This topic is for Filipinos who have emigrated to the UK...
How are you finding it living in England???
Have u got used to the miserable weather, the bland food and the high costs of living??And let's not forget the poor quality of public services ok??

MAn not to mention the most unfreindly customs officers in europe .

yeah where are you guys

I live in Milton Keynes but I work in London...do you live in England too??


What happened to you then??

I lived in the uk since i was four, im now into my 30's. I now reside in California. I can tell you im never ever going back there!!!.

People's personalities change like the weather, have you ever noticed that? They charge motorists double the amount californians pay for a gallon of petrol?

Wife was working as a nurse there being overworked and underpaid and for 50+hours a week she would get a measly £25k per annum, compare that to here in the states, she gets over $124k per annum working 4 days. I dont like how they overwork people over there and pay people peanuts, they sure hell dont appreciate those who work hard and they pay them peanuts add the very very expensive cost of living.

There is a very big distinction between life in the uk and here in the us,

uk = people just exist. pay very expensive taxes.. Little left just just to give you a taste the life of the well privilaged.

us = people live here, they have a life and some. People here can afford to save. Over here its far cheaper to eat out than buy groceries and cook your own food and the bad side to that is people get real fat. People here owns something like 3-4 cars for an average family. In london you'll be lucky to own one.

I find england to have a rather oppressive society whilst over here the workplace actually encourages one to grow and rewards them more money in the process. Filipinos get a raw deal over there. The english doesnt seem to recognise and honour any of the very educated Filipino to be a more contributor part of society. The americans have no problem but to exploit the talents and standards that of a fellow Filipino and ofcourse get well paid.

In all the years ive lived in the uk, i have yet to experience the feeling of being blessed like i do every morning when i wake up in the us since i got here, and ive never been much into religion or a spiritualist, but here i feel someone answered my prayers.. I hope more and more of the the qualified and eligable Filipinos can make it here. For the less qualified, you can always try your luck and you might get lucky.

interesting, i have yet to see a filipino speak with a british accent.

however, i did meet a distant cousin who had an australian accent.

like arsenal fc?

Chelsea FC...

Football sucks

You are right mate.England really sucks compared to the US.You are really lucky to get out of this sh**hole man.
I have been married for 3 years and have a 1 1/2 month old baby.My wife and I rented a room in a house for 3 years to save up a deposit of around £25,000 for a 4 bed house in Buckinghamshire, which is really far from London.My train fare to get to work in London is £320 which is outrageous. Luckily my salary is not too bad so it doesnt bite that hard.If I park my car in the station, it will cost me another £60 so in total it would amount to £390...can you believe it...Lunch in London would set you back at least £5 for a crappy sandwich,a bag of crisp and a can of coke.
Everything here is expensive...you are so right that we dont have as much luxuries as you guys in the US do.Eating out is too expensive...and it's not even that nice...British food is sh**.The places to go are the Chinese and Indian restaurants but they costs a lot of money.Saying that,when you do your groceries, you realise that vegetables and fruit are expensive anyway.
Petrol(gasoline) is taxed by the government above 80% .That is why petrol is so expensive...
We are getting shagged by the government by so many taxes...we have inheritance tax,road tax, stamp duty tax(which I paid when I got my house a few months ago) which is 1% of the value of the house you are buying..I can go on forever mate ...
Anyway, I will tell you more about it later...but it really sucks here!

I dont thikn i've ever seen a filipino in my life (15 years) in the country, where are you guys hiding!?

weather..either too hot or cold!

hey SKL....come in the south

I live in Buckinghamshire...you must be living in some remote area up in the sticks..there are loads of Filipinos in London...where are you hiding???!!!


Yeah it sucks in London...I went to university in Brighton for four years...(im not a faggot though!!)...The South is where you will meet the most laid back and nicest people in England

Your wife makes 124k/annum as a nurse in California??

but that's bust @$$ work though...hours are crazy etc.

Ermm 48hrs week is hard work? You try nursing back in the uk and see how you feel making beds, lifting patients, making tea & coffee, mopping floors, bathing patients on top of your nursing responsability. Nursing in the us they pay you handsomely and you practice what you only trained for, not what the cleaners supposed to do or the labourers or what the bed makers supposed to do.

