Anne-Lise Mty

The disease outbreak has taken the world by storm. It started in China and is making its way through the countries around. But over and above the psychosis, the situation is changing the lives of locals and expats alike all over China. We spoke to a few of them to get an insight of what it is like…

At midnight on the 31st of January, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union after a three-year tug-of-war within the British parliament itself. So, now that it is done, what does it mean for British expats living in the EU and EU expats living in the United Kingdom?

The coronavirus has claimed the life of twenty-six people to date and is seriously starting to worry public health experts all over the world. Indeed, the virus has spread to other countries of Eastern Asia as well as to the USA, Belfast and Scotland. Several Chinese cities are under a transport ban.

In India, the principle of citizenship has been largely discussed in the media and on the political sphere in the last few weeks. We seize the opportunity to talk about dual citizenship. An opportunity which often arises for expatriates. What is it? And what the pros and cons?

When we think of “moving abroad”, we often think of living the big life in a big city. There does not even seem to be a need to explain why moving to a big city would make sense. Everything is just easier in a big city. In small towns, everything is more complicated. Do the residents themselves not “go up to the city?” But, far from the clichés, small towns have many advantages.

On 25 November, the Kingdom of Kuwait added diabetes, a non-contagious health problem, to its existing list of contagious diseases that prevents expats from living in the country. This, however, is not an unusual move. A lot of countries deny entry to expats having specific medical conditions...

Perhaps second only to country of choice, one of the most important decisions we make as expats is whether to rent or buy a property. For temporary employment overseas, this is rarely a consideration, but for those relocating permanently, whether for retirement, lifestyle-change or some other reason, deciding whether to rent or buy is a major decision.

Denmark has just launched a six-month programme to help expatriates integrate. Indeed, leaving everything behind to settle in an entirely new country is never an easy thing to do. Just like Denmark, some countries seek to make things a little easier on expats by providing them with integration courses. Here are the countries that do and the different forms these programs take.

The last decade has seen an increasing number of women moving abroad for work. Are serviced apartments the ideal solution to ensure safety for women living abroad on their own?

Recent developments suggest that Canada has not only already established itself as another Silicon Valley but is actually also promoted and acknowledged by major technical giants as a good alternative to the existing Silicon Valley in the USA.

The protests began when the government announced a rise in the price of transport. What started as a student protest culminated in a march on the 1st of November in which no less than one million people participated. Expat.com talks to an expat in Chile.

Growing up abroad is one of the best childhood experiences kids can have. This will give them incredible skills that will shape them to be open-minded adults. How does one raise children from mixed marriages? How do you make sure that both cultures will be interspersed with their upbringing, along with their host country? Whether your child was born into your home country or abroad, here are a few tips...

You might have just landed a job and you need to negotiate your salary. For the same job, salaries in two different countries can be very different. If you're not sure what to expect, you can find below a tour of average salaries around the world...

He left his office job to become a stay at home dad in Malaysia while his wife is a teacher in an international school. And he has been pretty busy since: from following people into supermarkets because he might have spotted new friends for his young daughter, to his very first dress up day… David tells us about being able to take his children swimming everyday and about the difficulty of not being the breadwinner anymore, among others.

Australia has been grappling with ever increasing and challenging skills shortages in critical employment positions since 2008 and regarding some shortages as long back as 2004/2005. These shortages result because Australia does not succeed in filling vacancies from its own citizens. This is the case for Australia on a national and regional level where serious shortfalls are experienced in more than 200 professions found in its Occupation Skills Shortages List.

Street food is a common global phenomenon dating back over centuries. It is found in the wealthiest and poorest of countries and serve multiple purposes varying from feeding the masses to enticing foreigners and visitors to indulge in Michelin Star dishes like those served at Tsuta Ramen street food stall in Singapore (this should be on your bucket list!). Street food varies in accordance with country-specific cultures, habits, local economic situations, access and availability of food resources, climate, etc. Street food ranking, in comparison to the long existence of the street food practice, is relatively new, dating back merely one decade.

The debate around visa processes and specifically visas for people with skills on a country's skills shortage list has taken center stage over the past few years. President Trump has unveiled an artificial intelligence strategy to increase US security in travel but without the necessary skills domestically to achieve this, people skilled in AI will have to be brought in from abroad. Since the US has strict visa procedures that may take months to process, it might be time to consider the creation of a special visa for AI skilled workers. And other countries are considering this.

