I rented my place on Airbnb, packed my bag, went to a country I was interested in, looked for a job there (luckily there was no need for a visa because I was in Africa/Middle East and you always find a way around there), found one in a few days (being a foreigner with skills help), and voilà. I didn't save any money, I just looked for a job :)
Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
11–20 of 73 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#12By plane :), even if some people seem to think we did swim across(sadly not joking).
On a more serious note we didn't really plan on moving to another country but my wife was the lucky winner of one Diversity Visa(i added both of us to the program just for fun) and so we decided to move to the US and see how it is.
Moved from Romania to US and currently still in US after 9 years.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#13Tokyo, Japan: Applied for an opening I spotted on Linkedin. Interviewed via skype over a few weeks. Got the job, got the standard engineer visa, and that was it.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#14[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#15Edinburgh, Scotland -> Helsinki, Finland.
Got on a plane. No real hardship involved. Although the process of shipping some of our possessions was stressful, both packing them, culling them, and arranging the actual transport.
Most of the process was easy, thanks to my Finnish wife who helped me with paperwork, but moving from the UK to Europe is pretty trivial.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#16Perth, Australia -> Berlin, Germany
I gave my boss at the time an ultimatum to transfer me to Europe or I'd resign after requesting a transfer for over a year. I bought a 1-way plane ticket to Berlin that same day and left 6 weeks later.
I initially got a 1 year working holiday visa but eventually changed over to a working visa 18 months later (I spent last 9 months of that time trying to apply for a working visa, but was repeatedly turned back due to insufficient paperwork and handed a 3-month extension to my original visa each time). Getting a tech job here is incredibly easy, so you're generally better off waiting until you arrive and have the chance to network with people.
I've been here 2.5 years now and it's a pretty great place, but I'm planning to move to France next year to co-found a company.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#17Gaborone, Botswana -> Johannesburg, South Africa.
The year is 2001. I'm fresh out of varsity with a computer science degree and I'm stuck doing copywriting work for an ad agency because there is no semblance of an IT industry in Botswana (still isn't)
I answer a software developer ad in a popular South African newspaper (for some odd reason we used to get them in Botswana too) but slyly leave out my current residential status.
I get an email requesting me to come for an interview in TWO DAYS.
I beg my folks for some cash, hop on a plane and attend the interview, which goes well. The guy interviewing me then says, well, when would you be able to start if we offered you the job. At this point I take a huge gulp and explain that I would have to wait until I get a work permit, which would require the company to submit a substantial amount of paperwork to the department of home affairs, along with processing fees etc etc.
It's only at this point that the interviewer looks flabbergasted that I had flown in from another country just to interview for an entry level position.
Anywho, for whatever strange reason (I suspect they were impressed with my commitment) they went along with it and I was only able to join them some 8 months later after all the paper work was processed.
The company shut down a year later.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#18Liverpool, UK -> Toronto, Canada
Applied under the Federal Skilled Workers program once I passed the threshold of required points. I always wanted to live in Canada because of the better standard of living and wages.
It also cleared up my wife's visa status - we were at the mercy of the UK Home Office whether my wife could stay in the country. If I lost my job when we applied to renew her visa she would have had to leave. Canada cleared up all that uncertainty as we are now permanent residents here.
Canada has one of the most generous immigration programs in the world. Check it out.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#19Eritrea --> London,UK
I am still waiting my first experience on a plane. I haven't been on a plane yet. crossing the border to neighbouring country took me about five days on my own. few hours on the day but mostly on the night as you can imagine there are security on the border.crossing the sahara desert, the mediterranean sea and finally to UK. currently working as software developer.
Re: Ask HN: How did you migrate to the country you are living in now?
#20New Zealand -> London
So much better here. Unlimited Internet 1GB Fiber to the house!