Mabuhay, yes she makes that much, hard to believe i know but its true. If she was supposed to work only 3 days then shed get something like 80K on 36hrs spread over 3 days in week. She specialises and so thats a bonus ..

A friend of my wife's at work makes 300k per annum working for 3 different hospitals 5-6days split, i found that rather shocking and unbelievable but then my wife was show the payslips and it tallied to that much.

Nurse make silly amounts of money here.


SKL, where on earth have you been hiding if you aint seen any filipinos? Must be some remote area somewhere.

East london or somewhere central like earls court is where most filipinos live, i take it you havent been to any of those bario fiestas in hounslow?

Pinoyfromengland, pare i feel for you talaga. Kung bibili ka lang nang bahay i suggest na lang yung ginagawa nang mga pana dyan, yung mortgage that lets you pay the interest na lang, at least that way pg pinagbili nyo yung bahay in another 10 years the house will pay itself off from the sale at meron ka pang equity, just as long the market does not go down, pero i doubt manyari ulit yan on the forseable future.

Depende kung ano ang mga profession nyo nang misses pero i would try my luck sa Canada kung sapalagay mo d ka maka qualify dito sa states?

Yung mga sa medical field matutulungan ko pumarito at papuntang canada as we are establishing a recruiting agency, we dont charge a penny nor would the employer recruiting to the states, pero you would have to pay your own way papuntang canada and no, you dont pay us. Bakit naman namin gagawin eto kung wala kaming bayad? Eh meron pero d mangagaling directo sainyo. Yung nga rin pala. Immigrant status lang binibigay namin, none of that working visa junk. spread the word na lang brod at para sana dito na lang mga pinoy tumira a d dyan sa uk, wawa ang buhay dyan pero better pa rin kesa sa pinas.

maybe that depends. i know an lpn who works past 48 hrs. and get paid 30 hrs. and hour. that's why i turned down m6 in the army,...get paid the same as medic but no fun in hospital. pretty much a medic tech who can give blood.

I work as an I.T. consultant and my wife works as an assistant branch manager for one of the best banks in England.
To tell you a bit about myself, I was born here and England but grew up in Pinas from the age of 1 till I graduated high school...then my grandma told me that I have to make my life in England..so actually napilitan pa ako bumalik rito sa England.
Fortunately I met my beautiful wife here in England so really talagang dito kami sa England mag settle kasi dito ang career ko sa ngayon and she is doing really well with hers too.
I told her about the U.S. and she didnt believe me till we got to New York and Vegas where her best friend lives.I have been to NY and Canada before I met her so I sort of know the score with how much easier life is over there...siguro sasali na lang kami sa Lottery for a green card ba yon???
Anyway,we have been living in our own house now which is big enough(no no di tulad ng laki ng mga bahay dyan..dito para kaming mga daga!!) and fortunately may relatives ako nearby so it's not too bad..
Nakakainis lang na alam ko na 1) Masarap mabuhay sa Pilipinas kung may pera ka...and 2) Everything in the US is cheaper....
Man, we just leave it to fate in the meantime what happens in the future..kailangan mapalaki ko muna tong anak ko...

how come?

The-Foreigner, thanks for sharing that. I had no idea the money was that great. I have an aunt who`s working as a nurse near Detroit. I`m not sure how much she makes, but I know it`s nowhere near that amount that your wife gets out in California. She doesn`t specialize though. Funny it`s a such a substandard position in England and such a good gig here in the states...especially in California.

Hope things keep looking up for you out there .

I am a student in England and moved here last 2002 from the Philippines. I agree, everything here is expensive (well, almost). It's very rare that a Filipino (or not a Filipino) will treat you in a restaurant because it's so expensive. Even fast food chains like McDonalds, Burger King and KFC are expensive. Also the houses here (compared to the USA) are smaller. They also look the same... (if you know what I mean)I still prefer the houses in Pinas/USA because they are much bigger. The fares on the bus and trains/london tube are expensive! In my place, I need to pay £2.50 to go somewhere in town when it's only two stops away from each other. So I buy the travel ticket to save even though it's still expensive.

Tuition fees are also expensive here in the UK especially if you are an international student. If you are a home student, you usually pay £3,000 a year... but if you're an international student you pay about £9,000. It depends on the course I think. But if you are a home student you can get a student loan and pay it when you're earning a lot of money.

