Choosing to live abroad is one of the most difficult yet rewarding decisions depending on the circumstances of your case. For instance, take the United Kingdom, it has between 4.5 to 5.5 million (7-8%) of its population living outside the UK. In comparison, Australia has 2.1%, the United States 0.8%, and Spain 3% of their populations living as expats.Five of the most important Apps for Expats and Immigrants that should always be on your phone.Take a look at this list of Apps for Expats.
Some of the immigrants live and work in those countries, others go on holidays and some choose their destinations for retirement. Whatever the case, living in a foreign country means embracing the culture, language, and the systems at work in those countries.
You may never live like a native, but to make your life comfortable and avoid inconveniences, the following apps can help you navigate the different aspects of life abroad.
Related Read: Pros and Cons of Being an Expat
Apps for Expats/Immigrants
Ria Money Transfer App
One of the first needs you will have is that of sending or receiving money from your home country or to your family and friends. There are many money transfer services including banks, person-to-person (P2P), and mobile transfer operators. However, for security, simplicity, affordability, and speed, you will need an established money transfer service such as Ria.
The Ria Money Transfer app is a downloadable mobile application available on both Android and iOS platforms. Through this app, you can do the following:
- Send transfers to your recipients instantly to over 389,000 locations in 161 countries.
- Track every transfer you make on the go to ascertain whether it has been delivered or not.
- Find the nearest agent location from where you can withdraw or send money if you prefer in-store cash transfers.
- Manage all your transfers including cancellations all in one place.
- Share transfer order information with the recipient through messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Messages, Google+, One Drive, Facebook, Gmail, and SMS Inbox.
Logging into your account through the Ria money transfer app is now easier with fingerprint and facial recognition.
XE Currency Conversion App
When sending money to your home country, you will need to know the exact amount the recipient will get. One of the apps that can help you is the XE currency app. It gives you the midmarket transfer rates between your host country’s currency to your destination currency. Even though the app can help you send money as well, it only allows for transfers in 65 currencies. Also, the XE currency app only has banks as payout options, unlike Ria that enables sending to cash pickup locations, mobile wallets, and home deliveries to specified countries.
Duolingo
Learning a new language can be difficult, but with the right assistance, it can be fun and addictive. Duolingo does exactly that. It helps you learn a new language in a simple and rewarding way. Through this app, you can learn anytime anywhere through personalized learning modules, instant grading on correct answers, and virtual coin earnings to keep you motivated as you master new words and perfect your grammar.
Duolingo Plus is an ad-free Duolingo app available at a small fee of $6.99 per month. It also enables you to save courses and learn offline through mobile devices.
Another app you could use to help you quickly translate words and phrases from one language to another is Google Translate. It supports over 100 other languages apart from English.
Google Maps
To help you find your location, a specific place, dedicated lanes, trails, and bicycle-friendly roads, you can download the Google Maps app. The app is available in 26 languages and now offers aerial photography, route planning, real-time traffic conditions, panoramic street views, and other functionalities. You can never get lost as long as this app is on and you have data to enable it to pull satellite and server information.
Communicating with your family and friends back home can be very expensive and at times impossible if you have to depend on mobile carriers. Instead of troubling yourself loading talk time and connecting with your loved ones, WhatsApp Messenger gives you a free cross-platform Voice over IP (VOIP) and messaging service.
You can make voice calls, video calls, send text messages, voice messages, user location, images, and documents right on the platform. There is also a WhatsApp business service built for small business owners.
These are just five of the most important apps, but there are many others out there such as Travisa, Doctoralia, and MeetUp that can help you make your life simple.
