What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Athens

Describe how you “dreamed” expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

I will see new places and be safe. Meet new friends and find new challenges in my career.

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

I saw many new places and I felt very safe. Making new friends was not easy, as many people around me had a different attitude towards marriage, parenthood and being a friend. The lanuage was difficult and communication by defult also. My career took on a new direction after a year, and original dreams of my career died very soon after landing in Greece…

Click the link above to finishing reading the brief report submitted by this expat in Greece. And don’t forget to submit your own Expat Dream vs. Reality Report!

I had never read that story about Cronkite, and I’m sure there are many other such stories that are lost or nearly forgotten. Do you know any? Share them!

The rationale behind the move is to make it much easier for foreign nationals that are not short-term visitors to Japan. Interesting, too, that the Japanese government has set a goal to increase the number of foreign nationals over the next several years.

So what are some examples? A recent WSJ.com article highlights what some young expats in China must do every so often in order to maintain their work visas:

Beijing and other Chinese cities are magnets for young expats in the way that Paris was after World War I and Prague was after the Cold War. The dollar is still strong, jobs are plentiful and the bar scene vibrant. “It’s not hard to teach English in China,” says James Schiffer, a 25-year-old Oregonian, who returned home last year after three years in China. “If you have a white face and a pulse, you can get a job.”

Many of the 20-somethings either have tourist or business-meeting visas that are good for a year, but require holders to leave the country every two or three months to be renewed—a requirement aimed at preventing visitors from settling down and taking jobs without the proper work visa. To get around that, young people make dashes to the border before their visas are set to expire, sometimes spending just enough time to get a foreign stamp in their passport before heading back to China.

Understanding the details involved with legal residency and work status is almost always difficult and can change on a dime without much – if any – notice. It’s always wise to stay in touch with your consulate or any other agency that you know will keep you abreast of any changes in policy.

Selling everything you own and leaving your home, family, and friends may seem like a bold, intimidating, and even ridiculous idea. Maybe you don’t want to sell your house or be a plane ride away from your grandchildren all year long. Perhaps you have business or family responsibilities in the U.S. that would make it inconvenient to reside overseas full time. Or maybe you’re not looking to leave home, but to escape winter and to organize your life so that you never have to shovel another driveway. These are all good reasons to retire overseas part-time.

If you think you might live abroad as a retiree – ever – there is no time like the present to start to learn about the factors that might be involved. Stop by our Global Expat Forum to ask some questions about life in another country as an expat, not a tourist!

It appears that U.S. Senator Chuck Shumer doesn’t quite agree with the strategy. At the time of its passage, he celebrated a 2010 law that adds significant costs to H1-B and L1-B visas, which enable skilled foreign workers to come to the U.S. In a Review and Outlook article on WSJ.com about the visa measure’s implications for trade with India, he is quoted in part of the following excerpt as follows:

Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, co-author of the law, didn’t leave much doubt as to legislative intent: “The emergency border funds will be paid for by assessing fees on foreign companies known as chop shops that outsource good, high-paying American technology jobs to lower wage, temporary immigrant workers from other countries.” The law targets firms that operate in the U.S. with more than 50% of employees on work visas, by nearly doubling the fee to $4,500 per visa application. It has mainly affected Indian firms like Infosys and Wipro, which bring engineers and programmers from India to work in their U.S. offices. They have paid an estimated $200 million in extra fees.

The article notes that so far India recently stated it will appeal to the World Trade Organization (recently), rather than retaliate against U.S. expats with similar measures.

Should the U.S. continue with this policy, or has it gone too far? What would be a better way to address the issue? If the WTO turns away the Indian government’s appeal, will India retaliate unilaterally?

We often hear about these elusive creatures, yet governments the world over can’t seem to get enough of them.

Australia – the city of Sydney in particular – is the latest hunter on the trail of these much sought after individuals:

Andrew Stoner, minister for trade and investment for NSW, said: “We want the best and brightest from around the world to help fill skills shortages and turn our economy around. Overseas migrants, foreign students and visitors are needed in NSW to help establish international relationships which support our cultural and economic links.”

