London is the capital of Great Britain - without exaggeration, we can say that this expression is familiar to almost every inhabitant of the earth. England is also called the Misty Albion, and in recent decades - the birthplace of Harry Potter. This is an amazing country with a bit of eccentric residents who consider themselves the British elite. It is customary to eat oatmeal for breakfast, arrange tea parties and not leave the house without an umbrella. Here it is, life in England.
How to get to London?
You can read about how they live in London thousands of times, but it's better to see everything with your own eyes. This will require not so much: desire, finances and a visa to England. Contrary to popular belief, monsters do not sit in the embassy who, with bloodthirsty enthusiasm, refuse to issue a visa to every second. The main thing here is to correctly fill out the documents and meet the requirements.
You can make a visa to England yourself by submitting all the relevant documents to the consulate, or you can go to visa centers, where specialists will do everything for a small fee. Usually people who work informally apply to visa centers, and therefore there is no one to issue a certificate to them. However, it is worth remembering that such agencies, although they can draw any "linden", do not guarantee that they will approve the visa.
Required documents
To get to England, you need to collect a whole package of documents. The first thing to do is fill out the questionnaire. Information should be indicated as accurately as possible. Any discrepancy with reality - and the consequences will be dire.
In addition to the questionnaire, in advance you need to take care of a color photograph measuring 3.5 by 4.5 cm. Next, you can start collecting all the missing documents:
- A passport with two free pages and an expiration date of at least six months from the date of application.
- A photocopy of the first page of the passport.
- If so, then the old passports that show the history of movements.
- Printed and signed application form.
- The photo.
- Documents confirming marital status.
- Certificate from study or place of work. It is important that it indicates the position, salary and the fact that the workplace is assigned to the future tourist.
- Bank statement confirming that you have enough money to travel.
- Information about the booked hotel and air tickets.
- Medical insurance. This item is optional, but will affect the decision to issue a visa.
- Consular fee receipt.
This package of documents is typical for a guest or tourist visa. To get a student or work visa, you must provide additional documents: certificates confirming the knowledge of the language, and documents that confirm the availability of a training or workplace.
Foxes and estates
And now about life in England. The first thing that surprises visitors from Russia is the lack of homeless animals. In the country, this is carefully monitored, because cats, dogs, are full members of English families. But in the cities wild foxes are often found, but it seems that the British are used to them, but an unprepared person can get scared. And by the way, the legendary British accent can be found in far from every city.
Also in the country there is still a division of society into the lower class, middle class and aristocrats. You cannot confuse these people with each other; they not only look different, but also talk differently. Representatives of the middle class earn about 2,000 pounds per month (165,000 rubles) and are actively buying property on credit. The British prefer to live in their own homes, rather than in apartments, as is customary in Russia. Almost 70% of British people live in private sectors, where there are houses with a separate entrance. Renting such a house costs about 1 thousand pounds (87.5 thousand rubles) per month, plus you still have to pay separately for utilities ≈ 15-20 thousand rubles.
Fish and chips
Life in England surprises with its cuisine. The signature dish here is batter-fried cod with french fries. In the morning they usually serve oatmeal or a classic English breakfast, which includes eggs, sausages, beans, bacon and mushrooms.
Even the British consider themselves the most musical nation, since it was in the UK that such groups as The Beatles, Queen and The Rolling Stones were created. The argument, of course, is so-so, but let them believe if they like it so much.
And with all this, it’s worth understanding that life in England and tourist idleness are not the same thing. Someone says that a country can only be visited for sightseeing or for study. The life of emigrants in England is not as rosy and carefree as it may seem.
Features of migrants
Russian people learn about life in England mainly from the words of those who came from there. But many migrants have one distinguishing feature: they lie about their status, career success, earnings and quality of life. In fact, these people can be understood, because not a single person voluntarily admits that he lost, therefore migrants and lie godlessly.
If a person succeeds in catching on some decent work, he will greatly exaggerate his success. And if it didn’t work out, and he had to return, he will say that the migrants are being pressed, they are not hiring for work, and in general, it’s impossible to get anywhere.
The second feature of migrants is, strangely enough, hostility towards their compatriots. Emigrants do not like each other and try to avoid meeting. True, this is only valid for Russian-speaking citizens. Lithuanians or, for example, Poles try to stick together in a foreign country.
Why do not you need to go to permanent residence in England?
Here it rains 200 days a year, it is easy to get depressed from this, especially if nothing works with work. But besides rain, the country is often wrapped in an impenetrable veil of fog and there are strong winds. Not everyone is able to endure such weather.
Some visitors say that medicine is bad in England. There is no such thing as a routine inspection. If you come to the doctor, he asks the reason for the visit when it is not there, then the person is sent home. Before going to a specialist, you need to get a referral from a family doctor.
The life of ordinary people in England is too measured. Outside the capital, the migrant is unlikely to find any entertainment. Cinema, cafes, shops, theaters - all this is available only in London, and in other cities it is not so easy to find them. In addition, institutions operate according to a very strange scheme: banks can close at two in the afternoon, and shopping centers at nine in the evening, no later.
Standard of living
In general, living conditions in England are pretty good, but to achieve them, you need to work tirelessly. There is a high average salary - about 179 thousand rubles, if translated into Russian rubles, and in London - all 290 000. Highly paid specialists are brokers, lawyers, doctors, company leaders, sales and marketing managers.
