Survey reveals nearly half of UK citizens interested in emigrating

Following a recent poll it was found that almost 50 percent of UK citizens are "seriously considering" emigrating overseas.

The poll, conducted by YouGov, an international UK-based market research agency, asked 1,650 UK adults in a survey if they were interested in immigrating to another country. Six per cent of those polled said they are actively making plans to leave, and 42 percent said they will seriously consider it.

Among the important factors UK adults considered were the cost of living, which was named by 52 percent as a good reason for leaving and the weather which scored 37 percent. Also job availability was important to 31 percent and crime 27 percent. However, 25 percent said they would miss Britain's countryside and 19 percent would miss the National Health Service.

Most people said they wished to emigrate to Australia followed by the US, Canada and New Zealand.

If you are interested in emigrating abroad you might want to consider some of the following Work Visas offered in various countries.

Australia

Subclass 457 visa

You can immigrate to Australia under a Subclass 457 visa if you sponsored by an eligible employer to fill a nominated skilled position in Australia. Australian employers and overseas employers can sponsor a skilled worker under a 457 visa for any period of time from one day to four years. Family members are also welcome and are allowed to work and/or study during their stay in Australia.

As an employee, you must meet all the following requirements:

• be sponsored by an employer to fill a nominated position
• have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment background which match those required for the position
• demonstrated English language proficiency
• be eligible for any relevant licences or registration required for the nominated position

Employees must also meet various health requirements, including having health insurance. In addition, employees must meet character requirements through background checks.

General Skilled Migration program

This program is for skilled workers who want to immigrate to Australia and who do not have an employer sponsoring them. Independent migrants can apply under the Skilled Independent Migrant Visa (Subclass 175). Under this visa you and your family can live as permanent residents in Australia.
In order to be eligible for this visa you must:

• be under 50 years of age
• have competent English language skills
• have the skills and qualifications that meet the Australian standard for an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List.

Canada

Provincial Nominee Program

Most provinces in Canada have an agreement with the government that allows them to nominate immigrants who wish to settle in that province. If you choose to immigrate to Canada as a provincial nominee, you must first apply to the province where you wish to settle and complete its provincial nomination process.

After you have been nominated by a province or territory, you have to make a separate application to for permanent residence.

Eligibility requirements vary for each province. Read here for more information.

Federal Skilled Worker Program

This program is for skilled workers who are selected as permanent residents based on their ability to become economically established in Canada.

For your application to be eligible for processing, you must:

• have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
• have one year of continuous full-time paid work experience in at least one of the occupations listed here OR
• be an international student enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months) and meet certain criteria.

Please note though, if you are applying under one of the 29 eligible occupations, only a maximum of 500 Federal Skilled Worker applications per eligible occupation will be considered for processing each year. PhD applications are subject to a separate annual cap of 1,000. Occupations that have not yet met the cap include Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists, Psychologists, Chefs, and Electricians.

If you would like to apply for a visa WorkPermit.com can help. WorkPermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with nearly twenty-five years of experience dealing with visa applications. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.