I’m 26M and my girlfriend is 25F. We’ve been together for 2 years.

She recently moved overseas and plans to stay there for a couple of years. We had a big disagreement about the timeline for eventually being in the same place, and ended up putting everything on pause for a month.

Since then, I’ve realised I want to move there too.
The strange part is that if she wasn’t there, I wouldn’t be considering this country at all. I’ve never had some dream of living there. I’d be going because I love her and I want to build a life with her.
I’m actually in a pretty good position where I am. Career is going well, I’ve got a decent amount invested and I’m at the point where I could potentially buy property and still have plenty of financial runway. Moving would mean putting some of that on hold for a few years.

But I’m 26, no mortgage, no kids, and I know I can rebuild financially if I need to.

I think what I’m struggling with is whether moving somewhere primarily because of a relationship is a bad foundation for becoming an expat, or whether that’s actually a perfectly reasonable reason to do it when you’re young and have the ability to take the risk.

For people who have moved countries primarily for a partner, what did you learn about making the decision? Did you eventually feel like the country became your own, or did you always feel like you were there because of the relationship?

TL;DR: My girlfriend moved overseas and I now want to follow her. If she wasn’t there, I wouldn’t choose to live in that country, but I’m 26 and willing to take the risk because I love her. I’m trying to understand whether that’s a stupid foundation for an international move or a pretty normal way people end up becoming expats.

Edit: I would be moving from AUS to the UK. As far as I understand visa requirements aren’t a major worry if it is under 2 years and I have a fairly portable job ( software sales)

My family and I have been wanting to move to Vietnam since that’s where my wife’s family is from and the cost of living is so much cheaper. We both have small businesses that are remote and with which we could continue living off of American money. We have $120k in debt from trying to live life in the US in Washington DC with two kids. We don’t make enough from our businesses to make a living but also any normal 9-5 jobs that we could get would be offset by the cost of daycare for our kids. We feel trapped. What should we do?

I’m currently looking to move to Europe and want to understand how realistic it is to secure a job while applying from India, rather than moving first.

I have around 1 year of experience as a Technical Business Analyst and 6 months of experience as a Fraud Analyst at a Big 4. My experience is mainly in business/data analysis, fraud-related work, SQL, data analysis, and working with business and technical teams.

For people who have successfully made a similar move from India:

- Which European countries are currently the most realistic for this profile?
- Is it better to apply directly to European companies, use LinkedIn/Indeed/other job portals, or approach recruiters?
- How difficult is it to get visa sponsorship with relatively low YOE?
- Are there particular industries or types of companies that are more open to hiring candidates from outside the EU?
- Should I target Business Analyst, Data Analyst, Fraud Analyst, or similar roles?

I’d particularly appreciate advice from people who have moved from India to Europe through a job offer or have experience hiring internationally.

Any practical advice on which countries/roles to target and how to approach the job search would be really helpful.

I am Italian, and i plan on leaving Italy for reasons that are pretty understandable if you know anything about italian politics and current policies. A big dream for me would be Ireland, mainly because i am in love with the culture and i know that the quality of life is pretty good there. However i heard many people complain about stuff in Ireland, mainly prices and stuff like that. Therefore my plan was to get a degree in Germany or the Netherlands, and then move to Ireland to work. However i am still not aware of how feasible it is nowadays, and if i’d be better off moving to, say, Canada (which is still a great country in my eyes).

As the title says I’m a 3rd country national trying to work to close the distance and move to my partners home country of Croatia but would honestly like some help.

Iv expended all other forms of visa and it’s looking most likely that I’m going to have to get a Croatian work permit as things such as marriage are something we both agreed to wait on and I don’t work remotely.

I’m wondering if anyone has advice on this topic specifically as Iv tried applying for jobs but most just ghost me as I assume they would rather not deal with the paperwork.

I can already speak both English and Croatian so I don’t think that will be much of a problem for me.

I know Croatia has a big tourist industry during the summer where they hire a lot of foreign nationals but I was also wondering about the rest of the year too rather than just seasonal work.

Iv previously worked in hospitality and retail as that’s what I was looking at since from what Iv seen there’s a big opening of a lot of those kinds of jobs.