It would be great to hear from expats out there that have taken advantage of such programs, regardless of the country involved. What were the skills you possessed, and how did you leverage them to create an expat lifestyle for yourself?

Here are a few excerpts from the article, in which a California couple’s home exchanges are highlighted:

Exchanging homes involves some negotiating. Your leverage depends on the desirability of the home you have to exchange. In the U.S., New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are favorites of international exchangers. After that, there is a second tier of cities, which includes San Diego.

Before you can embark upon a home exchange, it’s important to think about the conditions you are willing to agree to with those that will be coming to your home to stay:

Exchangers specify their conditions. For example, we won’t accept pets, children, smokers or more than two people in our home. About 80% of exchangers have children, which limits our universe of exchangers. That said, if we want an exchange to a specific home strongly enough, we try to be flexible.

Please share any experiences you have had with home exchanges, or even any third-party stories that have heard!

Along with its pervasive social media, the United States leads in myriad other ways — from the allure of its movies and music to the reach of its military. It’s tough to match a nation that deploys troops to Australia and central Africa, propels Beyonce to global stardom, and produced the Twitter-style technologies that abetted the Arab Spring.

“American entrepreneurs are defining the digital age,” said Harald Leibrecht, the German government’s coordinator for U.S. relations. “And when looking for the ‘next big thing,’ we very much expect it to come from over the Atlantic as well.”

So what’s with all the talk about America in decline? There seems to be a forest’s worth of recent books raising that possibility, with gloomy titles such as “That Used to be Us.” Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested that President Barack Obama considers the U.S. “just another nation.”

In the article, experts from Russia, Japan and China, among others, share their opinion not just on where America stands, but where the world as a whole might be headed. Surely this is highly relevant to expats!

The Overseas Vote Foundation is a great place to do just that. To give you a better understanding of exactly who this group is and what they do, here is a summary from their About OVF section:

If you are an overseas or military voter, OVF’s goal is to make it easy for you to get your ballot and vote. If you are an elections administrator, OVF can assist you to better serve overseas and military voters by providing you with state-of-the-art online systems that meet their challenging voting needs…

OVF is not connected in any way with any US government or US military organization. OVF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public charity incorporated in Delaware.

If you are a Democrat, you can also visit Democrats Abroad, and if you are a Republican you can visit Republicans Abroad.

Be sure to get registered so your voice can be heard in November. Expats have a lot of important issues to consider, so make sure you do your research and be an informed voter!

Companies now want executives who can secure deals with local businesses and governments without the aid of a translator, and who understand that sitting through a three-hour dinner banquet is often a key part of the negotiating process in Asia, experts say.

In fact, three out of four senior executives hired in Asia by multinationals were Asian natives already living in the region, according to a Spencer Stuart analysis of 1,500 placements made from 2005 to 2010. Just 6% were noncitizens from outside of Asia.

Perhaps most interesting is how some search firms are breaking out potential executives into four categories:

Asia natives steeped in local culture but educated in the U.S. or Europe; the foreigner who has lived or worked in Asia for a long time; a person of Asian descent who was born or raised in a Western country but has had little exposure to Asia; and the local Asian executive who has no Western experience.

This is a really interesting article and a must read for anyone with any kind of interest in expatriate trends in Asia.

But I’m admittedly biased. Because the reason I wrote this novel about a stay-at-home parent is because I was one. Because I left New York City to follow my wife’s career opportunity to Luxembourg, where she was one of those corporate vice presidents who worked all the time, while I became an expat househusband. A cook and launderer and cleaner, a children’s chauffeur and disciplinarian. Someone who hung around the school cafeteria after drop-off, drinking coffee and chatting with other parents, before doing things like taking French classes and playing tennis, shopping at the farmer’s market and the mall, organizing vacations and birthday parties and afterschool activities.

But here’s the thing I didn’t expect in supposedly progressive Europe: I was nearly the only man doing this.

We’ll often read about the changing demographics of the expatriate workforce, so it’s not surprising to see these changes work their way into the plot of a new novel!