Climate is often a decisive factor when it comes to choosing an expatriation destination. Who would not want to move to a sunny, tropical island? Circumstances, however, often mean that you are most likely to end up in a country with harsher weather conditions than that. Here are some tips for choosing your destination and preparing for your new life.

The United Kingdom is known to have one of the strictest immigration policies. This October, however, settling down in the UK will be made a little easier. Conditions to apply for the Tier 2 (General) visa, the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa as well as the Start-up visa will change to make them more accessible.

Ahead of the launch of this year's United States' Green Card lottery on the 2nd of October, Estaform takes stock of the recent changes in the country's visa policies.

The changes are part of a bigger immigration reform in New Zealand. The requirements for the Talent Work Visa, one of the most sought after ways of settling in New Zealand are toughening up. The changes will come into effect on the 7th of October this year.

You want to go abroad or have just settled there. You are wondering how to integrate well and most of all be able to communicate with the locals and other foreigners? Perhaps you are even looking for a job that requires speaking another language.. Learning the local language seems like the most natural thing to do. But a lot of us get discouraged really fast. In fact, after 2 years living abroad very few English-speaking people do speak the local language. For some of us this means, less professional and personal development opportunities. Personally this meant not being hired by anyone when I first moved to the German-speaking part of Switzerland. If you want to make the most of your experience abroad, you are going to need to avoid the 3 traps most expats fall into - including me a few years ago. For each of them I will give you an alternative and well as a concrete action you can take right now for immediate results.

Ahead of the Expat Show Shanghai which will be on from the 20th to the 22nd of September we have had a chat with Christophe Rouillon. He is the director of ESSCA Shanghai, the Chinese branch of a French business school.

The Friday the 13th superstition is thought to originate from the last supper of Jesus where 13 individuals were present. Today, the superstition is alive and kicking and the fear of Friday the 13th even has a scientific name- triskaidekaphobia. It has given rise to a famous and very successful franchise of movies and it is also known to cause significant loss to businesses in the United States as a lot of people refuse to travel to work. But this is not the only, or even the strangest superstition. What are other superstitions around the world you should absolutely know about?

Ahead of the Expat Show Shanghai which will be on from the 20th to the 22nd of september, Expat.com has met entrepreneur Mike. After four years of living and working in Shanghai, Mike decided he wanted to offer visitors a unique way to discover the city. In 2015, he created Culture Shock- a company offering bike tours to visitors but most importantly, a complete immersion in the day-to-day life of this vibrant city.

Almost half of Barcelona's residents are foreign-born and this is a record. This was revealed last week by the Municipal Register of Inhabitants of the city. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region in Spain, seems to be a haven for expatriates. This is due to two reasons: firstly there is record growth of expats joining Barcelona's multicultural composition that is rapidly changing the face of the city and secondly there are the deliberate efforts by the City Administration to transform the existing multiculturalism into an interconnected, intercultural community for all its citizens.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) declared their 10th Ebola outbreak in 40 years on August 2018. Since the beginning of the outbreak, over a thousand of confirmed cases of the disease and over 700 deaths have been reported, making it the second largest Ebola outbreak in history. And, on July 17 of 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC a public health emergency of international concern.

It has been more or less a month since the Amazon rainforest fires have started. While fires happen in the rainforest every year, it has been reported that there are more than 80, 000 fires which is 85% more than what was recorded last year. So, what do expats on ground have to say?

Programa regressar or the return program has recently been put in place in Portugal to encourage skilled expats who have left the country to get back. Indeed, with the creation of the European Union and other agreement of this kind and the loosening of visa restrictions in bilateral agreements between many nations, people are able to travel to other countries whether for work or leisure purposes. International emigration translates to the movements of millions of people who move to other countries for any of a number of reasons. However, emigration can easily result in a ‘brain drain' as a country begins to lose its skilled workforce. What are other countries doing to counteract this phenomenon?

It has been six months since the unrest started in Hong Kong. Caused by disagreements over an extradition bill, confrontation between protesters and the police have been never-ending since February in the region. Does that mean expats could be considering leaving Hong Kong? It does not look like it just yet…

Vancouver is the world's friendliest city, according to Big 7 ranking. But this news has not been unanimously welcomed with the pride one would expect from Vancouverites. Here is the top 10 and here is what Vancouverites had to say about the ranking.

There is no way around it. If you're uprooting your life to a whole other country, you are going to want to make sure your quality of life is better after your move. And chances are, one of the factors you will take into consideration is work-life balance. Will your new job, your new work culture allow you to spend enough quality time outside of work? Here are five cities where you will find work-life balance is taken to a whole other level. They are the best five cities for work-life balance according to Kisi, the world renowned security experts.