I didn't enjoyed my schooling here. I think it's because I don't have that many friends to hang around with. I did my high school in the Philippines and I can say that I really enjoyed it there. It's much more exciting and there are more extra curricular activities. I did my sixth form here and all we do is lectures and courseworks... it's so boring! Your grades are based in exams and courseworks only. In Pinas, (when I was in HS) the grades is based on recitation, projects, attendance, exams, and etc.

I agree with PinoyfromEngland, 'Masarap mabuhay sa Pilipinas kung may pera ka...'

To be honest, i think nurses in general whether specialised or not get a good rate here in california but then again it will also depend on your experience and the degree of your qualifications, the wife is a Bacholorete (right spelling?) and has a high level of experience and so it all adds up to how much money they be willing to pay you. My wife's best friend who went to san diego instead is earning like $80 an hour which is crazy but she only feels the need to work for only 4 hours and she has gotten so fat since we last saw her back in the uk, i guess life has been good . Also there is such a shortage of highly qualified nurses here in Ca that you get hospitals offering sign in bonuses, like my wife was given 6k over a 3 month spread for joining in, or you can opt for Ford mustang with 2k money as a sign on bonus. I dont know how it works out with the mustang but my guess is that they'll cover something like 4k of it and the rest you can pay the financing company the outstanding. If it were just me and the wife, perhaps we wouldda opted for the mustang but highly impracticle with 2 kids.

If your aunt is wishing to move to CA then we could recruit her coming from another state and she'll get the same perks but not sure on wages, thats would need evaluation at the administration. Just some food for thought. And no we dont charge a dime off anybody.. Regards

Jokean, i know i know. The sound of "Expensive this expensive that" is already ringing in my ears, and i really feel for you guys. Remember i lived there since i was four years old and left for the states in my 30's and so i had a long stint in the uk. I was quiet fortunate when i did my engineering studies, i was given an apprenticeship, Where i had to take an entry exam both for the university and the employer who gives you employment but sends you to school which involves them paying for all your tuition fees and wages at the end of the week. I was only 16 back then and getting paid £80 a week was a big bonus while all your tuition fees (80k of it for 4 years) was all paid for by your employer. It was awesome time for me. Its ironic how engineering all went out the window by the year 2000, it was all gone and the time i thought i needed to jack myself out.

It wasnt so bad back in the 80's, it was all still relatively ok. Life wasnt so complicated back then.

What makes me laugh is how you guys remind me of how i came back from a holiday in the US back in 94 and i was non stop whinging (complaining) about how small and expensive food is in the uk. I couldda stayed and not bother coming back to the uk but i had other priorities in life. I guess its true what they say, Things happens when its supposed to happen and for a reason.. Bahhh i sound fu-king old now

Dude u cannot agree more.. kung madali lang sana pera dito e di walang pinoys na naninirahan sa ibang lugar dba?

I was kidding Kulazz...football is alright...It's just that when you grow up watching basketball all your life and then you have to watch football,,you will find it ultra boring coz u can watch a whole 90 minutes and there isnt a score at all!!Whereas in the PBA,especially the All Filipino matches, the score can get really close between the teams and a team can score even at the last 5 seconds(or 2 seconds..Crispa-Toyota or Purefoods-Ginebra days)...
When I came over to England and realised that I am stuck with watching football, I first supported Aston Villa...then Chelsea...then i just got too busy with life...and I always felt so awkward talking about it with my British friends and acquaintances..In this country, you have to have a good reason for supporting a team..like either you have been going to the matches since you were 7 years old or your family's elder generation has been supporting the team, or you live in the area where your team is..for example...People are going to question why you support Manchester United when you are a Londoner???

I have to admit though I SERIOUSLY enjoy supporting England in the World Cup and Euro Cup matches...it's just disappointing how the England team has been so uninspiring lately,..they dont seem to have any inspiration at all.

Having read the posts in this thread, parang nawala ang balak kong tumira sa Scotland kahit for a few years lang. hehehe. U.K. is also one of my choices for graduate studies kahit alam kong mamumulubi ako ng husto. Konti lang kasi ata ang binibigay na scholarship ng British Council. Anyway, tama na ang mga pangarap ko. hehehe. mag-eentertainer na lang ako sa Japan. Joke

Maganda sa Scotland, lalo na dun sa Edinburgh Castle. Okay din mga universities dito.. I've been to Edinburgh University for a visit and I love the place... dun sana ako mag-aaral kayalang malayo sya.



