In my university the starting salary for post-doc (with no experience) is £26,552. Last year, a post-doc colleague told me his net salary was around £1,600 per month; he's non-EU and they're a family of 4. Can't think of other costs, but school is free for kids who are 3 years (born before 1 July 2013; dates may differ depending on area). Health care is equally free. Like @chickpea has said, it can help a great deal if your husband were to find a job.

if you add in rent it's almost not doable, not for that sort of money, except if hubby has a good job as well. up north there are very limited jobprospects. while healthcare and school are free (tho not all childcare is free), rents are generally high, tenants don't have a lot of rights and housing is not of the greatest quality compared to continental standards (random website to check rents and houseprices: rightmove.co.uk). it's better to straight aiming for buying/mortgage if you can afford that. public transport is generally bad (unreliable) and expensive (again, compared to continental standards).

I think we chatted before - after this new development I would look for other opportunities. It does not sound like this will be a good deal for you.

@TheEngineer and Practical mouse: I am not sure whether he will be permitted to work since I will be the one which might get the job offer. And yes, it seems that most of jobs for him (electrical/instrument engineering) are in the south than the north, he also believes he would need to apply for permit to practice which according to him requires him to pass exams and would take at least 6 to a year for that.

@windowill, yes the rent is also another cost to consider. Buying/mortgage is currently not possible as we do not have enough down payment unless we sell our mortgaged house in Canada. Unfortunately where I am, is hard to sell and prices are falling significantly. Selling means we will lose. I assume a 2~3 bed apartment in near university areas would cost 600~800 GBP.

hi KimWipes if you decide to take this job (say it works out) I think you will come over on a Tier 2 visa, which I think allows your husband to work, it also allows self-employment.
Only thing is (as you said) he might need to get some other certificate etc. (here in the UK, a certificate is needed for almost every single thing!).

hope things turn out well

As Satchi has stated, your husband will be on dependant visa, no need for him to apply for a work permit. Holders of dependant visa have unrestricted working hours. To practice as an engineer in the UK, he'll have to apply for membership of a relevant engineering body e,g The Institution of Electrical and Technology, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, etc. The membership grade that will be assigned to him will depend on his qualifications and experience. First step is usually student membership, then you move up to Graduate, Associate, Full Member and finally the highest grade of Fellow. For most institutions, you only sit for rigorous exams when moving from associate to full membership. The initial application process is a relatively simple one, which can be completed online.

@Satchi, the certification business is universal… even changing residency within Canada, going one province to another, he will need to take exam or do some other sort of time delaying exercise which he also has to pay a ton of money for it or its membership…. it is a business!

@ TheEngineer: Thanks! Does he need to apply to these institutions before he starts working or can he get a job and then applies for the membership? In Canada there is a term called MIT (member in training) which means if you have some engineering degrees, you can work under a professional engineer while your qualifications being reviewed, if you pass the qualification exams then you be full engineer, if you don't pass, then you cannot practice engineering.

Recruiters usually insist on employing Professional engineers (we call them Chartered Engineers here) or those working towards Chartered status. So, it's good to apply for membership beforehand. Even here, you don't necessarily have to be a Chartered Engineer to practice engineering, you can practice while working towards the Chartered Status. Unlike in the USA and CANADA, the engineering bodies in the UK accept applications from anywhere in the world and have members scattered across the globe. They even administer membership exams in many countries especially in Africa, Asia, NZ and Australia. You don't have to be residing or working in the UK to become a Chartered engineer. It's the same for other UK professional membership bodies e.g Chartered Accountants, Marketers, Chemists, Physicists etc.

oh it's money again, yes you are right Kim it is a business. One of my colleagues suggested that I apply to be an associate of the HEA to help with boosting my cv, but that costs money too (which I don't have to spare at the moment). How much is it to be admitted as a chartered Engineer? Feels like a big step to take to relocate. Any news yet?

It's quite expensive but varies according to one's institution. These are the 2016 fees for those seeking admission through my institution (Institution of Structural Engineers).

Application fee: £80
Interview fee: £140
Examination fee: £425
Annual subscription: £305
Registration for CEng £47.80

My two supervisors belong to at least 3 different institutions; I don't know how they manage to pay for such colossal subscriptions.

Here in Canada, he is paying some few hundred dollars a year for his engineering permit* and all he receives is a quarterly magazine on printed thick expensive papers that only talks about the board member meetings on their budget, honorary dinners with this rich guy or that minister and finally several pages of pictures of board members golf tournament and self-congradulatory stories on the golfing skills... membership fees well spent!

*: To make life easier for the honoured board members, in Canada they call engineering a self-regulatory practice so the board members have really nothing to do unless something goes wrong and then all they need to do is to revoke engineering title from the the failed miserable engineer and issue a "lesson-learnt" notice to the public... pretty sad eh?

there's an exam too? Is it taken just once? They only just pay the annual fee after that?

I have an off-topic question, would this be the same for chemical engineers?
My friend's nephew wants to be one.



yes it's pushing responsibility to others and that is what "honourable" people do.
totally agree, it is not very nice at all.

Exam is taken just once, afterwards, you only need to pay an annual membership fee. But when renewing the membership, members are required to show evidence of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points, which are accumulated through attendance of seminars, webinars, talks/lectures etc.

Regarding Chemical engineers; more information can be picked up from the Institution's website. http://www.icheme.org/membership/member.aspx

Just an update:
The prof sent me an email more than a week ago (wednesday may 4) that everything is okayed (I guess that's for the 3rd time in the last few months she said that!) and would receive an email from her on the job details within the next 1-2 days but so far again no email! ... I am just getting to like the ridiculousness of the situation... ( Even if things are truly happening, I am quite sure that I will not apply anyhow but wont let her know! my turn! ha ha ha) so we will see when it will be okayed again!

thanks Engineer.
hi Kim, yes don't tell her anything :-)