I'm planning on selling my old car in the US before moving over (it has 250K on it, so it's time, even if I WAsn't relocating), and I'm thinking about what I WAs going to do in terms of transportation in Ireland. My first thought WAs simply to buy a lightly used hybrid, and when I WAs looking at Cars.ie, this seemed affordable. But in looking into things further, the reality of the 23% value added tax, plus other taxes and fees set in, and it looks like owning a car there is *very* expensive unless I get a vehicle with a lot of mileage on it. Plus, I'm ther ...

Hi Dinah, There's good and bad to hiring a removal company. In the case of Heavy furniture etc, it's almost a must, IMO. However, this site is for people moving to Ireland, and offering advice specifically for that. You might find one that is geared specifically to UK movers out there too.

Hello everyone, I’m planning to relocate to a new house in a few months. Now, I need help with the entire process seeing the numerous and Heavy furniture pieces that must be transported from Ireland to the UK. Since it’s my first time to deal with this process, I’m thinking of hiring a moving specialist. My neighbour recommended one of the removal companies Ireland to UK that he knows. Do you think it’s a good idea to seek their services?

Hi, I'm Chris and my wife is Jeannie. We live in Dallas and are going to move to Ireland when we retire. Now we just need to retire! (Hopefully soon.) My two biggest questions are in the areas of real estate and health care. Liam (or anyone else) I noticed in an earlier reply that you said the model we use in the US with a realtor representing the buyer isn't common in Ireland. Did I get that right? So buyers tend to represent themselves? With being able to search on the internet (I've found myhome.ie to be very good) I actually do think that the buyer's agent model is becoming kind of outdated. People can mostly find the properties that they like without a realtor. But when it comes time to make an offer, get the required inspections, government documentation, etc,... I can see a buyers agent being useful - particularly for a non-Irish citizen. Perhaps there are lawyers that can play {some} of that role. Can you elaborate on how all that works. I'm also curious about the all in costs of the buying transaction. Here in the US, as I alluded to above, there are lots of inspections (termites in Texas!), document fees ad infinitum. I've seen a "stamp Duty"(1%?) referenced on myhome.ie. Is that similar to the property tax we pay here in the US. In Texas I pay ˜2% of my home's appraised value - but I pay it annually!!! I think I like the Irish model much better. 😉 Health care. So I think I've read that we have to buy private insurance. Yes? But I looked around and some of the prices seemed remarkably good. In the US for my wife and me and I think we would be paying $10-15k.year until medicare kicks in when we turn 65. It looked like I could similar private insurance in Eire for maybe a tenth of the US cost. Can that be right? What am I missing? Sorry for being so long-winded in my intro. I'll go away and think of more questions. But thanks in advance for any help on the housing and health fronts! Chris

... employment or not. Slightly different rules if you are shipping a car, and are applying for VRT relief. More info on that here. The shipping company may be able to hold them in Ireland for you until you have an address figured out. However, if you WAit until you arrive and get setup with an apartment, then your things may not arrive for another 4-6 months. I recommend shipping them ahead of time if possible. I hope this helps. Welcome to the site 🙂 Liam

Hey Nick, Fairly recently, there WAs a change to the rules for pet moves to Ireland. Until that point, pet relocation companies were a requirement, and all pets had to go through Dublin. I've had confirmation from another mover on here, that that is no longer the case. However, if you arrive into Ireland as your first port of entry in to the EU, then you still need to go through the Lissenhall vet check in Dublin. Aer Lingus, have long been an approved carrier, but generally it's down to the individual airlines whether they will transport pets or not. Vari ...

Hi all! I am wondering if anyone's had any experience shipping one or two boxes from the US to Ireland? If so, what carrier would you recommend? I am planning on taking clothes and shipping a limited amount of belongings (sentimental gifts, rare books/comic books, things that would be very costly to replace, etc). There seems to be quite a lot of options and some seem more like they would be more inclined to ship items such as furniture. Additionally, is there anything, customs or Duty tax wise that would be helpful to know? Thanks!

My understanding is a car can qualify in the one time import Duty exemption when you initially move. I read it somewhere, but the vehicle must pass NCT right away.

"How is life in the UK?" Depends what your expectations are? Personally I'm glad its behind me but then I'm born and bred country and an industrial dinosaur as a Heavy engineer (mechanical). The remaining family over there range from white van girl, WAste recycling, health service, education and Chris's lad is high tec web design and development. As the old story if your happy in your work your pretty happy anywhere. Other points depend on just where in the UK? Best of luck with the interview.

... which is one of the most expensive places to live in terms of rent/property costs, taxes etc. Basically everything costs more. We think that by moving to Ireland costs there will be comparable if not cheaper when we take into account changes to income which are likely to occur. 2. We are both 29 years old and are thinking long term, namely children. We would like to live near family; so it boils down to Ireland or the bay area. Honestly, as an irish person with LOTS of family (ahem 52 first cousins) family is a big deal. 3. Better work/life balance. In amer ...