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Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

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Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#41

Post by alexhutcheson »

Get a college degree, preferably in CS or engineering. It’s almost definitely cheaper for you to do that in Indonesia than in any other country you might be interested in, and having that credential helps you in visa and job applications.

Once you have the degree, work for a while to build up more savings. How you do this is up to you, but you’ll need a lot more than $1000 to get yourself established in a developed country.

Once you have the money, you will be eligible for many more visa programs than you are currently. One common “backdoor” route is to get a master’s degree using a student visa that allows you to work in the country for a period of time afterwards. The US OPT[1] program is the one I’m familiar with, but there similar systems in other countries. It’s much easier to get employers to sponsor you for visa programs if you’re already working in the country.

Also, you should apply for the US Diversity Visa[2] program every year. It’s an extreme long shot, because there are so many more applicants than spots, but you never know.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optional_Practical_Training

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversity_Immigrant_Visa

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#42

Post by sokoloff »

richsaunders wrote: post #3
lixtra wrote: post #2

You probably read a lot about that 90% of the start-ups fail. So consider your options and propabilities of success. a) Try to legally migrate to a first world country. Given your background the chances are very slim. Your best chance is probably to find a western partner willing to marry you. b) Illegally migrate to another country. This is very difficult for the countries you mentioned because you have to cross an…

I am not thinking about starting a business or founding start-up. I just want to move to a better place. I honestly don't like my country. > b) Illegally migrate to another country. Well, I don't want to break the law. If I have a chance I want to move legally. But as you can say, given my background the chances are very slim. > c) Migrate within your country to a better comunity. ... If you succeed here another opti…

How does one run a printing business without any machines? Print brokering? Seems like you could do that from anywhere, and not having equipment to move might be an asset rather than a liability.

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#43

Post by lowlevel »

its_all_right wrote: post #19

I m going to sounds more philosophical but, please hear me out. Recently I heard the quote somewhere " the only zen you get at the top of a mountain is the one you bring along". Similarly if you are not happy with your OWN country then you will never be happy anywhere in the world. Everything is getting worst. You are better off where you are and work hard to make a content life there. I have spent 10 years in a firs…

How about 'When you climb shit mountain to get a rose from the top, it still smells like shit.'

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#44

Post by sokoloff »

gilbetron wrote: post #30
everdev wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%. No, if a sample size of monthly salaries is: $1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, $12k The median is $4k. Achieving better than that may indeed be a slim chance if it represents a level up in seniority. Your background and skills matter. Also, in this sample size, only 40% are above median. If you measure everyone salary to the dollar, it will approach 50% but never get the…

$1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, median is $3.5k, with exactly 50% being above, and exactly 50% being below. The same happens with any sample with an even number.

$1K, $1K, $1K, $10K...

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#45

Post by throwAway01092 »

Throw away account.

There are a lot of great opportunities for great front-end and designer in US/Canada. However, the biggest thing against you will most likely be your accent and your english. People won't tell you straight in your face, but unless you can communicate very fluidly you'll have a hard time finding a full-time job.. even more if working remotely.

I don't know how good is your english/accent, but I'd recommend taking english lesson with someone that could teach you how to improve your accent. IMHO that will yield SO MUCH more opportunity than learning another web framework .

While learning that, I'd recommend picking a modern web framework and getting really good at it. I.e. React/Redux/Graphql/html/css.

Once you have your english communication + base front-end knowledge, apply to startup that offer visa. Startups are great because they often can't pay a huge salary so they need to be more creative and give more chance to people with different background. I wouldn't be too picky about the startup vision or whatever, as long as they have cash in the bank, aren't toxic and can help you move.

Once you've moved and landed a job, keep learning and improving in your spare time, stack cash, and after 1-2 years, feel free to move to better company.

But again, the strong accent / bad english is what will most likely make it very hard so I'd invest in that first.

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#47

Post by jakeinspace »

its_all_right wrote: post #19

I m going to sounds more philosophical but, please hear me out. Recently I heard the quote somewhere " the only zen you get at the top of a mountain is the one you bring along". Similarly if you are not happy with your OWN country then you will never be happy anywhere in the world. Everything is getting worst. You are better off where you are and work hard to make a content life there. I have spent 10 years in a firs…

I'm sure Indonesia would also be a much nicer place to live with 10 years of Western savings in the bank.

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#48

Post by sbfeibish »

You should be able to work as a freelancer until you've saved enough to go abroad. Or maybe go abroad to a low cost location (Chang Mai, ...) and freelance from there. There are a few websites that would help you find freelance (gig economy) work (15 freelance sites listed here https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245953).

If you're really, really smart you might be able to get a full college scholarship somewhere.

There's Ecole 42 in Paris (also Silicon Valley) that's tuition free. "No degrees or special skills are required to apply, and those who are accepted attend for free for three to five years. Around 80% of students get jobs before they finish the course; 100% are employed by the end." https://qz.com/1054412/a-french-billionaires-free-teacher-le.... But Ecole 42 is hard to get into. And Ecole 42 might only accept French students. (The answer is an email away.)

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#49

Post by zefool »

lowlevel wrote: post #35
smt88 wrote: post #4

I'm not an expert on this, but I heard once that even foreigners can get free college tuition in Germany. That might be wrong or inaccessible to you for some reason, but I think leaving your country by attending college would be ideal.

Second hand knowledge, but I seem to think it was free for Germans, and they're expected to stay in the country something like 4 years after finishing.

Can confirm that there is no residency requirement tied to this. Universities are just public institutions here.

Not sure about tuition for foreign students.

Re: Ask HN: My country is getting worse. Where to go?

#50

Post by GordonS »

ed_balls wrote: post #34

You could try getting a degree in one of the central European universities. Total cost for 3 years should be a fraction of what you need to pay in northern America. Getting a work permit is also ten times easer.

I imagine getting a degree in Indonesia itself would be much cheaper, and having that degree would then make moving to another country much more viable.
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