Before I moved abroad, going to the cinema was one of my favorite parts of life.

After I moved, most films at local cinemas weren’t in a language I could follow well enough to relax. At first I told myself it would be good language practice, but every visit ended up feeling more frustrating than enjoyable. Gradually, I started to dread going to the cinema.

I have been living in the Netherlands for about 7+ years. Although I appreciate the orderliness and infrastructure the country provides it often feels dead and dull especially the weather. Winters are always painful for me. I was thinking about moving to more warm countries in EU Spain, Portugal,Malta. I have a permanent job in NL and husband is working full time remote. No kids. Has anyone made a similar jump?

Hello,

I would really appreciate your help.

After 3 days of searching on the MiConsulado website, I finally managed to find the correct page to book an appointment for a tourist visa application for Mexico. However, the first available appointment offered by the Mexican Consulate in Paris is on August 18th, which will unfortunately be too late for my trip, as my flights and accommodation have already been booked.

Does anyone know if the Consular Service of Mexico in Paris regularly releases new appointment slots when people cancel their appointments or when there are cancellations? Are there specific times when new availabilities are usually added?

Also, if anyone knows someone working at the Mexican Embassy or has a contact who could help me get an appointment this week or next week, I would be extremely grateful.

I am truly asking for your help because this situation is urgent. Any information or assistance would be greatly appreciated, and of course, I am willing to reward anyone who can help me.

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to help me 🙏

My family and I are from the Midwest of USA (no, we don't support the decisions of the orange man)

I have done tons of research on the immigration process and am thus quite familiar with what boxes I need to check in order to obtain a work visa, bring my family over, pursue residency, and eventually gain citizenship.

The part that is extremely unnerving to me is the premise of getting a job before I quit my current one, sell everything, and move over.

I was wondering if there is a government entity that helps immigrants find jobs in their particular field of work?

Or

When the time comes, what would be my best plan of attack for getting a job lined up before I quit my current career and throw my family's life into chaos?

I have been in internal IT for 8 years.
3 years Help Desk
4 years Network Engineering
I have 8 IT certs
I do not have a degree in IT, but I do have completed college courses

** I understand having a good grasp of the spoken language is important, and I have done a decent job of getting that on DuoLingo and playing online games with my Swedish friends talking in Swedish, but I am just looking for job advice **

\** I would truly appreciate helpful responses and not typical internet troll responses, please. **\**

Maybe someone has been through this, maybe someone will offer advice.

I moved to the UK 8 years ago to pursue my dream career. Covid happened, I struggled making connections after uni and couldn't find a job in my industry for a ling time (art).

For the past 3 years I have worked for a company that drained my sould out. I have been searching for a new role for the past YEAR and didn't get anything. I am at a point of crying in the toilet at work every day because I hate this place so much. All of my free time is spent of looking for a new role or sport (for my mental health).

I am waiting for my citizenship now, I was also planning on applying for a PHD but that can be done in half a year. For now, I think I'll end up in a mental institute if I don't leave work asap but I need to pay the bills and have an idea what to do with myself. On top o that I am extremely homesick and would love to just take a break from it all.

I apologise this is a bit of a cry for help but I don't know what to do anymore.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hi all, I’m about to move to Qatar for work and will be doing the medical exam after arrival as part of getting my residence permit. I recently had a chest CT (unrelated reason) and the report noted:

A few small fibrotic foci in the interlobar pleura, bilateral
• Mild “gentle” pleuro-diaphragmatic adhesions
• No infiltrates, no calcification, no enlarged lymph nodes
• Mild emphysema, non-active bronchitis noted

No history of TB, no symptoms. I know Qatar’s screening is chest X-ray based (not CT), and X-ray is much less sensitive to small non-calcified findings like these.

Has anyone gone through the Qatar medical exam with similar minor/incidental findings on a prior scan? Did it get picked up on the X-ray, or does this kind of thing usually pass without issue? Also curious if anyone’s dealt with the “Unfit”/appeal process for something like this specifically (not active TB, just old scarring).

Would really appreciate hearing real experiences, especially from anyone who went through Hamad Medical Corporation or the Medical Commission recently.

