Our 2-year timeline for an international move
Wait . . . we’re not moving to England for almost two years and I’m already making a big deal about it?! Yup, I estimate it’s one part necessity, two parts my personality.
Here’s my rough timeline:
2023 - Lay low, do some research. We have a baby and a preschooler, so we’re kind of busy with that. Although my husband is going on a scouting trip soon to check out a few potential towns and cities we’re interested in (more on that here).
Spring 2024 - Prep and sell a house. We need to sell our investment property to have enough money to meet the financial requirements of the UK spouse visa (more on that here). That means talking to a Realtor, notifying our tenants, cleaning up the house and doing some minor repairs, then hopefully selling it smoothly.
Summer/Fall 2024 - Go on a family scouting trip to England. Before we make this huge leap, we want to check some places out together as a family, even if that means taking little kids on a long-haul flight argh. But if it makes us feel more confident about everything, it’ll be worth it.
Winter 2024/2025 - Apply for the UK spouse visa. The funds need to sit in our savings account for six months before we can apply for the visa. So the countdown of when we can apply starts whenever the sale of the house goes through. Right now the wait time to get the visa processed is around six months.
Spring 2025 - Sell another house. This is when we commit, no going back. We’ll sell our house and car, decide which furniture and belongings get shipped or sold or donated, quit our jobs, and book the one-way tickets.
Summer 2025 - Move! Depending on when the spouse visa comes through, we’ll make the leap in the summer. I still need to figure out dates to register for school for my oldest, that’ll be the top priority. We’ll probably want to rent a house and buy a car ahead of time, so it’s a softer landing for the girls, we have an address established for the school catchment area, and we have a place to ship our stuff.
That’s the idea, more or less. We’re going to talk to a real estate agent this fall, so between that and the scouting trip, it’s definitely starting to feel more real.