From the UK originally. Did Russia for 18 months, Belgium for a year, Taiwan for a year, and Hong Kong for the last 3.5 years. Of the four it is only HK where I am perfectly happy not to be looking for the next move (though if I had to move and had a choice then I think it would be Sydney)

[This message has been edited by christep (edited 10-14-2002).]

I don't mean this as criticism of the Dutch people at all, but personally after a couple of years, I found the bureaucracy stifling, the work ethic not quite what it is in North America, and the people not as "friendly and tolerant as Dutch society is portrayed" amongst other reasons.

And we lived in a Dutch neighbourhood, my daughter attended a local Dutch school and was fluent in the language within months, my wife and I both attended Dutch language schools and made an effort to integrate as best we could, so it's not like we just lived in the North American enclave but rather made an effort to get to know the Dutch directly.

On the other side of the coin, it was a real learning experience to actually live and work outside of NA and we did alot of travelling within western Europe that wouldn't have been possible from this side of the Atlantic.

I would never say I hated Holland and as time goes by, find myself forgetting more and more of the daily living annoyances and remembering the fun times. Overall, it was a worthwhile opportunity.

I was an expat. Any specifc questions as to expat policies etc.?

For me these are the things that annoy me over here:

It's VERY busy. Almost impossible to get away from it all and take a rest, constant traffic jams and public transport delays

Taxes are dreadful, I have my own firm and more than half of what I make gets given back to the state without me getting any decent back from them

The Dutch are not very service minded, this is something that has declined over the years, finding decent hardworking service oriented staff is tough

As the previous poster said: bureaucracy, it's dreadful, even the easiest task runs into problems at the moment, this too is something that has become worse over the years...

Don't get me wrong, Holland has been very good to me, but the current political climate here is spoiling the place.

New expat here. Just moved to London from NYC. Can't say that I got any type of sweet deal other than a cost of living adjustment about 1 1/2 - 2 times that given to friends at peer firms. Of course, if I ever got out of the office, I'd be able to enjoy that added income!

And yes, the tax situation totally blows. I think I'll save a little bit off of what I was paying as an NYC resident, but other than that, paying both the UK and the US sucks.

Not technically an expat, but have not drawn a single $ in consulting wages for any work in the US in the past six (almost 7) years. Frankly, I am a bit tired of having to travel half-way around the world almost monthly just to make a living. It gets old after awhile.

Pardon my lack of knowledge on this one, but what is an expat?

Expatriate; simply put, someone who relocates overseas for a period of time to work, often receiving substantial benefits and perks not offered to local employees.

I was an expat in France for a couple of years. I paid both U.S. and French taxes and it was (and years later is still) a huge headache. Earlier this year I finally put my 1999 taxes to bed.

As for SIN, I have some Aussie expat friends there who love it. It's a short flight to plenty of great destinations from SIN and as we all know SQ is a fairly decent airline. You just have to make sure your package includes vehicle taxes. They are extremely prohibitive in SIN.

Or alternatively come to understand that owning a car is completely unnecessary in many cities, particularly HK (and to a slightly lesser extent SIN) which have superb public transport and cheap taxis.

Wife of Expat living in Perth, Australia and enjoying every moment.
Major drawback (besides all the income tax forms) has to be living far away from family.
Our policy includes economy airline tickets back to the USA once a year for both of us, which I convert to a rtw for better price and more mileage.

You need much better tax advice. Many people I know are able to "choose" whether they pay US or UK taxes and in the case of France I know of some people who are able to "escape" taxes for about six months of their income.

Many firms will gross you up to deal with these "hassles".

Canadian Expat living in Australia. Just filed our application for permanent residency 'cus we like it so much.

Any other Canadians down here?

I am an expat living in France. We have been living here a year. Lucky enough not to be obligated to pay french taxes! Loving the travel opportunities. Unfortunately this will end in a couple years...back to the US

It depends on the job. If it's sales related as the job my friend has, you may really need a car in SIN. I drove all over the "country" with him not too long ago.