General
20 Jun 22
- Joined
- 14 Mar 04
- Moves
- 186249
20 Jun 22
@divegeester saidEnjoy you trip, once you arrive at your place of residence in Greece. Any scuba diving Involved?
Finally heading back to Greece, and had a great experience at Cardiff airport too!
UK airports are generally a mess since the pandemic; made worse by cancellations etc.
Hope your holiday/vacation works out as planned 👍🏻
That may have been a rhetorical question.🤭
20 Jun 22
@divegeester saidGood Luck!
Finally heading back to Greece, and had a great experience at Cardiff airport too!
UK airports are generally a mess since the pandemic; made worse by cancellations etc.
Hope your holiday/vacation works out as planned 👍🏻
-VR
- Joined
- 06 May 15
- Moves
- 27445
20 Jun 22
4 edits
@divegeester saidSounds good, and glad that your travel has been easy so far.
Finally heading back to Greece, and had a great experience at Cardiff airport too!
UK airports are generally a mess since the pandemic; made worse by cancellations etc.
Hope your holiday/vacation works out as planned 👍🏻
Air travel in the States is reportedly a mess these days.
May I ask if Greece might be a potential retirement place for you? If not, it looks like there are many places in England that would be very pleasant to retire to, if not for the English themselves (joke!).
It seems that a lot of American expats are going to Portugal or Central or South America, but that just seems like a bad idea to me -- disrespectfully arrogant in some cases, dangerous in others -- even aside from having to learn some Portuguese or Spanish (which are fine and beautiful languages; I do not mean to disparage them).
In May I looked into moving to Melbourne, AU (just checking out future options), but it looks like I'm too old and not wealthy enough to get a resident's visa.
My (purely imaginative) fallback plans are Taiwan or maybe just Los Angeles or thereabouts (if they still exist after I get my finances straightened out). Hong Kong seems out of the question now.
21 Jun 22
@divegeester saidDoes your passport still say EUROPEAN UNION on the front above where it says UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, like my one does, and is it a burgundy colour or the "traditional" blue?
Finally heading back to Greece, and had a great experience at Cardiff airport too!
21 Jun 22
@kevin-eleven saidAustralia's desperately short of workers in most occupations.
Sounds good, and glad that your travel has been easy so far.
Air travel in the States is reportedly a mess these days.
May I ask if Greece might be a potential retirement place for you? If not, it looks like there are many places in England that would be very pleasant to retire to, if not for the English themselves (joke!).
It seems that a lot of American expat ...[text shortened]... they still exist after I get my finances straightened out). Hong Kong seems out of the question now.
If you're fit to work, it's not so hard to get a working visa. Keep your job for a year or two and behave yourself and permanent residence usually becomes available.
@kewpie saidThey must have relaxed the restrictions then. When I got my permanent visa for Australia, because of my age [almost 40] I only scraped in on the points system despite my qualifications and professional experience.
Australia's desperately short of workers in most occupations.
If you're fit to work, it's not so hard to get a working visa. Keep your job for a year or two and behave yourself and permanent residence usually becomes available.
21 Jun 22
@fmf saidIt’s the old burgundy coloured EU one with lots of countries stamps from 10 years of travelling. Many of the places I will never visit again, so I will be keeping as a souvenir after I get my pristine new UK one later this year.
Does your passport still say EUROPEAN UNION on the front above where it says UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, like my one does, and is it a burgundy colour or the "traditional" blue?
@divegeester said🙄
To those enquiring:
I’m happy to report that my airport experience was excellent and the flight itself uneventful, although the veal was a little overdone. I shall have to speak with the on-board chef as one expects more on a private jet.
22 Jun 22
@fmf saidA lot has changed in the past decade. Ageing population, low birthrate, labour shortages in most areas particularly anything involving service industries, much aggravated by Covid-zero travel restrictions, has left the authorities using all sorts of visa tricks to get workers in. The two most popular paths are class 457 work visas and tourist visas with multiple extensions. Once you're in, it's harder to get you out, unless you commit felony-level offences.
They must have relaxed the restrictions then. When I got my permanent visa for Australia, because of my age [almost 40] I only scraped in on the points system despite my qualifications and professional experience.