German expat in the UK reporting in.

> What has your experience been?

Mixed. Do your research first. It was difficult to get a bank account and rent a flat without references or fixed address (I stayed in a hostel the first few weeks).

I once got evicted from a flat (with 10 days notice) because of a legal loophole. The landlord was insolvent, bank repossessed, my tenancy agreement was declared void because landlord hadn't sought permission to let it out from the bank. As a tenant, you have no way of checking this upfront. Generally tenants are treated like shit and you need to be really wary. I was ignorant of any of this until it smacked me in the face - now I'm sufficiently up to date to give tenancy advise to the natives.

Compared to Germany, recycling here is barely known, which took some getting used to. You can't get a proper sausage in this country, but there's new exciting foods to compensate for it, and a wide variety of popular foreign dishes.

Other than that I like it, apart from the worrying rise of xenophobia, anti-EU sentiment and increasing internet censorship and monitoring. There's always Scotland though, after the breakup.

> What is your particular career?
> Did you have to already have a job when you moved to that country?

I was offered a job as CTO, which was the opportunity to move I needed. If you do not have an offer letter in your pocket, it will be even more difficult to get a bank account and rent a flat (but search for "HSBC Passport").

> What were your moving expenses?

A flight for me, and a couple hundred euros to transport a few of my most important belongings. Do not bring more than this. Definitely don't bring furniture. Do not bring bed sheets or anything that is sized to fit certain items of furniture, it will not fit.

Then the price of a few weeks of temporary accommodation while I searched for a flat. I went cheap (£40 a night) because I wasn't sure how long it would be for, and ended up in a hostel where the shower didn't work reliably. Found a flat after two weeks.

> How much is your rent or did you buy?

Rent in the UK is obscenely high, and so is buying (especially in and around London), and one of the things I still struggle with is the generally poor quality of available housing (ancient heating, drafty single glazed windows, "period" buildings).

> Have you become fluent in the native language and was the language barrier difficult to overcome?

Yes. I spoke English before, or thought I did, but the language barrier was still immense. English has many variations (I ended up in a meeting with an Irishman and couldn't understand a thing) and there's a lot of slang in use. It took about a year before it got acceptable, and after 5 years I can cope with almost all of it, including Glaswegian and Scouse.

> What was the process like to become a permanent resident?

Depends on where you come from. After a few years of legal residency, you can apply for naturalization and do a test that every person born in the country fails (but you just study for it and then you'll pass). As EU resident, there's no huge advantage in becoming a citizen (well, you get to vote if you like).

> What's the cost of living compared to where you moved from? Has your quality of life improved or not? How and why?

Considerably higher cost of living, all due to the high rent (other factors about the same). I'm not sure about quality of life, but I can tell you it was the most important thing in my life and everyone should live in a different country for some time (actually live there, holidays don't count).

As American, please consider that you will be made fun of by some, you will need to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road and how to use a stick shift.

In general, be prepared to accept that things aren't like home and miss some food.