About OldPro

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Some Forum Posts:

United Kingdom: Shipping items from US to UK:

No one is going to give you a better price based on only needing part of a container ypwatson1. They all charge by weight and cubic footage required. Any of the usual suspect moving companies like United Van Lines etc. will give you a quote.

Portugal: which passport to use?:

The USA requires you to use your US passport when leaving the USA. I would use the Polish passport to enter Portugal since it allows you to go through the 'EU national only' line which is usually faster. Booking a ticket is done with an airline and they have different interests. If you book a one way ticket for example, it will be less likely to raise questions at check-in if you booked using your Polish passport. An airline may insist that an American passport holder have a valid return flight. You have to separate booking and what passport you show to the airline from what passport you use to show to Customs/Immigration officials when leaving or entering a country. You do not necessarily use the same one for both when you have dual nationality.

Portugal: Pre-existing conditions and Pt health insurance:

I can't comment on pre-existing conditions in regard to Portuguese public healthcare. But I do find it interesting how this differs from country to country. If you try to find info on it for someone moving to say the Province of Ontario in Canada who would become eligible for Ontario government healthcare after being resident for 3 months, you will not find any mention of pre-existing conditions It simply doesn't exist in Canada. If you are covered by provincial healthcare there in any province, you are covered period. It speaks to the basic beliefs followed in a country regarding healthcare. Canada follows the belief that healthcare should be provided to all residents for any need they have. Something that some countries still can't seem to figure out. I believe that if you moved to the UK as another example, once you became eligible for government healthcare, they too would not see any difference with a 'pre-existing' condition. For the term 'pre-existing condition' to exist, there has to be a difference in what would be covered to exist.

Canada: Advice on which approach to take.:

There is no minimum income requirement when sponsoring a spouse/common law partner. But your partner must convince the immigration officer that adequate financial arrangements are in place to support you when you land in Canada. So your partner can sponsor you without having worked in Canada recently but you need to show some financial means. That could be savings in a bank account you can live on, a family home (his parents' perhaps) that you will live in initially, etc. His ability to find work quickly or already have a job lined up before arrival (which he may be able to do as he is already qualified in BC, etc. Canadian immigration do not try to make it difficult for a partner to sponsor you but they do want assurances that you will not become a drain on the public purse that's all. You can start here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

France: Moving to France as Self Employed:

This is a bit complicated and maybe that is why you are not getting responses bhharrison. I am not an immigration lawyer and in your case, I really think you need to talk to one in France who is familiar with situations like this. You probably couldn't enter on a 'visiteur visa' as that would require you to show sufficient 'guaranteed income' such as pensions, etc. which you probably don't have. If you said your income will be coming from continued work in the USA, then I believe they are going to say you are 'working' and need a visa that allows you to work in France and will also be subject to income tax on that income, in France. What makes it complicated is that you will be working in that grey area of 'remote working'. When actually 'doing' the work, you will be physically doing it in France. N'est ce pas? So you are 'working in France.' Or is it not 'remote working' via the internet but instead you will actually be flying to the USA to provide consulting services in person in the USA? Then you will be physically working in the USA but living in France. In that case a non-working visa may be possible somehow. You will still be subject to income tax in France though on the income. Consult a French immigration lawyer.

Italy: Heating Cost of Apartment Using Gas Bombola:

I have encountered heating issues in several countries in Europe along these lines and the answer never seems to be the same. One issue I have identified is what locals will consider 'normal' or acceptable is not necessarily what I am willing to accept. The points about insulation for example, can be significant. If the rest of the house is empty, how much heat loss will that result in? Generally speaking, there is no insulation between floors so you are going to lose heat that would not be lost if that other floor was occupied. How did the son who lived there in a previous winter heat the apartment? You haven't said what he did. Did he just use the fireplace and wear a coat all the time? You are renting, does it make sense for you to invest in a way of heating the apartment to your satisfaction or should you be looking for somewhere that is heated already in a way you can live with? I lived in an apartment once that had solar hot water. A tank and solar panels on the roof provided the only source of hot water. Kinda like playing 'shower roulette'. Today the sun shines and I can have a shower, yesterday, no sun, no shower. I lived in another apartment that had electric hot water on a 'on demand' system. When I turned the shower on, I could watch the electric meter start to spin around the dial at an awesome rate. That was a 'can I afford a shower today' set up. I also lived in an apartment that had central heating with hot water radiators in each room run off a central furnace and with individual thermostats on each radiator. Hot water was also supplied from the central furnace in the building. That was the only one in which I had no issue about heat or hot water. My rent in that one had a summer rate and a winter rate. Both fixed regardless of how much I ran air conditioning in summer or heating in winter or how many showers I wanted to have. Guess which one is the standard I would now apply to any rental I looked at. Been there, done that, learned my lesson. I find comments about mattress heaters kinda amusing. If I need a mattress heater, I need to find a better place to live.

Portugal: Importing a car from the USA:

My question would be why bother? I think to financially justify importing a card is next to impossible.

Scotland: Can we move to Scotland:

The answer is yes as already given solidshane. The question is, why would you want to? LOL I hope you like rain. I am by the way Scottish by birth, so I get to say things like that.

Canada: Age and Express Entry:

Have you done the online questionnaire that shows you how many 'points' you would have? https://www.canadavisa.com/comprehensive-ranking-score-calculator.html

Global Expat Forum: Best beach city / low taxes to live?:

Cayman Islands.

Date Joined:

1/6/2016

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700

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