The TL;DR
Working abroad with kids is doable. The shape of it comes down to one thing: how old they are.
Under 5s are wide open. No school to work around, so go whenever suits, for as long as you like.
School age means planning around the holidays or sorting schooling where you land, but the options are broader and cheaper than most parents fear.
Six bases stand out, split by one question: will your children learn in English (Malta, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai) or the local language (Spain, Portugal)?
The big nomad visas all take the kids. Schooling and insurance are the bits to plan, not the paperwork.
Covered in this article
1. First, how old are your kids? 👶
Forget the destination for a second. The thing that decides what's possible is your children's ages.
Under 5s are the simplest by far. With no school to work around, you can go whenever suits and stay as long as you like. It's the easiest time to give this a try, which is why so many families test the waters in these years.
Primary age changes the rhythm, not the dream. From the term after your child turns five, school is compulsory, so term-time holidays need the school's authorisation, which is rarely given. In practice that means you either travel in the school holidays or arrange schooling where you're going. Worth knowing the teeth behind it: unauthorised term-time absence now brings a fine of £80 per parent, per child, rising to £160, with repeat absence able to escalate further.
Secondary age raises the stakes, because GCSE and A level years reward continuity. Most families either go before those years land or keep schooling consistent with an online British school (more on those below).
There are then two ways in. The test-drive is a short trip to see if it suits you, and for school-age kids the summer holidays are the obvious clear window. The commit is a term or more, which means a proper visa and a schooling plan.
Next step: Note your eldest child's age this September. Under five, you have a free hand; at school, you're planning around the holidays or sorting schooling abroad.
2. Six bases that actually work 🌍
A quick steer before the detail, because for families almost everything turns on one question: what language will your children learn in?
If they're young, a free local school in the local language is a gift, fast immersion at no cost, which makes Spain and Portugal hard to beat.
If they're older, in exam years, or you want continuity, schooling in English matters more, which points you to Malta (free and in English, the rare combination), Malaysia and Thailand (affordable English-medium international schools) or Dubai (the same, but pricier and tax-free).
On cost, Malaysia stretches your money furthest, Spain, Portugal and Malta sit in the middle, and Dubai is the dearest.
At a glance:
Base | Visa (length) | Schooling |
|---|---|---|
🇵🇹Portugal (Lisbon) | D8, renewable | Free state, in Portuguese |
🇪🇸Spain (Valencia, Tenerife) | Digital nomad visa, up to 3 yrs | Free state, in Spanish |
🇲🇹Malta | Nomad Residence Permit, up to 4 yrs | Free state, English-friendly |
🇲🇾Malaysia (Penang) | DE Rantau, renewable | English, from ~£3,400/yr |
🇹🇭Thailand (Chiang Mai) | DTV, renewable | English, from ~£2,600/yr |
🇦🇪Dubai (UAE) | Remote-work visa, renewable | English, from ~£2,600/yr |
Treat the monthly figures in each profile below as a reference point, not a quote; yours will shift with the city, the school you choose and how you live.
Free schooling, in the local language
🇵🇹 Portugal (Lisbon)
Best for: an easy, Europe-close first move with a large English-speaking community.
Family visa: the D8 takes a spouse and children, with the income bar rising per person.
Rough monthly cost: a family lands around £3,500 to £4,500 all in, less outside the smartest neighbourhoods.
School: free state school for residents, taught in Portuguese, which suits younger children well. Private preschool runs about £400 a month; English-language international primary around £12,000 a year.
Why it works: short flights home, mild winters, a well-trodden path for nomad families.
🇪🇸 Spain (Valencia, Tenerife and similar)
Best for: a longer family move with schooling sorted.
Family visa: the digital nomad visa runs up to three years, with a family-of-three income requirement of roughly £3,650 a month to prove.
Rough monthly cost: similar to Portugal, and noticeably cheaper away from Madrid and Barcelona.
School: as residents, your children can attend state school free, taught in Spanish, brilliant immersion for younger ones. English-language international schools run roughly £5,000 to £18,000 a year for families who'd prefer that route.