The aim is to ensure continued top level research and innovation in the UK after a no-deal Brexit. Indeed, Britain's new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced plans to make it easier for scientists to seek residence visas in the UK after Brexit which is scheduled in October this year.

The petition has reached around 4000 signatures of expatriates living in Thailand. The latter are seeking the abolishment of the TM 30 rule. That is, the requirement for them to inform immigration should they spend more than 24 hours in another province.

Until now, only women could benefit from a work permit sponsored by a family member. Husbands could sponsor their wives for a work permit but not the other way round. But, things are changing. As of this month, women will also be able to sponsor their husbands, fathers and adult children for a work permit. This will allow more women to find and accept jobs in the UAE and will increase the pool of workers within the UAE.

Whether you're a first time mover or experienced traveller there is always a tip or two to learn before a big move. Which is why Crown Relocations have put together some of their top relocations hacks to make your move easier and take away some of that unnecessary stress.

Chelsea has been living in London for just over a year now but she has been dreaming about this life since she was a little girl. Europe has always been Chelsea's place to be. Our American girl documents her life abroad on her blog The Portable Wife.

Switzerland is not just banks and chocolate. The country also offers excellent quality of life and a plethora of other benefits for expatriates. So much so, that expats have chosen Switzerland as their favorite country in the HSBC Expat Explorer 2019. Here is what makes Switzerland a country of choice for expatriates...

Moving abroad is a task which requires courage, perseverance, and sometimes, large financial investment. Funds can quickly disappear in transporting belongings, property costs, and other hidden charges like foreign exchange rates. This article from CurrencyFair outlines some key principles in saving for expats who are just starting their adventure or looking to reassess some aspects of their new lifestyle abroad.

A recently proposed change to the capital gains tax for Australians residing abroad has caused quite a bit of a stir in the https://www.expat.community: the proposed law could have imposed heavy tax bills on thousands of Australians living outside their home country and was retrospective (which meant it would affect those having property in the country as far back as 1985).  While the new law has lapsed and may not be implemented at all — it does raise an often confusing and complicated question: how, where and how much tax should an expat be paying?

Following the release of the Teaching and Learning report of the OECD, which aims to provide insights into education systems as well as the conditions for teaching and learning in the OECD countries, we've decided to take a closer look at one of the avenues of moving abroad— teaching.

Western Europe is not exactly known as the cheapest destination for expats. However, European cities have lost a few places on the Mercer's ranking of most expensive cities. Expat.com takes a closer look at the ranking.

A leap of a full seven places for Switzerland this year as it becomes the best country for expatriates according to the HSBC Expat Explorer Report for 2019. Second is Singapore followed by Canada, Spain and New Zealand. We have a look at the intricacies of the ranking.

When you ask foreigners what comes to their mind when they hear the word "South Korea"? Twenty years ago, many would have failed to answer this question with ease. The answers given may have been "Kimchi", "North Korea" or "Taekwondo" at best. Asking the same question nowadays, people would not be hesitant to give answers. It might be the food like Kimchi, Bibimbap or Bulgogi or some will mention titles of K-Drama or names of K-Pop artists. South Korea managed to increase its popularity over the years and today, we want to talk a little bit about what it is like to do business in the country.

The European Students' Union has released its policy paper and it is demanding for Erasmus to be made more accessible. Expat.com also analyses the challenges faced by students interested in the Erasmus program ahead of Brexit.

According to a recent survey by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), owners of Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Québec are more likely to sell their enterprises than in any other Canadian regions. Indeed, almost one in four small business owners have stated that they plan to transfer their business between the years 2017 and 2022. In other areas of Canada, only one in five business owners state they might want to sell their enterprises.

The blogger behind Taiwan Foreigner initially left the USA for a semester abroad. It has been over a year and he is not planning on going back soon. The young Jacob fell in love with life in Taiwan and shares his love for the country on his blog.

Francine Prewitt is the founder of Prewitt Law, a New York law firm specializing in business law and immigration law. Francine mainly helps foreign entrepreneurs and start-ups to set up their company in the United States.

Mercer's annual report on the cost of living in cities around the world came out on the 26th of June. Eight Asian cities are featured in the Top 10.

Having a child is, in itself, quite an upheaval! So, here are a few things to keep in mind if you're, in addition, living this adventure while far from home.