Safety net 'vital for emigrants'

People planning an international payment should ensure they have a safety net in place in the form of insurance and a route back home should things go wrong for them, it has been claimed.

According to Shelter Offshore, one of the most important things for a person preparing to emigrate and make an international money transfer to a foreign country is to ensure they have money saved away in the event of problems occurring.

The advice is particularly pertinent during the current global recession, when foreign exchange markets have proved to be turbulent and emigrants may be at risk of losing their job in their new country.

Shelter Offshore explains that people who have made an international payment and are now living in a foreign country are more at risk of suffering severe hardship if they are made redundant and have failed to put their own financial safety net in place.

The potential expense for emigrants was recently highlighted by a group of mainly British expatriates in Australia.

The group has launched a legal battle to make themselves citizens so that they do not have to pay higher insurance rates, the Daily Telegraph reported.