Why it works: the longest standard visa of the European three, free schooling, the same easy flights home.
Schooling in English
🇲🇹 Malta
Best for: free, English-friendly schooling without leaving the EU.
Family visa: the Nomad Residence Permit takes a spouse and dependent children, runs a year and renews up to four. Income needed is about £3,000 a month, with a 12-month income-tax break.
Rough monthly cost: broadly £3,000 to £4,000 all in, less on Gozo.
School: English is an official language, so state school is free and English-friendly, a genuinely rare combination. International schools are available too.
Why it works: English everywhere, EU and Schengen, very safe, compact and sunny, big expat community. Watch that it doesn't lead to permanent residency, and rents are rising.
🇲🇾 Malaysia (Penang)
Best for: the best value of the six, in an English-speaking country.
Family visa: the DE Rantau nomad pass takes a spouse and children for a year (renewable); MM2H is the long-term route.
Rough monthly cost: a family lands around £2,000 to £3,150 all in, including international school.
School: international schools are taught in English and start around £3,400 a year, cheaper in Penang than Kuala Lumpur. Local state schools are hard for foreigners to join.
Why it works: English widely spoken, low costs, excellent private healthcare, very safe, strong expat scene. Watch that the nomad visa covers peninsular Malaysia only.
🇹🇭 Thailand (Chiang Mai)
Best for: stretching your pounds furthest, with a ready-made family scene.
Family visa: the DTV takes a spouse and children under 20 with no cap on dependents, and asks for roughly £11,500 held in the bank.
Rough monthly cost: a family with a child in international school spends around £3,200 to £4,800; without school fees, closer to £1,500. A 3 to 4-bedroom house with a pool starts near £460 a month, a full-time nanny £320 to £580.
School: no free state route for foreigners, but international schools are taught in English and start around £2,600 a year, well below European fees.
Why it works: low costs, warm welcome, strong communities. Watch the February-to-April burning season, when air quality drops sharply, a real factor with young lungs.
🇦🇪 Dubai (UAE)
Best for: keeping all your income, with English spoken everywhere.
Family visa: the Virtual Working (remote work) visa runs a year and is renewable, asks for around £3,950 a month, and lets you sponsor a spouse and children.
Rough monthly cost: the dearest of the six, from about £7,000 all in once rent and school fees are counted, though your income is tax-free so you keep the lot.
School: expats use private international schools, taught in English, from roughly £2,600 to £30,000+ a year. Top schools have long waitlists, so apply early.
Why it works: tax-free earnings, English as the default, very safe and family-oriented. Watch the high cost of rent and schooling, and the summer heat.
Next step: Settle the language question first, English or local, then pick your priority from the table: best value (Malaysia), free schooling and Europe-close (Spain, Portugal or Malta), or tax-free income (Dubai).
3. How to handle school 🎒
This is the question that stops most families before they start. It has more answers than you'd think.
For under 5s, it's childcare, not school, and that's often the happy surprise, since a nanny or nursery abroad frequently costs a fraction of UK prices.
For school-age children, you've broadly got three routes:
Local state school. Once you're a legal resident, which the longer-stay nomad visas make you, your children can attend state school free across much of Europe. The teaching is usually in the local language (English-friendly in Malta), so it's a gift for younger children and a tougher ask for older ones or short stays. On a quick test-drive you're a visitor, not a resident, so this route isn't open.
International school. Taught in English, available everywhere on our list, and the route of choice in Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai. The trade-off is cost, from a few thousand a year to well over twenty.
Online British school. The UK curriculum, taught online, that travels with you wherever you go. It's the strongest option for continuity, especially through GCSE and A level years. (One caveat: home-based online schooling is restricted or not permitted in a few countries, including Greece and Croatia, so check it's allowed where you're headed.) Two are worth a proper look, so they have their own section below.
Worldschooling is all over Instagram, so it's worth being clear what it actually is. It's an approach rather than an accredited qualification, learning through travel and everyday life, with no single provider or certificate at the end. Families who do it for older children usually pair it with an accredited online school so the exams still count.