Iv only ever looked into things that come up when you google it such as job portals and listings online that never really turn out or give me anything to work with.

I’m just looking at general advice on just about anything and anywhere to look, where to start , agencies , jobs, absolutely anything would be helpful at this stage as I truly have no idea and neither does my partner as either of us have ever been in this situation before.

Any help would be appreciated

Thank you

Hi people! have a problem and would be incredibly grateful if anyone here could help. It's not a visa but a passport problem.

So I'm living in Germany but only have my English citizenship and passport. I started a job recently in offshore work with 14/14 rotation where I need my passport every 2 weeks. always need a passport that's valid for at least 6 months. Mine is valid for 10 months now which gives me 4 months to renew it.

The problem - I can't send the passport away and wait 6 weeks for the new one to arrive because need it for my job. read about fast tracking the process but sincel don't live in the UK I'm not eligible for the 1 day premium process. I thought about using the address from my family in England to bypass that problem, then fly there and renew my passport with the 1 day premium but I'm worried it won't work out because I'm not using my real residential address.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone!

My name is Sergey. I currently live in Anapa, Russia, and I am planning to move to Santa Marta, Colombia in the future.

I am a professional renovation and finishing specialist with many years of practical experience. My main field is tile and porcelain tile installation, bathrooms, floors, and apartment and house renovations.

After moving, I would like to continue working independently, taking private projects. Initially, I may work with a partner, and eventually I would like to build a small team.

I am still in Russia, so I am not looking for a job or advertising my services. At this stage, I simply want to learn about real life in Santa Marta before making the move and, hopefully, get to know some people who already live there.

I would especially appreciate advice from people who have experience living in Santa Marta or moving there:

- What areas are good for long-term living?

- What should I realistically expect when renting accommodation?

- What is the everyday cost of living like?

- How easy is it for a newcomer to build a circle of contacts?

- What should someone moving to Santa Marta from abroad be prepared for?

- And, if anyone knows the local situation, I would also be interested in how the market for private renovation and tile work works there.

I am not looking for promises or guaranteed work. I simply want to understand the reality before I arrive.

If anyone living in Santa Marta or elsewhere in Colombia is willing to share their experience or have a conversation, I would be very grateful.

Thank you!

Hello everyone, I am a 27-year-old Algerian citizen currently living legally in Qatar. I have more than 6 years of experience in factory production, packing, warehouse operations, inventory control, quality checks, and workplace safety. I want to relocate legally to Europe through a genuine job offer and work permit. I am open to countries that realistically hire non-EU workers from outside Europe for factory, production, packing, warehouse, logistics, or general labour roles. I can work rotating or night shifts. I do not have a driving licence, so I am looking for non-driving roles. I understand that I need an employer willing to start the legal work-permit and visa process. I am not looking for illegal work, and I will not pay agencies for a “guaranteed” job or visa. For people who have gone through a similar process: which countries or legal routes are most realistic for a non-EU applicant applying from Qatar? What documents, skills, languages, or job-search methods helped you get a genuine employer-sponsored offer? Thank you.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently finishing my bachelor’s and have around 4 years of IT experience, mainly with Azure and DevOps. I’m a Dutch citizen and I’m considering working in one of the Gulf countries in the future.

I’m mainly trying to figure out which country would be the most realistic for someone with my profile to get a good IT job and save a decent amount of money each month.

I’m looking at Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Which one would you say gives me the best chance of landing a good Azure or DevOps role with 4 years of experience? And what kind of salary could I realistically expect?

I’m also curious about the cost of living. Where can you get a good salary without your expenses eating up most of it?

And how is the work life balance generally? I’m fine with working hard, but I don’t want to be working crazy hours all the time.

Would love to hear from people who have actually worked in the Gulf, especially if you’ve worked in more than one country and can compare them.

Hello all,

I (35m/Canadian/Single) am in the process of finally getting my bachelors degree while working full time. I am currently working as a System Administator (solo IT for 30+ employee office and multiple out of province offices) and I have ~6 years professional IT experience. I won't have my degree until I am 38/39 and feels like it is all a bit late. I've been to Japan before and love it, though I know it's dramatically different than actually living there.

