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If you are considering living abroad for any amount of time and you are young, you have probably asked, “But how much will it cost?”
When we first started this venture, I searched all over the internet for some clear-cut answers to that question. Unfortunately, we aren’t really supposed to talk about money, so most people were pretty vague and government websites were confusing and jargon-y.
The bummer? Even with all my type-A planning, there were hidden fees I didn’t account for because it didn’t even cross my mind that a passport picture cost $12.99 (on sale!). So I’m breaking the rules and sharing the nitty-gritty financial details of making a year-long trip across the pond in this “How Much Does It Cost To…” series.
Let’s get started…
To begin, Casey and I got two Tier 4 visas to go from the United States to Scotland for 12 months in 2016 (he went as a student, and I went as a student dependent). Keep in mind these figures were the conversions from the pound to dollar at the time of publication, so they are subject to change.
Even though you’ll need this money to get a visa, I’m not including the cost of tuition, living expenses or the maintenance fees you’ll need in your bank account to prove to the UK government that you can support yourself for your time there in this first post, but I will later. This is simply the cost to send in a Visa application — and yes, the health surcharge is part of that (but now your health insurance is paid for — wahoo!)
Visa application fee: $499 each
UK health surcharge: $342 each
Shipping labels to/from the New York visa processing center: $53 each
CVS Passport pictures to accompany your passport (with $2 off coupon): $12.99 each
Parking in Boston where we got our bio-metric readings taken: $22
Grand total (per person): $928.99 …. ouch!
So let’s just say getting visas isn’t cheap!