Those who came to England for the first time should not rely on the golden mountains. Russian life in England begins with a job search (if they were not invited to the company in advance). The maximum that they have to rely on first is 6 pounds per hour, that is, the minimum wage in England. For a month a person can get about 1000 pounds (depending on who, how and how much will work). This money is enough to rent the cheapest housing, for minimal food and even for free expenses. If a person wants to eat normally (almost like an aristocrat), then he will not have free money.
Although the standard of living in England is high, people have to spend too much. The cost of a rented apartment is 900 pounds, food will also cost much more than we are used to. Yes, and public transport will have to spend at least 100 pounds per month (about 8 thousand rubles). Also, do not forget about taxes - the higher the salary, the more you give to the state.
Working issues
In a word, you cannot come to England (or some other country) "from the lantern." There is work for England in Russia for Russians, only you need to take care of it in advance. None of the developed countries will refuse a highly qualified specialist with knowledge of the local language. But even if a person is far from a master of narrow specialization, the British authorities have provided a whole list of work visas.
Basic requirements for working in England: language skills and qualifications. To get a good job, you must have a certificate confirming knowledge of the language. An additional benefit will be knowledge of other languages.
As for qualifications, it is not so simple. Received education and work experience may not meet the requirements of labor law in England. To test your qualifications, you can use the online service NARIC, which acts on behalf of the British government.
Also, to obtain a workplace, you need a sponsorship certificate - this is a kind of letter of guarantee from the employer that the applicant for the workplace is a highly qualified specialist.
Looking for work will help intermediary firms. But you can try to do it yourself, via the Internet. The best way is to look for work in London, here the local labor market is absolutely unable to cope with the high growth rates.
Retired life
Most migrants are attracted to England by the lives of retirees. Elderly people who spend their days in cafes and restaurants with a glass of wine or travel the world cannot but envy.
In 2016, a pension reform was carried out in the UK, as a result of which they established a “new state pension” and raised the retirement age to 66 years. To receive a “new state pension”, you must have at least 10 years of work experience. This refers to the experience in the UK. Also, those who have received National Insurance credits and those who voluntarily paid pension contributions have a right to an English pension.
So how do pensioners live in England? On the covers of glossy magazines and on TV screens, we see what is good. But it’s unlikely that they will be able to live carelessly only on state benefits, here the system is focused on self-sufficiency. Of course, the government does not allow pensioners to live in poverty, providing various benefits, free medicines and additional social benefits, but if a person wants to have a comfortable old age, he must save for it himself.
Positive points
As in every country, living in England has its positive and negative points. The pros and cons of life in England for each migrant are seen in their own way. It is difficult to find work here due to the high level of competition, if nothing serious has happened to health, it is extremely difficult to get medical help, and here it is constantly raining.
But the country has an unusually beautiful nature. There are many reserves and parks that make the country similar to the England that existed on this site several centuries ago. Ancient castles and fortresses reinforce this feeling.
History buffs can live not just in old, but in super-old houses that are over 400 years old. Despite the fact that they have low ceilings, such buildings are always equipped with fireplaces, as large as in the past.
People here are sociable, smiling and easily make contact. In England, it is customary to talk with outsiders on simple, abstract topics. That's just to make close friends is almost impossible. It's not that the British are cynical and heartless egoists, they just have a different mentality. They are reserved in expressing their emotions and are not inclined to share their experiences over a cup of tea, but they are always ready to help.
There is available alcohol, cheese and dairy products, but vegetables and fruits of good quality are extremely difficult to find.
Perhaps this will sound strange, but in England there is practically no crime, so you can safely walk late in the evening and not be afraid of robbers.
Everyday life in England
At first glance it may seem that life in England is no different from the foundations of other European countries, but if you look in more detail, you can find a lot of differences.
As already mentioned, the British love to live in private two-story houses, which is not only a tradition, but also a confirmation of their status. Also, the inhabitants of this country save electricity, water and gas. Washing dishes under a running stream of water from a tap is, in their firm conviction, the height of waste. In winter, no one heats the house around the clock. It is believed that it is enough to turn it on for a couple of hours in the morning and in the evening - that’s all the heating. It is considered in the order of things to walk around the house in two sweaters, three pairs of socks and go to bed in an embrace with a heating pad.
The British do not wear bathrobes (except during the trip from the bed to the bathroom), stretched tracksuits and slippers. Home wear usually consists of comfortable trousers and a T-shirt or sweater. Residents of England do not like to spend time cooking, and even more do not like to stand in lines every day. Therefore, they purchase semi-finished products on Friday or Saturday for the next week.
The English are by nature hospitable and helpful people. But here the concept of hospitality is very radically different from that to which the Russian people are accustomed. Nobody comes here without an invitation, and the lavishly laid table "two floors" is also not worth the wait. If a meeting was agreed in advance, then the person will certainly be met in a good mood and will treat him with great respect. The British will never begin to discuss with their guests their problems, they always have "Everything is fine!"
Here it is, life on Foggy Albion. Here it rains 200 days a year, ancient castles lurk among the green crowns of nature reserves, double-decker buses drive around London, and at five o'clock in the evening the whole country sits together to drink tea. Living in England, on the one hand, is difficult, because it is a foreign country, but, on the other hand, there are many places worth visiting, many unknown customs and traditions that would be nice to learn. The echoes of the past years are still floating in the air, wide fields with farms stretch under the lead-gray sky, houses similar to each other lined up in a suburb. It is quiet and almost boring, but no one complains, because everyone has too many thoughts that require careful thought over a traditional cup of tea.