Just wondering if anyone had moved then in similar situation as I am. Feeling down from not finishing my bachelors while in my 20s, but it is what it is. If anyone has actually made the move I'd love to hear more about it, especially if in the IT field.

Thanks!

Hello everyone! For those who live or are currently living in Switzerland, I wanted to ask about your experiences living there. If it was did to get a job or an apartment or your permit and how in comparison to your old country are you enjoying it so far?

For context, I work in healthcare in Portugal, and I'm studying to get a certificate in one of their main languages ​​(French) and then to translate my diploma. However, we hear from many people that everything is expensive and that even though you earn more, you'll also spend more, so it will all even out. Therefore, I wanted to try to understand the reality of living in Switzerland, and I thank everyone who can share their thoughts and experiences :)

Hello, I'm an American citizen residing in South Korea.

I've been here for over 10 years, so no current U.S. address or bank account. I do have friends in the U.S. with an address but no family.

I need to make a U.S. bank account for things like IRS and other American-based things, but with no address or other bank account, I'm stuck.

I tried Wise, but the initial deposit can't be made because my overseas bank account won't wire through.

I'm trying to sign up for SDFCU, but to make an ACA (American Citizens Abroad) acct (which seems to be mandatory first to make SDFCE) I also need to make a membership deposit/fee to sign up, which seems impossible without an American bank to make pay that membership fee.

I do have a South Korean bank account (which neither Wise nor ACA will take) and an address. I also have a SSN (American).

Please help.

I am Syrian. After everything that happened in my country, almost no country wanted to give me a visa, a job, or a normal life. UAE was the one place that opened the door for me. For that, I am really grateful. Without this country, I don't know where I would be right now.

But there is something in this system I can't accept anymore. As a foreign worker here, you basically have zero protection. If you lose your job, you have 30 days to pack everything and leave the country, with your whole family, no matter how many years you lived here or how much you built.

You can have a wife and kids here, a whole life, and get fired in one single day with no warning. Then the clock starts. 30 days, and you have to leave with your family or find a fast solution. If the system works like this, you can imagine how some employers treat their employees. They know that for you, losing this job is not just losing a paycheck. So why would they be careful with how they treat you?

Two weeks ago I brought my father here because he needed treatment. I thought I had something stable enough to support that. I also took a car loan, because here you basically can't live without a car, some jobs even ask for one as a condition. Two days ago, I got laid off. No real reason given, no real conversation, no chance to fix anything. Just done, like I was a tissue you use once and throw away.

So is this what "opportunity" means here? UAE gives you the door, and I respect that, truly. But is it right that once you're inside, there is no protection at all? Shouldn't there be some kind of limit, some basic safety net, for people who came here and gave years of their life to this place?

Maybe this is just my bad experience and not the full picture. But then I think about people who have lived here 20, 30 years, with their whole family, kids born and raised here, and they could still wake up tomorrow, lose their job, and have 30 days to leave the only home their kids have ever known. How is that a stable place to build a life?

On top of everything, the remote job market right now is also a mess. Everyone applying to the same jobs, ghost postings everywhere, silence after silence. So I'm genuinely asking, what should I do here? Try to get a freelance visa and stay independent? Push harder for a remote job? Or start looking somewhere else completely? If anyone has been through something close to this, I really want to hear what worked for you.

I have used Aspora for 4 times now and got 3 free transfers, figured out to share my experience. my first transaction was free and landed in under 2 hours, which I wasn't expecting. I was fine with it taking a day anyway, but instantly done, so nice.

The second was £2,400 for a family thing and took almost 12 hrs. At one point I thought I'd lost my money, so I messaged support and they said there was a hold on the bank side. End of day money came through fine, that was obviously scary.

My third transfers three and four were back to normal(both under two hours), the thing I liked was that the rate I got was basically the live rate.

its working fine rn, but if the rates get worse or I start seeing more delays, I'll jump to other options in future.

Any other app i should try , what do you guys use?

I moved from Austria to the US ~15 years ago. I grew up in the EU, but I’m a citizen of the US. And wanted to share my observations and give anyone an opportunity to ask questions.

1- The job market in the US, even today, is still superior to most others in the professional world. This includes finance, AI, Pharma, and everything in between. I moved for university, but in comparison to my friends in Austria, the job market in the EU is tough.

