Latest articles, guides, and insights for life in New Zealand
you're a Sri Lankan expat living in the UK, and you've just met someone special. As you start dating, you realize that the cultural norms and expectations are vastly different from what you're used to back home. You might find yourself wondering what's considered polite, what's a reasonable pace f...
I still recall my first day at a British office, where I inadvertently addressed my superior by their first name, only to be politely corrected by a colleague. This minor faux pas could have easily been avoided had I been aware of the nuances of British workplace etiquette. As someone who has spen...
Executive Summary In just two weeks—from early January 2026—Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot transformed from a cutting-edge government technology into the target of the most coordinated international regulatory response against any AI system to date. The crisis reveals fundamental tensions between S...
Picture this: You’ve just arrived in a chilly northern city from the sun-drenched streets of Colombo, where year-round warmth once defined your days. Now, as winter’s gray skies close in, you feel an unexpected drag—not the vibrant energy you expected from cooler air, but a familiar heaviness echoi...
If you’ve ever wondered why British students take GCSEs at 16 while their American counterparts sit for SATs, you’ve spotted one of the education system’s defining features: structure. The British school system isn’t just different—it’s deliberately designed around clear progression points, each wi...
Did you know that by March 2025, 41% of doctors in England’s Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) hold international medical qualifications, with over 500 new Sri Lankan-trained doctors joining the NHS by 2022 alone?[5] This influx underscores a familiar brain drain from Sri Lanka’s h...
Have you ever watched £1,000 destined for your family’s Sri Lankan account shrink to just 416,000 LKR after bank fees and a lousy rate—only to see the GBP/LKR pair climb to 419 the next day, leaving you kicking yourself?[1][5] You’re not alone. Splitting time or assets between the UK and Sri Lan...
Most Sri Lankan immigrants discover too late that UK banks don’t care about your credentials back home—they care about paperwork you probably don’t have yet. You’ll face rejection letters, wasted appointments, and weeks of delays if you approach this the way most people do. The difference between a...
I’ve seen countless expats in my 15 years advising on UK pensions pour every spare penny into family support back home, only to hit retirement age with a State Pension forecast barely scraping £12,000 a year—far short of the £25,000+ needed for basics, per recent GOV.UK projections.[1] You’re ju...
You’re likely overpaying taxes on your Sri Lankan assets by 20-30% right now—without even realising it—thanks to mismatched UK residency rules and the UK-Sri Lanka double taxation agreement. Picture this: You’re a UK tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test (SRT), spending over 183 days h...
UK lenders will happily take your money—but only if you’re willing to pay significantly more for it than British citizens do. Foreign-born residents face deposit requirements double or triple those of local buyers, interest rates that reflect “expat risk,” and a documentation process so thorough it...
Core Differences: Cost, Comfort, and Accessibility Cost: The Deciding Factor The most significant distinction lies in cost. Government hospitals offer services that are largely free at the point of use, funded by the state. This covers consultations, surgeries, essential medications, and ward stay...