared for it, and this causes them a plethora of problems down the road.
With the recent events surrounding Brexit, many Britons have contemplated moving to Germany, with a significant number already making the jump. Germany is the country of choice for many professional Britons for a number of reasons:
- Germany’s economy is really resilient and has consistently outperformed much of Western Europe.
- Germany’s financial sector is developed and attracts a lot of young professionals from Britain.
- Germany’s society, at large, is one of the closest to the UK on mainland Europe.
So, if you’re interested in moving to Berlin from the UK, what should you do? How should you prepare? In this article, we’ll go over all the major steps you need to take.
#1 Concrete Planning
Moving is an intricate, complex process that will take weeks if not months, and that’s why you need to have a concrete plan if you wish to be successful. There are many things that you need to keep track of:
- Is all your luggage in order? Have you missed anything important?
- If you’re travelling with a partner, a friend, or family members, have you coordinated sufficiently?
- Are all your papers in order? Travelling from the UK to Germany doesn’t require a lot of paperwork, but it is still important to check.
After you ask yourself these questions, you should create a list and jot down everything point by point. As you go through the moving process, cross each step once you’ve successfully finished it.
This process will minimize oversights, make the moving process smoother, and save you time and money overall. There’s no reason to not start with this.
#2 Find a Place to Stay in Germany
After you have things in order on your own end, if you haven’t already decided, it is time to look for a proper place to move to in Germany. Depending on whether you plan on renting or buying a place, the process can look very different for you:
- If you’re planning on buying a place in Germany, this is a far bigger commitment, and you need to make sure you’re sufficiently familiar with the German real estate market and laws and regulations before you take the plunge. You also need to make sure you pay a visit or two to the house and thoroughly check it.
- If you’re going to rent a place, which is probably recommended if you’ve never lived in Germany before, you’ll have more leeway in the future. Moving to another country altogether is a big decision in itself, but renting a place will allow you more freedom as you get familiar with the country. Even if you’re renting, however, you still need to make sure the place is close enough to public transportation, supermarkets, gyms, etc.
#3 Contact a Company to Help with the Removal
After you have a concrete place to move to, it is time to contact a removal company to help you move your luggage, furniture, and miscellaneous items to Germany — due to how common the process is and how integrated German and UK economies are, hiring a removal company is a cheap, cost-effective way to move all your stuff from the UK to Germany. It usually takes a day, and your items will be handled by professionals.
Of course, the quality of service between removal companies vary, and you have to take that into account when making your decision. Cost, expertise, experience, and availability are all things you need to evaluate between different companies before deciding on one.