What are the strengths of your home culture’s parenting style? What are the weaknesses?

Strengths: rules make things much more predictable, enable advanced planning, leave room for more communication “misses”

Weaknesses: too many parents at “home” spoil their children- too capitalistic, centered on “things” and “having more.” Also teenagers at home are permitted, even expected, to be moody, private, alone in their bedroom, which I don’t like. It’s one of the reasons we moved, to a place where teenagers are more respectful of elders and observe social niceties/politenesses.

What are the strengths of your destination culture’s parenting style? What are the weaknesses?

Strengths: open love and caring, understanding of the kids’ situation/not judgmental/open to who the kid is, spontaneous and flexible

Weaknesses: not as much parental involvement in teenagers’ lives as I would like to see – give too much independence and lack of supervision too early, in my opinion.

If you are a parent abroad, please fill out your own Parenting Abroad Report!

Here is one of the first submissions, an expat parenting report from Gex, France:

How is being a parent in your destination country different than in your home country?

My children were raised in several countries. Generally the parenting style in the Netherlands is more relaxed. Children have perhaps more input into their upbringing. They also have more freedom of movement than in England, where my children were born…

In Switzerland and France the children are allowed to be children for longer. They get a chance to have a decent childhood. They are part of the culture. More included in daily life.

What are the strengths of your home culture’s parenting style? What are the weaknesses?

Due to the fact that they are more informed they learn to cope with their given freedoms on a more gradual scale. As they become older and gain more life experience, they are given more freedom. This way it’s not such a shock when they hit 18 and all of a sudden they are presumed to be adults and don’t know how to deal with their responsibilities…

What are the strengths of your destination culture’s parenting style? What are the weaknesses?

In England, children are not part of society. There is still very much a seen and not heard attitude. One gets a babysitter when one goes out. Consequently, children don’t get an opportunity to learn to behave in public…

Read the full Parenting Abroad Report for Gex, France, and take the time to fill out your own Parenting Abroad Report.

Geneva, Switzerland (PRWEB) March 09, 2012

On March 5th, American Citizens Abroad (ACA), an advocacy group of U.S. citizens living overseas, wrote to Commissioner Doug Shulman of the IRS to express great concern that he has not yet answered the Tax Advocacy Directive (TAD) which National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson issued in August 2011 and repeated in her Report to Congress issued December 31st, 2011. Tax Analysts, a non-profit publisher of tax information, has reported that “IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has no plans to respond in writing to National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson’s taxpayer advocate directive (TAD) on the IRS offshore voluntary disclosure program (OVDP) despite a statutory requirement that taxpayer advocate recommendations be responded to within 90 days, Olson said February 17th.”

While we’re not sure what changes might come as it relates to the taxation of overseas income, it’s important that Americans abroad keep abreast of any changes to avoid running afoul of the law. We’ll keep you updated as this progresses.

Kate Moore leaves her double life as a wife and mother and a covert operative in the CIA when her husband, Dexter, gets a new job in Luxembourg. She tries to be a stay-at-home mom (her husband had no idea of her job working for the CIA), and though her former bosses aren’t concerned, she’s worried that her past will come back to haunt her.

Soon her new life as an expat begins to unravel.

The review goes on to describe the thriller as “a skillful and atmospheric descent into paranoia.” I think a fictionalized account of the expat lifestyle adds some variety to the mix. Looking forward to reading it myself!

According to the annual quality of life index from NatWest International Personal Banking, nearly three-quarters (72%) of expats have not seen their quality of life deteriorate in the last five years.

Although the number who are watching their spending on luxury items has more than doubled, from 17% when the index was first compiled in 2007/8 to 44% today, more expats than ever (83%) said they regarded themselves as between “comfortably off” and “quite prosperous.”

David Isley, the head of NatWest International Personal Banking, said the results suggested that expats were “riding the storm” of a struggling global economy.

