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Tips for fresh immigrant

A

adi_mrok

Member
Messages
22
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Pump
Hello there! I'm new here but I hope for Your help dearest users!

I am thinking about moving to UK. Me and my girlfriend are Polish citizens and she is diagnosed with diabetes T1 for more than 10 years. One of reason why I want to move from my country is that costs given for all medicals for diabetics in PL are sick and we couldn't afford for them in long term with our low salaries (for example I have master degree of electrical engineering and I earn about 450 GBP per month).

She is living with insuline pump and I would like you to ask dear users how does it look with medical payments in UK for fresh immigrants? We intend to find jobs ASAP so we hope, that we would pay taxes for NHS very soon. What should we do after arriving to UK step by step and what we can count on? How expensive are pharmaceuticals? And the last question - if she would need a new pump should she buy new one or it would be refunded?

Sorry for Your time and I really hope for Your help! Cheers! :)
 
Thanks catherinecherub for reply! So if I understand it correctly I am eligible for NHS funding if I am from country that is in European Union?
And what about costs for strips, insulin, injection sets etc.? How expensive them are or all of them are refunded?
 
adi_mrok said:
Thanks catherinecherub for reply! So if I understand it correctly I am eligible for NHS funding if I am from country that is in European Union?
And what about costs for strips, insulin, injection sets etc.? How expensive them are or all of them are refunded?
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They should be available for free or for very little, depending on where in uk you move to.

I live in Scotland and everything required for my diabetes is prescribed for free.

If you do decide to move to the UK, get an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible and they will keep you right
 
Thank you mammamia2006 - we still haven't decided where to move, but Scotland of course is also an option :) My cousins are living nearby Cardiff and I thought about Wales as well :)
 
One further word of advice: if you want to move here, do so sooner rather than later. The new, right-wing Government is making noises about migrants to the UK having to live here, and pay social security contributions, for a period of time (five years is being mentioned) before qualifying for healthcare and other social benefits. At the moment, the situation is as described above, but it may not stay that way for much longer.

I don't agree with their proposal (or much else about them, come to that :)) but forewarned is forearmed. However, don't be put off from coming here by the government's attitude; most people will welcome you to Britain with open arms.
 
jay hay-char said:
One further word of advice: if you want to move here, do so sooner rather than later. The new, right-wing Government is making noises about migrants to the UK having to live here, and pay social security contributions, for a period of time (five years is being mentioned) before qualifying for healthcare and other social benefits. At the moment, the situation is as described above, but it may not stay that way for much longer.

I don't agree with their proposal (or much else about them, come to that :)) but forewarned is forearmed. However, don't be put off from coming here by the government's attitude; most people will welcome you to Britain with open arms.
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Yes I am reading news and I am concerned about that. For example I wonder how they want to solve problem with people, that came to UK before the new bill will be released and they haven't lived in UK for more than 5 years. Unfortunately if I wouldn't have to earn some money for living in Britain I would move with a blink of an eye ;) Hope they won't accept this in government too early :(
 
I would hope that, if you were already here, the rules would not be made retrospective - but you cannot guarantee anything where politicians are concerned :(. The other unknown factor is the whole question of whether or not the UK will stay in the EU. Obviously, if we were to leave, there would be a whole load of questions about the residence status of EU nationals who are already here. Once again, my feeling is that if you were already here, you would probably be allowed to stay.

In fact, my feeling (and certainly, my hope) is that both sides (ie the EU and the UK) will want Britain to stay in the EU and that, in the end, the EU authorities will be sufficiently concerned about the possibility of the UK leaving to make some concessions that David Cameron can sell to the British Public as a climb down by the EU - which could well include curbs on payment of Social Benefits or provision of free health care until contribution or residence qualifications had been met by an immigrant. As above, never trust a politician, particularly when he or she is on a populist crusade......
 
I understand frustration of UK citizens and politicians about some social benefits (f.e. housing ben), because this kind of money help should be provided only for people, who are staying in UK longer than some period of time. Some immigrants are using goods of UK too much and I also understand why they want to change the rules about moving people to UK, because I would have also mind if amount of homeless immigrants-beggars on the streets grew so fast.

But they shouldn't be so rough to people educated or people seeking for a fair jobs. I hope that financial help from NHS wouldn't change so dirasticly because main reason of my emigration is very high prices of pharmaceuticals in PL - disproportionately to earnings... Even so if they want to receive payments for free (for now) drugs it would still be a way better than in my country, because I would earn more money. What a sad times we have got nowadays :(
 
Ironically, we need immigrants. Britain has an ageing population and the only way that our economy will continue to grow, and our welfare state will survive, is if we continue to have an influx of young, hardworking people to help generate continued prosperity.

Times are hard at the moment, and when that happens, people look for scapegoats - and anyone who looks or sounds different is a natural target for people to aim at. However, I am a great believer in the innate decency of the British although I am sometimes surprised to hear that we are regarded as a tolerant, welcoming people when I hear what some of my fellow countrymen have to say - but minorities are always vocal.

Incidentally Southampton, which is a few miles from where I live, has the biggest Polish expatriate community in the UK, so maybe that's another possibility to consider. My local supermarket already sells sopocka and wiejska :).
 
As I understand it, it will be impossible for the government to impose a 5 year benefit wait time for EEA migrants who come to work in the UK as it would provide a barrier to free movement. They could apply such rules to job-seekers and the like though.

I have a personal interest in this, as although I'm British, have been living and working in France for over 10 years. So if I return I am now a migrant in my own country......

Unfortunately family problems may force a return in a year or two, so I'm keeping a close watch on things.
 
tebee said:
As I understand it, it will be impossible for the government to impose a 5 year benefit wait time for EEA migrants who come to work in the UK as it would provide a barrier to free movement. They could apply such rules to job-seekers and the like though..
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The French did that when they changed the rules back in 2008 for people who are inactive .
The regulations cover all 'inactive' residents and cover pensioners, students and work seekers . You have to be here legally for 5 years to be able to join the CMU as of right (and then they let you pay 8% of income) Up until then , if you aren't covered through working (and paying) you have to have full private health insurance.
EU citizens can access CMU after three months in France. However, to stay in France for more than three months, EU citizens need a health insurance and sufficient resources. If they do not have the former, they can access CMU only if a previous health care coverage was lost involuntarily.
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The UK could presumably find a way to do a similar thing but the at the moment legal residence is the sole criteria.
(And like you, I'm slightly worried about the future but more about what happens to us here in France if the UK leaves the EU. At the moment since NHS care is residence based then as long as you can prove that you are intending to be legally permanently resident then you are entitled to NHS coverage. )
 
Yes, once you start working they expect you to pay taxes in France and once you do that they can't refuse to give you the benefits that derive from that. The UK is going to have to do the same thing.

I'm unsure about legal residence being the sole criteria now - I spent 3 months back in the UK last year helping out an elderly relative and as I was not sure how long I was going to be needed for and I'm diabetic, tried to register with a doctor there - the first two refused saying I needed to have been back for 6 month, but the third accepted me, though not until just before I eventually returned.

I would not worry to much about the UK leaving the EU as we are in France under EEA free trade rules and the UK is much less likely to leave the European Free trade area.
 
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