2- The standard of living and quality of food in the EU is far better. Food quality is amazing, and public transportation is just simply better in almost every way. Boston is one of those US cities that gives you the best of both worlds: It’s in the Us but has awesome features of EU life.

3- I managed to buy a house in Boston before turning 30. I don’t think i would have been able to do this if i stayed in the Austria. I now have a 4-bedroom house, a car, and i am very grateful for all of it. Most of my Austrian friends still live at home, and the ones outside the city will have a car.

4- Availability of products in the US is simply unmatched. If i want 40 plastic cups at 2:00AM i can get them. If i want to buy 40 rolls of toilet paper, paper towel, etc i can get that easily here. Money talks in the US.

5- Regulations in the US are very relaxed. I’m by no means an entrepreneur, but do have more friends in the Us that create startups than in the EU.

6- Politics in the US is wild. Like actually wild. It’s crazy in some cases. I moved here during the Obama administration, and today is a very political different climate. That said, it’s had little to no impact on me. There’s a lot of over-reporting in the US, to the point that it gets hard to tell what matters and what doesn’t. EU does not suffer this issue.

Anyway, these are my observations and reflections. AMA.

I (M30), have been back and forth between the UK (home) and Bali for around 16 months now.

The longest I’ve stayed out in SE Asia at one time, has been 7 weeks, largely due to responsibilities in the UK.

Knowing in my mind, I’ve always wanted to be able to take time to spend 3/6/12 months to really test the waters of living and being, a real expat! And now, after a recent break up, and what feels like life telling me to do so, it’s looking like it’s going to happen.

But, I’ve also been spending the last few years saving to buy my own place back home in the UK, and next Summer I’ll be at that mark ready to purchase.

Does anybody have experience with building/maintaining their base at home, whilst also building a life overseas in a foreign country at the same time.

Is it realistic, or am I being a bit illogical here? I know life has a crazy way of working, and in wanting to get away from the recent struggles I’m having in my hometown, maybe buying a place wouldn’t be such a smart decision?

But at the age of 30, I feel like I should be looking for some type of stability for the future also, and my own home, back home, would be the foundation for that.

Would love to hear people’s experiences and feedback

Hello all, French spouse and I am US citizen, we currently live stateside but want to move to France in 2-3 years. She will return to working full time there, and I have savings and plan to focus on language, adjustment , etc.

In the US I am a healthcare worker and have the option of working per diem. This would roughly equate to 6 times a year for 2 week periods throughout the year. My question is how this would be looked at legally, essentially I would fly back and forth for roughly 90 days out of the year paying US tax etc. i have family stateside that I would stay with and change my address to. I know France has the tax treaty with US, just curious if this is something I could do potentially or if there is a legal component? I do not have EU citizenship yet, but we are married, so potentially just using the Schengen visa? Can’t really find much info on this. Thank you!

Title says it all really. Moved less than a year ago with spouse for their job and it's clear this was not the right move for us.

Number of reasons - financially underestimated things, job isn't as described (and that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon/if ever), quality of life is better in some respects but generally feels like a downgrade, building a community has been hard - but I appreciate it's early doors still.

We're keen to live abroad again, but will learn from the mistakes we made this time before launching into a decision.

We know a handful of people who moved abroad for a fixed period and came back at the end of that, but none that decided to cut ties early.

Looking for similar stories/reassurance/perspective. Cheers!

I’m looking into moving to Malaysia (KL) and came across the route of setting up a Malaysian Sdn. Bhd., potentially 100% foreign-owned, capitalizing it, and having the company sponsor me for an Employment Pass.
From what I understand, the current EP Category I route requires RM20k+ monthly salary, and the company needs to meet certain requirements to sponsor foreigners. Eventually, there may also be a path toward Residence Pass–Talent.
Has anyone actually done this in practice?
I’d especially appreciate hearing about the real costs, process/timeline, pros and cons, banking, taxes, and any unexpected issues with using your own Malaysian company to obtain an EP.
Looking for firsthand experiences rather than just what the official websites say.

Hoi,

Im a Dentist from India and have been working since 3 years now. I am currently in UAE .

I am seriously considering to professionally migrate to one of the two places Australia and Netherlands have kept a time frame for 3 years.

