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

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11–20 of 68 posts

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

#12
Like many things in life, it can be solved with money. So:

1. become a really good front-end developer, do remote work. Be very professional about it. You'll start making good $$$.

2. Search HN for tips on remote/contract work, there's a whole lot of wisdom about it.

3. Once you start making >$3 k/month, a lot of possibilities open up, including some EU countries. You can get a student visa, and running your own business also might be a possibility.

4. You might be able to study in EU right away. Make a list of universities you're interested in, email each and every one of them, asking if you can become a student and if there's a scholarship that might be available to you. I know a few people who did this successfully with very little of their own money.

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

#13
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.

Yes, that's an option.

You need a student visa or some of type of residence permit, though. If you're eligible depends on your country of origin. You also have to prove you'll be able to sustain yourself during your stay.

It's obviously temporary. Once you've finished your studies it's usually assumed that you return to your home country, unless you manage to find work with a local company, that is. The latter potentially opens up the opportunity for naturalisation or a permanent leave to stay.

Running a business might work, too but probably is more difficult because you'd have to prove that you're able to provide for yourself, which can be hard when just starting out. Still, there are options and special programmes for high-tech entrepreneurship.

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

#14
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 don't mean to detract from the general value of this comment, but a nitpick...

> Your chances to be better off than the median are very slim.

Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%.

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

#16
As other posters have pointed out, getting to another country is likely to be very difficult for you right now so my advice is to think about what you can do where you are to improve your situation.

It seems to me that the answer to your problems is money. Yes, I know that can seem obvious but if you have a goal to earn western wages while living on Indonesian costs you should be able to save a fair bit.

This means you could try freelancing your front-end dev skills out to western clients. There are lots of platforms out there where you can do this.

Alternatively look for a remote only job as these are becoming more and more popular and front-end development is a highly desired skillset.

Thinking outside the box a bit, if you're willing to stay put a little while longer you could potentially build software products, such as WordPress plugins and use a platform like Codecanyon to sell them.

Or if you'd rather use your fitness interest/skills why not consider setting up some kind of bootcamp class? You could create a course on bookmartialarts.com (or similar) that is tailored to foreigners that want to come work out in another country? With your development skills you'd likely have an edge with marketing it and making it look very professional.

You've got a tough but not impossible road ahead of you. Good luck!

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

#17
Why not get involved in your country's politics and try to make it better? Running away from problems whatever they are just helps the bad guys, but be warned, you will pop up on your security services radar, so everything like your school reports, your health records, anything documented by the state or in the public domain like facebook will be used to build up a psychological profile and this could then be used against you, if your remit is different to their remit like protecting a country's GDP or current political leaders. The good thing about this, is foreign intelligence will also like to you use like a pawn to help further their own foreign policy interests and global criminals may also like to use you for their own ends as well. So be careful if you do decide to get vocal, I know I've had it done to me as well.

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

#18
I think you can move to Canada to purse a course in a community college. Not a degree but a 2 year course. Can you get a loan from your home contry ? If so you can move to Canada spend 2 years studying/earning and you will be set. You will have to take a loan to cover your airfare and first semester college fees. Worth exploring I suppose.

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

#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 first world country and came by to my third world country 10 years back and I am happy.

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

#20
post #14
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 don't mean to detract from the general value of this comment, but a nitpick... > Your chances to be better off than the median are very slim. Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%.

As an illegal immigrant? That seems like it could be a considerable disadvantage.
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