London, Oxford, Bristol, Edinburgh, Cambridge… Many British cities became home to thousands of Spaniards Who decided to search for a better life in the United Kingdom. To work or to learn English, these are usually the reasons that push us to immigrate to the country ruled by Carlos III, although, as a rule, most of us end up returning.
In fact, a few years ago, it was very easy to travel to the UK with a suitcase (as I did), look for a rental and find a job doing almost anything (in shops, restaurants, hotels, cleaning…) ; but, Since Brexit arrived, everything has become very complicated (You now need a work visa and it is not easy to get).
The UK's exit from the European Union coupled with the Covid pandemic that occurred in the same year led many Spaniards to return home, although What no one expected was that leaving the country would be almost as or as complicated as entering.
I arrived in London at the end of 2019, with two suitcases and a backpack on my back… After almost four and a half years of living thereI have brought my whole life to Madrid and I can assure you that I never thought that coming home would be such a long journey.
Tips for moving between Spain and the UK
Moving from the UK to Spain and back has been a big adventure ever since Brexit has entered into force Everything became more expensive and some services disappeared. For this reason, here are some tips for getting moving:
Renting a truck and making the trip yourself is an almost impossible task. It's common that when we have a lot of stuff to send to our new home, we want to opt for renting our own truck, loading it up and making the trip. However, there are almost no car rental companies that allow driving between European and non-European countries, and the few that do accept this service charge around 300 euros extra to add to the rental for at least two days.
Moreover, when renting a truck we face a rather serious problem: there is practically no company offering a truck rental service that allows you to make a single trip, that is, we will always have to return to the country of origin to return a small truck (or assume your budget is about 3000 pounds sterling).
What about transportation companies? Given the difficulty we find in renting our own van, the alternative we have to send our luggage to Spain (or the UK) is to hire a moving company, although everything is not easy either.
There are many famous companies that operate flights between the UK and Spain, such as Spain U, Transportation in Spain also VYS removalsalthough the prices can be quite high depending on how many boxes we want to send and whether we have furniture.
however, There are many individuals who are also dedicated to moving companies or small businesses. (Although it's hard to find online). They usually have a better budget and provide good service. To find them, there is a platform called AnifanWe just have to select what we want to send and they will send us different offers to choose from.
My recommendation is to ask for a quote from people we trust the most and stay with the company or service that convinces us the most (in the end, this is a personal decision). In my case, I chose to hire a British moving service through Anyvan.
Be careful with customs and taxes. When sending our belongings, it is important that the company we choose gives us guarantees that everything that will pass through customs will be for transport (and not as goods), to avoid last minute taxes.
there Several ways to avoid having our boxes and furniture detained at customs And he made us pay for them to cross the border:
- The first is existence Consular discharge. This means that we will have to register when we move to the country in question (be it the UK or Spain), and upon departure, register to prove that we have been living as residents and that everything we carry with us is personal.
- Another way to prove that we are not sending the goods is to deliver them Certificate of Registration The country we are moving to, and where we will need accommodation. If we have both documents, we don't have to worry about anything.
- Finally, it is also possible that the moving company or service we hire has them Safe Specific, that is, they pay a monthly fee for transporting the luggage (which is what happened in our case). In this way, the customs process becomes much easier and faster.
Finally, there is something very important to keep in mind: We must make arrangements well in advance. Obtaining the necessary documents and finding a moving company that can make the trip on the dates we need, depending on the dates, can delay us by a month or two.
For this reason, it is recommended that, for example, if we move in March, we start looking for the company in January, start packing and ask for the necessary documents. In this way we can ensure, on the one hand, that we will not have to delay our return, and on the other hand, We have the largest possible number of options.
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