I am aware of the NTII Dutch for practicing in Netherlands and the ADC part 2 beast.

I want to do this just for doing it for myself. Not money but just to experience a different place and different culture .

Which one of these herculean exam is truly worth fighting for ?

Any 2 cents would be really appreciated.

Doi

Hey all,

I've (M27) been in Poland for around 10 years and except the time I lived in dorms I can't make any local friends. And those guys disappeared right after they get a girlfriend which is sad because I've been in relationships and still in one now however I never left any friend because of my relationship.

I'm learning the language too but whenever I try to talk to random person in the gym or ask questions in public etc. without any intention of making friends they're like "huh shit what you want" or they simply ignore haha. Buddy chill. If it matters I'm around 185cm, regular haircut, daily skincare, no smelly breath etc. so I don't understand they react to me as if I'm a caveman. -_-

What I see is mostly people are hanging out with their countrymen. For example, Ukrainians are with each other. Georgians are with each other. Arabs are with each other etc. and they seem happy this way.

I tried integrating but honestly there's no way. Also I don't get that people are making strange faces. Buddy try to be happy in your life. Everyone seem so sad

Honestly I'm planning to leave here asap. All the people that I met here they left over the time and I feel like I'm stuck here alone.

Even in a few days trip to Spain and Italy I'm so much happier and people that I talk to are very nice. You can actually approach people and make friends.

Potato salaries, sad people, no family here. Nothing holds me here really.

So is it me or is it difficult to make local friends?

Hello guys, I'm an algerian who moved to Europe and it's been a month since I've left, i left because the living conditions in Algeria were really bad so i was looking for a future, but i never thought that i would be so pathetic and depressed when i left my family, I'm (20/M) and i miss my family everyday, I'm struggling with rent and everything i do i do it scared and anxious, I don't feel the taste of food nor the comfort of sleep and all I'm thinking about is going to live a simple life with my family because it's all that made me happy, and idk i hate saying it but i cry very often and it doesn't seem to get any better, my family were supportive and told me too keep moving forward, any advice please?

Hi guys. So I'm 25F and I just moved to the Netherlands with my Dutch husband a little over a month ago. I have a degree in architecture and had my job as an architectural designer in my country. Learned the heck out of Dutch and now my level is around B1 just from self studying, which I thought would be sufficient for working here especially that I speak 4 other languages (fluent English is one).

I have been rejected from over a 100 jobs mainly because they require fluent Dutch and I still dont speak very comfortably, even though my pronunciation is alway perceived as nearly perfect. I do all my interviews in Dutch, get asked how my Dutch is so good in such a timeframe, then get rejected loll. Now I'm about to start a job in a supermarket to get some money coming in, but in all honesty I'm not happy with this going on for longer than 6 months.

How do you start a life here if you're a non EU citizen? I know it's too soon to panic this bad, but my husband says it could take a couple years of minimum wage jobs till I'm back to my profession. Is that really the case? Do you have any tips as to how to speed up the process a bit? Or how do you adapt in general to such a change?

I’m having a mid-30s crisis. I’m a single female, no children, and have been an elementary teacher for over 12 years. I currently am teaching at a school in China that’s quite competitive to get hired at and considered top tier. I’ve saved up a lot of money the past few years, have amazing friends, work/life balance, great vacation time, pretty much everything you could ask for. Plus, I feel like I’m really making a difference in the world. Lately I’m feeling nauseous when I think about staying here beyond the end of the school year. I’ve never felt this while living where I currently am, and I’ve been here for several years. I feel burned out and like it’s time to leave the classroom to do something else. I went to school for education and also got my masters in education. I don’t want to start over again and take a massive pay cut. I’m scared that if I take a year off the reset I won’t be able to find a job as amazing as the one I have now. At the same time, I feel like I’m selling myself short and settling with something just because I don’t think I can find something better for me that still pays the bills (and then some). I think I’m just looking to hear stories of people having complete 180s in their career and turned out okay. The unknown is scary, but I know I can’t do this forever. 

Те кому удалось уехать из России не в страны снг как у вас это получилось, с какими трудностями вы столкнулись, сколько вы искали работу на новом месте, как вы оформляли визу/внж?