The watch-out nobody mentions: with online or international schooling as an external candidate, you arrange where your child physically sits their exams, and exam fees are separate, usually £150 to £200 per qualification.
Next step: Moving for a term or more with school-age kids? Choose between local school (free, local language) and an online British school (portable, English), then read the two below.
4. Two online British schools worth a look 🖥️
If continuity matters, these are the two UK families lean on most. One is the flexible, budget end; one is the structured, premium end. Both follow the British curriculum and both leave you to arrange an exam centre.
Wolsey Hall Oxford- The flexible, lower-cost option
Best for: frequent movers and self-directed learners who want maximum flexibility.
What it does: self-paced British and Cambridge curriculum for ages 4 to 18, with tutor feedback but no live lessons or timetable, so it fits any time zone.
Cost: from around £1,500 a year, charged per subject (roughly £425 a subject at primary).
Watch out for: no live teaching, so it leans on parent involvement, especially for younger children.
Users' views: rated about 4.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot, with parents repeatedly praising the flexibility and the personal tutor support.
Accreditations: a Cambridge-approved online school, and the first Cambridge-approved for primary. Established 1894.
King’s InterHigh - The structured, premium option
Best for: families wanting a full school experience, classmates and pastoral support, without teaching it themselves.
What it does: live, teacher-led lessons for ages 7 to 19, through to GCSE, A level or the first fully online IB Diploma.
Cost: from around £3,000 a year, rising for the senior years, with the online IB around £9,250.
Watch out for: live lessons run to a UK-time timetable, so a big time difference can mean early or late starts.
Users' views: generally well reviewed across a large number of ratings, with particularly strong praise for teaching quality and for helping anxious children settle.
Accreditations: accredited by the UK Department for Education, a registered Cambridge International School and Pearson Edexcel approved.
Next step: Shortlist one and ask for a fee quote for your child's exact year group, since pricing is per stage.
5. The bits that apply everywhere 📄
Two things hold true wherever you go.
The visas take families. The income bar simply rises per person. Spain adds roughly £900 a month for a second adult and £300 per child; Portugal's D8 adds 50% of the threshold for a spouse and 30% per child, plus a larger savings buffer. One clean watch-out: Portugal's shorter "temporary stay" D8 doesn't allow family, only the residency version does.
Insurance has a gap families miss. Your GHIC covers emergencies in Europe only and won't fly anyone home. A trip needs nomad travel insurance. A move needs international health insurance, which is the one that covers routine child care, jabs and check-ups, that travel policies leave out.
Next step: Check your income against the family threshold, and line up travel insurance for a trip or international health cover for a move.
Official Resources 📎
Apply for your GHIC (NHS): https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/
Portugal D8 Visa, official (Portuguese MFA visa portal): https://vistos.mne.gov.pt/en/
Spain Digital Nomad Visa, official (Spanish Consulate, London): https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consulados/londres/en/ServiciosConsulares/Paginas/Consular/Digital-Nomad-Visa.aspx
Malta Nomad Residence Permit, official (Residency Malta Agency): https://nomad.residencymalta.gov.mt/
Malaysia DE Rantau Nomad Pass, official (MDEC): https://www.mdec.my/derantau
Thailand DTV, official (Thai e-Visa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs): https://www.thaievisa.go.th/
UAE Virtual Work Visa, official (UAE Government portal): https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id/residence-visas/residence-visa-for-working-outside-the-uae
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
The Durrells
Based on Gerald Durrell's much-loved memoir My Family and Other Animals, The Durrells follows the family's chaotic but ultimately rewarding move to Corfu. It is funny, warm and a reminder that children often settle into new places much faster than adults expect.
Beneath the humour is a story about family, adventure and discovering that children often embrace change far more readily than their parents expect.
A gentle reminder that some of the best memories begin with a leap into the unknown.
Watch on ITVX or BritBox. Read the original memoir on Amazon or Waterstones.
DISCLAIMER
This newsletter provides general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, or immigration advice. Visa requirements and tax rules change frequently. Always verify current requirements with official government sources and consult qualified professionals for advice specific to your situation.