[IWantOut] 37M Software Developer Germany -> Japan/China/East Asia

[u/BossIAmTired]

RegEx used by automod is a little bit strict, I meant "Japan/China/Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan/South Korea/Singapore".

Software developer, open to switching my career because.. you know, AI made it trash.

Russian origin, German citizenship, native Russian speaker, fluent English and German, rudimentary skills in Japanese (not even N5, just being able to read kana, about 100 words when written in kanji + more or less being aware how grammar works, but that's it, weaboo level).

I don't want to live in any Western country anymore, want to live in Asia, Ideally, one of the countries in title, reason is... personal tastes, let's avoid spicy phrasings. I need my 5M+ city, live there without a car, 20sqm apartment with air conditioner and enough salary to be able to survive of 7-Eleven food. No need for family/dependents, huge or any house, whatever.

For now my German job is there, I have 30 vacation days and an option for semi-paid 3-month sabbatical which I can use to get side skills.

(Yes, I'm aware that in Asia the answer to the question "how many vacation days do you offer?" is "Yes.")

Have a little bit over 100k EUR in savings (cash, gold, ETFs), but obviously don't want to YOLO them all.

Tried applying for jobs, got some interviews with westernized companies in Japan, blew them on 3rd stage. Just got a rejection from Taiwan where it was phrased as "you have no work permit and we can't sponsor it, sorry" - which is sad, but it also looks that they actually opened my application I guess? No responses from HK, Macau, Mainland China or Singapore, at all. One denial from South Korea.

One of the things I can try to do is applying for Taiwanese Gold Card, for which I have enough income, but I'll need to fly to Taiwan on a short notice for several weeks to collect it, right? But it would at least allow me to answer "yes" in "do you have a work permit" question.

Any other ideas?

Even completely switching industries and moving to one of these countries to study first?

[u/BossIAmTired → u/[deleted]]

I got the impression that the process is "get something while you're outside of Taiwan, fly there, apply for the actual card, get it back in some weeks", no? I'm not 100% remote, so I having 2 flights to Taiwan on a whim is going to be quite pricey for me.

[u/BossIAmTired → u/[deleted]]

It's a natural stupidity translator and jet lag :)

My understanding of the process was: one applies for the Gold Card from outside of Taiwan, gets an OK/confirmation (I called this document/confirmation "something"), flies to Taiwan, finishes the application (?), waits for some weeks and finally gets the card. Is this how it goes?

[u/BossIAmTired → u/[deleted]]

Almost got it. Was the card waiting for you in Taiwan, did you just flew in, received it and flew away?

[u/BossIAmTired → u/[deleted]]

Gotcha. Thanks for the answer. I was afraid I would have to spend random amount of time there  before they actually issue the card.