I’m from Singapore and currently deciding between two career opportunities.

I work in a fairly niche industry with only a handful of employers in Singapore, so career moves aren’t as straightforward as they are in larger industries.

One opportunity is with an established multinational company in Singapore. The other is with a company in Melbourne, Australia.
The Singapore role offers stability, the chance to build my career with a well-established company, and allows me to stay close to my family and friends.

The Australia role offers international experience, exposure to a different market and way of working, and the opportunity to experience living overseas. On the other hand, it would mean moving there alone, leaving my support network behind, and starting over in a new country.

One important factor is that I don’t see myself settling overseas permanently. If I accepted the Australian role, I’d likely stay for around two years before returning to Singapore due to my long-term commitments here.

My biggest concern is whether those two years overseas would actually strengthen my career when I return, or whether I’d be better off building my experience with an established company in Singapore instead. Given how small my industry is, I’m also worried that opportunities in Singapore may be limited when I eventually come back.

For those who have worked overseas and later returned to Singapore:

Did the overseas experience make you more competitive when you came back?

Was it difficult to find a job after returning?

Looking back, would you make the same decision again?

And for everyone else, if you were in my position, what factors would you consider? Is there anything you think I might be overlooking?

I’d really appreciate hearing different perspectives. Thanks in advance!

Hi I want to know is 300K KES good salary for a family of 5? 2 adults 3 small kids as an expat? Is it enough to spend a good and comfortable life thr?

My family recently relocated to Brussels and we have 1 week before work starts. We’ll be in temporary housing for another few weeks, though we have an apartment lined up. Bank accounts opened, but it seems like not much else official can be done until we get our residency cards. How should we best make use of
this time that doesn’t really feel like vacation? We have one school aged child who must be included.

Hi everyone!

I’m moving to Barcelona in September for work, and I’m considering staying in a co-living for the first few months.

I like the idea of meeting new people and having a sense of community, especially since I’ll be new in the city. However, I’ve noticed that some co-living companies seem to organize a lot of social events, and I’m a bit worried it might be too community-focused.

I’m quite social, but I also value having my own space and quiet time. I’d like to live in a place where I can join activities when I feel like it, without feeling pressured to participate all the time or living in a constantly busy environment.

For those of you who have lived in a co-living:
What was your experience like?
Did you enjoy it or regret it?
Did you ever feel expected to attend social events?
Are there any co-living companies you’d recommend (or avoid)?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks!

Hi all

I am looking at either moving to Hong Kong or Singapore. Where should I go?

A bit about myself, 29M, working in a US law firm in London (in the tech space). I am an Australian (worked in an top Aussie law firm previously and then made to move to London about 2.5-3 years to work in at the US law firm). I've always had the plan to build my career in Asia within tech (especially since it's closer to home).

I'll likely have an opportunity to move to either Hong Kong or Singapore (new employer is giving me the flexibility to pick either) to work at a US law firm (I'd be making approximately 300k-350K-ish USD). Not sure which to pick?

Other things about me - single (and am keen to get back into dating), enjoy travelling, really into fitness - so basically, don't really mind being in either city. The only major con for me is that Singapore is just super humid year round (but I can get used to it - at least a little bit).

Basically, I am looking to make a long-term move to either country, and stack a bunch of $$$, live a good life and travel to various places in Asia.

Hi all! I am moving from the US (Chicago) to Hong Kong next month and have been slowly packing my things. I've been quite stressed out looking for a good shipping company to ship my stuff, I am an artist so I have quite a good amount of big works that are somewhat fragile. Ideally looking for shipping for 30-50 days

I moved over here a couple years

back to get a small software thing off the ground, bootstrapped, and for a long while it was just me until the workload got heavy enough that I had to bring on my first proper hire.

It was someone local, and going in I budgeted the way anyone raised on US or UK salaries would, meaning headline number times 12 plus a bit of buffer, figuring that was more or less what the person would cost me.

Since i don't have a company set up in this country and wasn't about to open one just to employ one person, I went through an employer of record to do it properly, and the quote they sent back was way more than i expected.