That's good you are receiving £80 a week whilst studying. Some students in 6th form/college here receives EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance) a week if their parents earn less money. Some gets £30.. some £20..£10 and so on.




oo nga.

Well mabuti pa nga...dito di mo maeenjoy simple things in life like nice food,nice car and nice people...iba ang mga puti rito kasi very reserved sila and they dont freely show their emotions.
It's also different here when it comes to friendship, di tulad sa Pinas, talagang dedicated ang kaibigan mo sa iyo sa hirap o ginhawa.I will expand on that later...

Mas masarap pa nga siguro sa Japan..saka marami ka pa ata mapapasayang Hapon bilang entertainer sa japan!NYEK!

Anoher reality of living abroad is the siimple fact that you have to do everything for yourself...Cooking,ironing,cleaning the house,shopping at marami pang daily household chores..Pag ma baby ka na tulad namin,it gets worse coz u dont have enough time to do everything...In England, a childminder or a nursery is very expensive.It would cost about more than half of a person's earnings to pay for it..Nasanay kami pareho ng asawa ko sa Pinas na may katulong kaya talagang nakakabwisit rito.. HIRAP NG WALANG MAID!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!

Masyado siguro akong nagbababasa ng travel guides at nanunuod ng travel shows. Masyado kasi akong nagandahan sa Scotland (lalo na sa Highlands) kaya nagkaruon ako ng pangarap na manirahan diyan kahit panandalian lang, say 2 years (next naman Israel hehehe). Medyo nagpapaka-nerd (daw heheh) nga ako ngayon para mas qualified ako for scholarship baka sakaling makapag-aral ako sa UK (sana lang sa Uni of Edinburgh) hehehe.

May stereotype na cold ang mga British, mukha ngang totoo 'to. Baka ma-depressed lang ako diyan kasi kahit sino dinadaldal ko (e.g. yung jeepney driver tapos tinutulungan ko pa siyang maningil ng pamasahe hehehe). hehehe. Tama mag-Jajapan na nga lang ako. hehehe. Thanks for your insight. Medyo na-out of touch kasi ako sa realidad kakabasa ng mga libro tungkol sa Scotland. hahaha

i want to go to scotland, but only for one thing.....SCOTCH!!!!! i want to do a tour of all the distilleries.

I wonder if 'The Foreigner' can back me up on this but:

The British hates Americans while Americans love the British......

They cant stand the cheerful,welcoming nature of Americans.They dont think it's real...they think that Americans are 'plastic'.They do not like the way Americans express their emotions freely.
They dont like the Catholic beliefs of Americans...

However,Americans love the monarchy and the British accent...

So ironic.......Im serious...I tell you what..for one they cant stand the film 'Independence Day'..they hated the American president's 'cheesy' speech when they were about to go to war with the aliens....Cmon people I need some feedback please...especially you The Foreigner coz you've lived here in the UK for awhile!!!!

i'd like to point out im not filipino, but i am a foreigner also living in the Uk and the above point is very true... but also previous points of british society are spot on. its easier if you've managed to pick a british accent (thats what i found anyway) or you have british education behind you.

btw - i think it is denmark where they say "the british hide their emotions behind a cup of tea".

so where are you from?

Whatever happened to you 'The Foreigner'....you must have thought Im a wanker...
Im just having a laugh, brother.I need your opinions about how Americans are thought of by the Brits...
Well as of now, the Americans are really hated by the Brits....what do you think?And for the rest of you Americans out there..give me your say...ppleeasseee!!

Sorry i been out of it bro, i got banned for a week and landed myself a 100% warning , i was flaming some stupid @$$ whiteboy ...

With regards the americans & brits, the yanks have got this deep fascination with the english, a lot of it stems with the history the brits have and yeah ofcourse theres the accent thing but then you goto to Boston (MA) where theres a lot of irish americans they hate the brits and the real rich hardcore ones actually supported the IRA (remember them?), but yes generally speaking the yanks luvs the brits. When it comes to how the brits feel about the yanks, well its kindda mixed feeling really. They luv coming here for their holidays and spending their ££'s and how they think its great here but they envy the yanks a great deal too. They hate the fact the yanks get all the spoils and they get peanuts (put in a nutshell) which imho is rather hypocritical.

