Looking for information about migrating to La Réunion

3POSTS

13 years ago

Hello,

A few years ago I met somebody who recently been on a holiday to La Réunion. As a former backpacker (who traveled the world for over 2 years), I really wanted to see photo's and video's.
After I spent several hours watching all their holiday pictures and video's, I couldn't stop thinking about that place.

As I said, I've spent more then 2 years travelling the world. I've been to New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, China, Japan, Chili, Brazil and several more countries. But none have left me with so many dreams as La Réunion.

For that reason I've decided to look into the process of moving there. What kind of visa do I need? Where do I go for requesting that visa/permit? What are the demands? Where do I start? When do I start.... etc.

I am hoping the more experienced forum-visitors of Expat-Blog can help to point me in the right direction.

A little bit about me:
I'm Dutch. Born and mostly raised. Until my 22th I've never been anywhere but The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. So when I was 23 I started to take holidays to destinations much deeper into Europe. I discovered that I have a huge love for other cultures, habits, environments, nature, traditions etc.
When I was 25 I bought several thousands worth of professional backpacking gear and took a plane to Singapore. From that day on, I spent 2 years and 3,5 month travelling the world.
It was the best and most happy time in my life.
Unfortunately, everything has to come to an end. And eventually I ended up in The Netherlands again.
I went to a lower technical school (not really sure how this is called in English) to become electrician, but I didn't really like it. So I started to emerge myself in the world of websites, graphic design and much more. Never took a class, just taught my own.
After my return I started working as a party manager (which I still do) and I've been doing professional car detailing (Google it

) for a few years now.

My motivation to look into moving to La Réunion:
I love travelling, love new cultures and meeting new people. I'm a real people-person

. None other country has captured my imagination and attention as much as La Réunion does. It took me a while to ask myself if I really wanna go down this road, but I do.
I've already made arrangements to start learning French (I'm really bad at it right now, but I'm a quick learner). And I've been reading a bit about the island.
With the help of this forum I hope I can find more information about everything I need to know to move to La Réunion.

My first plan of action:
I'm saving money to come to La Réunion myself and spent several weeks (perhaps months if possible) to travel around the island, meet people, do stuff and try to get a taste of what life is like in this beautiful place.
If I'm still convinced I wanna follow my heart and dream and put every bit of effort into making La Réunion my new home.

p.s. If this go as planned, I hope I can live the rest of my life on this island, not just a few years orso.

Thank you for reading my post, and I'm looking forward to reading some replies.

1 member reacted to this post

The Reunion Island expat guide

Comprehensive and free

Read it now

supervinnie40 Member

3POSTS

13 years ago

Hi SaintPauloise,

Thanks for your reply.
As far as I understand from your text; I can pretty much just get off the plane, look for a job... and that's pretty much it? No visa? No paperwork? No special requirements I need to meet?
Didn't expect that...

I am working on my French and when I take the big step I want to make sure that my French is good enough to talk with people without having to wonder what they are saying

.

Is it possible to elaborate on 2 things?
1. What do you mean with "life on the island is very expensive"?
Do you mean that houses are expensive? Or food, insurance, clothing.. etc. Everything is very expensive. Perhaps you can give me an example so I can put it into context.
2. How difficult is it to find a job?
I don't mind having to do a simple, or less paid job. If the only job I can get is to clean hotelrooms, I'm okay with that. Or is it even difficult to find simple jobs?
Having a bit of experience might help to get a more exclusive job? I can imagine that they still need graphic designers?

Cheers, Vinnie.

SaintPauloise Member

18POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Vinnie.

Indeed, you don't need a VISA for La Reunion. This is due to the fact that the island belongs to France and therefore is considered a part of France. As France is part of the EU, you no VISA is required .
Life on the island is expensive ; that includes food in supermarket, cars, rents..
I think it is easier to find a job in tourism/catering; However, it does require a good level of French. Also, most of the people on the island speak Creole; which is broken French.
Hope this helpful.

supervinnie40 Member

3POSTS

13 years ago

Thanks for all those answers. Merci

.

But I still find it very difficult to understand how expensive life is.
Right now, my work doesn't pay much and my girlfriend (who's not sure she wants to come with me) earns more.
Let's say that together we earn about 1500 a month (that's after tax). Every month, we save about 200 euro. So all our expenses together cost us around 85% of our monthly income.

We live fairly cheap, we've got one small car that doesn't get used very much. We buy cheap food and try not to buy anything we don't really need. We've got a normal rent house and we don't spent much on hobby's or eating out (or any other activities).

So, when you compare our live right now, would a life in La Réunion be ever harder? Or would the ratio between income and expenses be almost the same?

Cheers, Vinnie.

thierrydomi ViP

507POSTS

13 years ago

Hello, I'm belgian and live here since 2 years.
Yes, life is expensive here food is quite expensive for example, the average price for a bootle of 1.5l of cola is 1,5 , diesel costs 1,22 / l, beef is around 18/20 /kg but sometimes u can find broken prices and stock it.
insurances are cheaper then belgian ones, you don' t have to pay for heating, electricity is quite cheaper here, i pay 100 for 2 months ( i have a big house).
Water is also cheaper here.
If you buy your vegetables at the market, it's cheaper than in a store... 1kg tomatoes is 1 at the moment ,Carrefour's 2
the big post is car, nothing correct under 2000 for a small one and you need it here.
Renting a studio is about 5/600 but you can rent a house with several peoples and it will be cheaper.
The main adds site is WWW.leboncoin.fr / la réunion watch it and you will know the price about every 2° hands stuffs you'd need

regards and good luck

Thierry

Essential services for your expat journey

Choose the best health insurance

Protect your health and get easy access to treatment for expats in Reunion Island.

Plan your international move

Facilitate your move to Reunion Island by getting a quote from our top rated movers.

Open a bank account that suits you

Discover the best international banks to manage your money securely.

Send money overseas at the best rate

For fast, safe and secure money transfers to and from Reunion Island.