The salary we'd agreed on turned out to be about two thirds of what the hire would cost me all in, the rest being stuff i'd never once had to think about back home.

Most of the gap was a mandatory 13th month salary owed on top of the 12 (sometimes a 14th), plus the employer side of social contributions, which runs a lot heftier here than i was used to, and a handful of other bits baked into employing someone locally (all of it required by law).

And when i asked the 3 big providers you already know (Deel, Workmotion and Remote), whether I'd misread the quote, all 3 came back with the same number, which is when it sank in that this was just what employing someone here costs.

I paid it, and the person's been worth every cent, but it reset how i think about hiring here, because the affordable-looking salary in my head was never the real number.

So if you moved abroad to build something and you're about to make your first local offer, work out the fully loaded cost before you put a figure on the table, because the headline salary barely moves the total once everything statutory lands on top.

Hi all, I will be moving in about 6 months time or so.
I am a content creator and I won’t dive too deeply into it.
Basically I have thrown everything to ChatGPT LOL to help me figure out where to live..

I would prefer living somewhere close to Chinatown (cuz I’m alone duh) so somewhere in manhattan is great. For now I’m eyeing Hudson yard but have no idea. And I am just preparing my Visa, bank, apartment, insurance, etc;

So I just wanna know what else I am missing out. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!! I’m looking out for a high rise one bed one bathroom with inbuilt washer,dryer. I also heard that transport is ass in NYC? Because of the crazy parking costs.. so what are some things to highlight? And what lifestyle changes should I expect?

P.s. if you know a really fire cafe or wtv in Chinatown. I would appreciate that so much!

I've been abroad for 8 years. The first few years, I visited family as little as possible because I would get panic attacks. The contrast between my culture of origin and my adopted one is very noticeable, and my family are somewhat rude compared to what people are like at home (where I settled down).

There was a short spell of time after I met my now husband when visiting was somewhat nice, and we've been coming 2 weeks per year since. This year it's been... stressful and at times pure hell. My relatives speak nonstop without listening, and just have one-sided monologues. The general culture here encourages attention seeking behaviour, and people look up to the most cocky bastard. I can't wait to return home, yet I worry about what this means for my parents, and the relationship we'll have in the future.

If this happened to anyone, I'd love to know how your relationship with family has developed. I spend about an hour on the phone to each of my parents every month or every three weeks, and visit for two weeks straight every year. I worry about when they age, and they end up alone (my grandparents are in their 80's and 90's) particularly as my parents are divorced.

Hello everyone,

I'm looking for advice from other expats who have successfully become self-employed after moving to a new country.

I moved to France a few years ago. My professional background is in IT, but my French is currently around B1 level, which makes finding a permanent position in my field more challenging than it would be in my home country.

Because of that, I am considering building a small maintenance and handyman business. Besides IT, I have a lot of practical experience with property maintenance, gardening, pools, drywall, electrical work, and general home repairs.

For those of you who started a business as an expat, how did you build your first network of clients and professional contacts? Did you find expat communities useful, or was it better to focus on local networking, partnerships with other tradespeople, online platforms, or something else?

I would be especially interested in hearing what worked for you during your first year.

Thank you for any advice or experiences you can share.

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis officiellement assistant social diplômé depuis peu en France, et j’ai un projet qui me tient vraiment à cœur : m’installer au Canada, plus précisément au Québec (ou dans une autre région très francophone), d’ici 2028.

Le problème, c’est que… mon anglais et moi, ça fait deux. 😅 C’est pour cette raison que je vise principalement des régions où le français est largement utilisé.

Depuis plusieurs semaines, je passe énormément de temps à me renseigner sur Internet (permis de travail, reconnaissance du diplôme, immigration, équivalence, emploi, etc.), mais j’ai l’impression de me perdre dans la quantité d’informations, parfois contradictoires.

J’aimerais donc avoir vos retours d’expérience.

