Marloes & Pieter(38)

Pieter received an offer as a civil engineer at a major infrastructure company in Edinburgh. We had talked about it for a long time — with Sanne (9) and Luuk (6), moving abroad was no light decision. But the offer was good, the company arranged visa sponsorship, and we were ready for an adventure.

The Skilled Worker visa application for the whole family was a paperwork marathon. Pieter as the main applicant, me and the children as dependants. You pay the Immigration Health Surcharge per person — for our family that came to over £4,000 per year. All passports, marriage certificate and birth certificates had to be translated and legalised. It took two months for everything to be sorted.

The Scottish school system is different from the Netherlands. The children attend a state school and education is free, including school meals for younger years. Sanne was placed in Primary 5, Luuk in Primary 2. The transition was exciting, but the school had experience with international pupils. Within six months they were speaking fluent English with a slight Scottish accent.

The NHS in Scotland is separately organised from England — NHS Scotland. Registering with a GP went smoothly with our BRP cards. What surprised us: prescription medicines are free in Scotland, unlike England where you pay per item. Dental care also falls under the NHS, though waiting times for an NHS dentist are long.

Exchanging our driving licence was something to be aware of. After Brexit, as a Dutch citizen you can no longer automatically exchange your licence — you have to apply for a British driving licence through the DVLA and in some cases retake the test. Pieter applied for his licence right after arrival; it took eight weeks. You can still drive on your Dutch licence for twelve months, so there's time.

Edinburgh is fantastic for families. The city is compact, safe and there's nature everywhere — Arthur's Seat, the Pentland Hills, the beach at Portobello. The children are happy, we are happy. The dark winters take some getting used to, but the long summer evenings make up for everything. We feel at home.