Naughty boy, you!!I want to get banned too...how did you do it??

As you know,my wife and I watch Wowowee a lot.It just reminds us of how easy-going and how cheerful Filipinos are despite the hardships they go through with their lives.

All we watch in England are the soap operas full of depressing storylines..which is really the reality of living over here.So to watch Filipino programmes really helps us escape the doom and gloom of this country.

We,ourselves, are so jealous seeing Filipino emigrants in Wowowee...they all look so happy and carefree.We just know how much nicer it is to live in America..with your big houses,cheaper restaurants and bigger portions of food....I could go on again forever...

Just dont know how long we can put up with England.Everytime you go to a shop,you feel like you are being ripped off left,right and centre.Money goes so quick and the price you pay for goods or services is not justified.The media calls this place, 'RIP-OFF ENGLAND'.

They dont seem to able to justify how they price anything here..from goods to services.It's like a lottery when they decide on a price on something...And raw materials against selling price..you really wonder if they earn a profit of 500% on each good or service they offer.

It costs so much to get an appliance or furniture delivered.Same with getting a plumber,electrician or a gasman.....You feel like you are being shagged up d arse with the costs of their services.

And yeah, they(all of the above) dont give you a specific time as to what time they are coming over.They will just say it's either am or pm.So first you book a day off work to accomodate them, then you just wait, if possible at the door or next to the window 24/7 till they turn up coz you wouldnt want to miss them....and sometimes they dont even have the courtesy to ring you if they cannot make it!!Oh yeah,by the way, this goes the same with postal deliveries.They will say AM or PM that's it!!!

Hey Americans, come over here, live in England....it's a character builder..if you have lived here, you can survive living anywhere else...I think this is where the word, STRESS, originally came from, and is mostly used.

I have never heard of a Filipino saying, 'Pare stressed out ako sa trabaho' or 'Stressed out na stressed out na ako sa buhay ko...hu!hu!hu!hu!'

Hehe, i feel your pain broder. Look, why dont you guys come here already?

It aint at all hard moving here although the thought does somewhat seem daunting but then i and the family made adjustments, has it been worthit? Hell YES!!

Theres nothing stopping your and your missus coming here, provided you have a good level of education and if its within the criteria of which the americans need to fill the jobs then they will take you!. Even if it dont go through at least try and see. Remember the saying "if you dont ask you dont get". Or you could also try Canada.

I agree with you with regards if you make it in england you can make it anywhere, so whats stopping you then bro? If you ask me. You have the advantage of just you and your wife, if you have kids like my little two boys it will be harder. Me and the wife are lucky that we had a great deal of support. To be honest, Filipinos are wasted there in the uk, they are not really appreciated there given the fact Pinoys work hard and so its just right they get the rewards, but i guess uk is better than being stuck back home with no job? ...

EDIT: mhmm. that'll get ya banned fo sho.

Man, i've got a 9 week old baby boy now and I've bought my first house only 5 1/2 months ago.I'm almost done with decorating the house.
I've got a degree in Computer Science from Brighton Uni and my wife graduated from Assumption in Phili with a degree in Economics..
At the moment we're still trying to settle in with a new mortgage and a young baby so emigrated is not on the cards yet.My closest relatives live close to our house too which is handy...
Maybe when things settle down, my wife will I will think about it..
My wife always says the same thing when she sees Pinoys from Vegas,Cali,etc., "Bwisit kayo,ang lalaki ng bahay nyo..sarap pa ng pagkain nyo!!One day lilipat din kami sa America!".
Her best friend lives in Vegas...laki ng bahay e...so namamatay kami sa inggit...Our house is a 4-bed with adequate room sizes(on British standards ha..baka mga rooms namin rito kasing laki lang ng toilet nyo!)...

Who knows matey....

I think it should be clear that the views and attitudes in England are totally different from those in Scotland. Americans come here in their thousands every year and are always made welcome as are any foreigners. Oh, and I think Independence Day was a great movie! Give us a visit. You'll love Scotland and the Scots!

I can agree..i have met and worked with a few Scots and I've always found them to be a good laugh...
One day I will visit Scotland...