There is no doubt that expat life changes you. Most expats believe that it changes them for the better, but either way, it can also make repatriation very difficult. Some of the challenges that are involved with repatriation are the exact same as the ones that you will find throughout your entire expat life. Want to find out more? Take a look below.

Money

First of all, you have to make sure that you do your research to discover if the cost of living has changed in your own country. This will help you to try and avoid some of the nasty shocks you may experience when you come home and try to budget. While you may have been living away from home, you may be classed as being a non-resident when it comes to tax purposes. When you repatriate on the other hand, you will need to re-register if you want to sign up with the right tax body. At the end of the day, your retirement planning and all of your arrangements could be affected here too, so make sure that you give it some thought to see if you will need to make new arrangements for when you arrive back home. If you need some QROPS advice then it’s better to do this sooner rather than later.

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Accommodation

It may be very difficult for you to get references for your credit history if you have been out of your home country for a very long period of time. Make sure that you have some proof of your former address and that you are also able to provide the right references for your landlord or even your mortgage agent. You may well need family to sponsor you as a guarantor if you do not have access to the right kind of documentation.

Reverse Culture Shock

If you are not careful then you may well find that you have adopted habits that help you to fit into the local community where you are living right now. When you return, you may find that you stand out from the rest of the crowd and this can make you feel uneasy. At the same time, your idea of home can be outdated, which leads onto the next point.

Your Social life

So many expats believe that when they return home from being away, that they are going to slip right into their old life. You have to remember though that people change and that things back home will change as well. People might have kids now, they might have changed jobs or they may have made new friendships. They may not be able to relate to the stories that you are excited to share with them and this can make things even more difficult for you in the future. If you want to help yourself here, then you have to make sure that you prepare for this in advance so you can then adjust much more efficiently.