Is this a sign that there are rays of hope shining through the economic cloud still reported to hang over the Eurozone economy? Recoveries ease their way into the bigger picture, rather than all elements of the economy picking up at once. So it’s hard to say, but it is an encouraging development. Are expats somehow immune? Time will tell!

Here is a recent submissions in our new Expat Dream vs. Reality Report: Balikpapan, Indonesia…

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Balikpapan, Indonesia

Describe how you “dreamed” expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

I thought it would be full of new and exciting experiences. I also thought it would be less focused on money and “worldly” achievements and more about helping the country and people in which I would be located.

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

I love that each day brings new things to learn and do. You get to experience different cultures and meet people from all over the world.

How has your expat experience NOT met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

It’s a bit more focused on money and packages that I originally thought. There are certainly “levels” of expats and positions. It can be cliquey among females (partners).

Share your own Expat Dream vs. Reality Report!

Here are some excerpts from the article:

As a result of all this, disquiet is inevitable. American Citizens Abroad (ACA), which represents U.S. citizens living abroad, has announced a tax reform proposal. It advocates a residence-based tax instead of one based on citizenship. It also proposes various other reforms…

Is this proposal likely to go anywhere? It seems a long shot. ACA representatives met with House and Senate tax staffs and, perhaps more important with staff from the Joint Committee on Taxation. It’s true that some in Congress think residence-based taxation would be better than our current system. The “leveling the playing field” metaphor is frequently invoked…

Although some banks overseas are closing the bank accounts of American living abroad to avoid potential FATCA penalties, FATCA may be here to stay. Depending on your perspective, that may be a bad thing. Indeed, it’s hard not to listen carefully to the pleas of Americans living and working overseas who are facing hostile banking relationships…

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that this starts to gain traction. Sometimes it takes years for this sort of tax policy change to materialize. Whether you love President Obama or hope to see him go down in history as a one-term president, he clearly is not someone who is trying to hand out tax breaks left and right.

“What age was your daughter when you moved out of the States?” asked one reader-guest at our Christmas Open House here in Panama City Friday night. “Kaitlin was 8,” I replied. “It was, we realize now, looking back, the worst possible age for making the move…”

Younger than 7 or 8, and a child doesn’t really recognize what he’s leaving behind. Older than 15 or 16, and that child, we’ve observed, can be old enough to recognize what lies in front of him.

From age 8 to 15, though? Most kids at this stage are old enough to regret what they’re losing but not yet thinking big-picture enough to register all the potential that lies before them. At this stage, it’s all about the loss with nothing to balance it.

Kathleen has highlighted some great rules of thumb. That said, it’s important to remember to be cautious when we put too much stock in what tends to happen in a certain age group. Children are individuals, and their reaction to moving abroad will be, well, individual. A seventeen-year-old boy with a lack of self-confidence might react worse than a 14-year-old girl with a precocious sense of adventure.

“Choosing to leave your money at home in the UK is an expensive option as bank charges on currency transactions are high and you may well be charged by both your UK bank and the foreign bank too,” Mr Howell said. “Whatever the currency risk, setting up a current account in your new country is key for making domestic payments.”

When choosing a savings account, consider the denomination; many offshore banks offer you the choice of holding your account in US dollars, euros or sterling.

This ultimately goes back to the sage advice offered to expats over and over again: Do your homework! And that doesn’t mean just at the beginning of your assignment. Terms of your accounts and financial regulations change. New options emerge. Closely monitor your options and market conditions and you’ll likely avoid unnecessary losses and find new ways to save.

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Baar

Describe how you “dreamed” expat life would be before you moved overseas. Please provide as much detail as possible.

I envisioned expat life to be an experience that would change me and my family. I hoped it would be a change for the better! I thought it would broaden our horizons, and give our children a more global perspective of life. I focused on the idea of it as a big adventure, a way to step out of my comfort zone, to learn more about myself and the world outside the US.

How has your expat experience met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

In many ways, my expat experience has met my expectations. I did not fully take into account how difficult living in a foreign country can be, in terms of the mundane aspects of life. (First, we lived in London, which was not terribly different from the US. At least we knew the language fairly well!) Moving to Switzerland has been difficult for two reasons. First is not knowing the language, and the inscrutability of the Swiss German spoken language. Second is the challenge of navigating the community, learning the rules and societal expectations (of which there are many).