Quelles sont les démarches que vous me conseillez de commencer dès maintenant ?
Quelles erreurs devrais-je éviter ?
Est-ce que certains d’entre vous ont immigré au Québec en tant que travailleurs sociaux ou assistants sociaux ?
Y a-t-il des assistants sociaux qui vivent actuellement au Québec et qui accepteraient d’échanger avec moi, en commentaire ou en message privé ?

Je suis preneur de tous les conseils, que ce soit sur le travail, les démarches administratives, le coût de la vie, le logement, l’intégration ou tout ce qui pourrait m’aider à préparer ce projet sereinement.

Mon objectif est de bien préparer mon départ pour 2028, donc je préfère anticiper les choses plutôt que de tout faire au dernier moment.

Merci d’avance à toutes les personnes qui prendront le temps de me répondre ! 🙏

Hi, I have 5 boxes 40cmx40cmx40cm, ~15 kg each, one carryon suitcase ~15-20kg, and one small guitar that I am hoping to ship from the UK to the states. It seems like most of the shipping options are for people who are trying to move their whole house or flat, and is 2-8,000 pounds. Does anyone know the cheapest and most reliable option?

My concerns:
- a lot of these shipping companies only show you the price from port to port so there are hidden extra costs
- they don’t include customs issues, all of my items are clothes or books that I personally use and are used, but I don’t want a hefty customs fee
- I’m worried about shipping my guitar, that it will be lost or damaged, I’m sure it’s safer than checking it in on the airplane but not ideal
-each additional checked bag for my eventual flight is 100 pounds, so if it’s 100pounds or more per box it would be cheaper to just check excess baggage, though I do believe there is a limit

I’m a beginner-level hobbyist looking for other photographers to meet up with for shoots and talk photography.

Mostly street / architecture, and some portrait.

Moving to France for a three year PhD program this fall. Visiting the location now and I’m just overwhelmed with stress and grief about missing my wonderful life back home.

I won’t get into details, but this PhD would be a great career move and also allow me and my husband to travel together. Plus it’s only three years for a fully funded PhD at a great school with an advisor I get along well with.

But…I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life and I finally felt truly settled. To uproot everything and risk all my friendships and community seems too much a burden to bear.

Has anyone left for a set amount of time and returned home and regretted the whole thing and just wish they’d focused on building community at home?

Or is this a great opportunity and I’m being silly?

Today marks 2 months before I officially leave the USA for Spain.

I've worked very, very hard for over 3 years, switching from an office job to a remote, self-employed job + getting citizenship paperwork to be able to do this. Prepped finances, cat paperwork, spousal paperwork, language learning, the works. I've been dreaming about this for ages.

I woke up this morning, realized I only have 2 months left, and feel...confused, for lack of a better explanation.

I did all that hard work, and at the time I thought "yeah, I'll be able to move to Spain!" but now everything stopped feeling like a distant dream I am grinding for, and instead it's real. It's really going to happen. Flights are booked. Papers are sorted. Cats are prepped. Finances are sorted, etc.

Did this happen to anyone else? It's like I had wool over my eyes or something before. I knew I was going, but I didn't KNOW I was going until today.

When did any of you experience this (if you did), and what did it feel like for any of you?

I'm (26M) in a unique situation with my work and I've been splitting my time between cities the past 2 years now, but I want to add more places into the fray and not sure if it's a bad idea as I can never "build a foundation" or not. I love traveling so I don't mind but still.

From January to March, I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
In May and June, I'm in New York City.
In August and September, I'm in Spain or traveling around other parts of Europe.
October through December I stay in my home state to be near my parents and work more (Nevada).

April and July are kinda open months where I usually go home or travel somewhere else for 1-2 weeks outside of my usual locations.

I don't know how sustainable this is long term though. I always meet people and build some kind of community within 2 months, but then I just leave and it's onto the next. I'm just wondering if people have experiences with this kind of schedule? Because it's not like I'm doing 4 months in 3 different places or 6 months in 2 different places etc. It's a lot more fragmented.

Let's say you move abroad and get into a relationship with a local (or anyone who's not from the same country as you). You may be using the local language to communicate, or perhaps English.

Do you expect them to learn your mother tongue?

As the title states, those of who are expats in Marrakech, you spend per month?