How has your expat experience NOT met the expectations you dreamed about before you moved abroad?

The extremely high costs of goods and services are not enjoyable to live with. Also, although in the US we may take this to an extreme, I do miss the variety of goods available, as well as the convenience, say, of a Target or Walmart. Thus, I have adjusted my expectations, recognizing that there are plenty of ‘things’ I can live without. I thought I would travel within Europe more. The reality is that we as a family get caught up in our daily lives, and tend not to take as many trips as we’d dreamed about.

Share your own Expat Dream vs. Reality Report!

Mr. Mehwald is part of a growing number of expats flocking to India in the last few years eager to tap into the opportunities the country has to offer, witness its rich transformation and sample a way of life often very different from their native countries. Foreigners, of course, have flocked to India for centuries, as colonizers, missionaries, volunteers and escapees from persecution in other countries. This new wave is made up mostly of well-educated migrants from wealthier, more developed countries, leaving behind slow economies in search of job prospects and opportunities they can’t find at home.

As described in the article, the large number of people that want to move there has resulted in tighter regulations for those seeking an employment visa.

It has taken decades for the country to reach the point where it is today. While foreign employment used to be frowned upon, the liberalization of such policies have enabled the kind of economic environment that sounds quite similar to what Western democracies have enjoyed for a long time. What is reported even sounds like “the boom” of late 90′s:

“There’s really been a sense of limitless horizons. There’s very little to restrain you. People’s ambitions are set very high and rightly so,” said Rodrigo Davies, 29, who moved to Mumbai two years ago to work as GQ’s online editor after seven years as a journalist in London.

“In terms of opportunities, London is always innovating. But the number of businesses, publications opening there is a fraction of what’s opening here. A lot of companies here are going digital straight away.”

It will be interesting to see how India can capitalize of the wealth of IT talent they have created over the course of the last decade.

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America.

At one point in the essay, she recalls an occasion when she called her daughter “lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic” when she had become frustrated with a piece of music and wanted to give up.

Oh-kee-doh-kee.

Now a new essay comes from an American expat in France, again on WSJ.com, Why French Parents Are Superior,

And once I started thinking about French parenting, I realized it wasn’t just mealtime that was different. I suddenly had lots of questions. Why was it, for example, that in the hundreds of hours I’d clocked at French playgrounds, I’d never seen a child (except my own) throw a temper tantrum? Why didn’t my French friends ever need to rush off the phone because their kids were demanding something? Why hadn’t their living rooms been taken over by teepees and toy kitchens, the way ours had?

Soon it became clear to me that quietly and en masse, French parents were achieving outcomes that created a whole different atmosphere for family life. When American families visited our home, the parents usually spent much of the visit refereeing their kids’ spats, helping their toddlers do laps around the kitchen island, or getting down on the floor to build Lego villages. When French friends visited, by contrast, the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves.

This essay seems less provocative than the “Tiger Mom” essay, although as I type this it is the most popular “Read” on WSJ.com.

As a psychotherapist, I do a lot of family therapy and provide a lot of guidance about parenting. The “Tiger Mom” essay generated a lot of questions in sessions, and I’m looking forward to seeing what pops up with my clients over the course of the next few months.

More to come.

The British countryside is the thing that expats miss most about their homeland, a survey has shown.

The study found that nearly half of those questioned (46%) said they longed for the rolling hills and ancient woodlands of the UK, with those who have made the desert landscape of the United Arab Emirates their new home missing it the most.

Coming in a close second was the British sense of humour, with 42% of the 1,034 expats questioned listing it among the things they missed most about the British way of life.

It’s a great question… regardless of how happy one is abroad, there is always going to SOMETHING to miss from home. It could be a favorite food, family member or a close friend. In this case, clearly Brits abroad miss the charm of the English countryside and the wit of their countrymen!