How to Move Abroad for Work

Do you want to move abroad for work? Then why do you want to move abroad for work? If so, don’t you have enough opportunities in the country you live currently? Or is it because you want to travel the work? Or live in another country to work to experience different cultures? So whatever is your reason, you are in the right place. In this post, I will discuss why we usually want to go abroad for work. And then how to move abroad for work. Moving abroad for a better quality of life could be one of the most fulfilling facets of our life. Further, we live in our own small containments and there is an entire world to see. We spend one third of our lives at work, that is around 90,000 hours. So nothing better than exploring the world through work. Would you agree?

It was in the middle of around 2014 while I was working in India a genuine opportunity to live and work in China was coming up. I was very sceptical in the beginning, but then I thought to myself this might be the adventure of my life. So I was eager to explore it. That was to the astonishment of many friends and colleagues who were still contemplating why on earth I would take up an assignment to China.

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

– Mary Ritter Beard

Related Posts

• 8 Ways Immigration Improves Quality of Life
• Why Freedom of Speech Affects Quality of Life?
• 15 Top Happiness Index Countries
• 6 Top Ways To Find Employment
• How to Study in Germany for Free
• How to Immigrate to Germany for Work
• 6 Conditions for Happiness Even Being Poor
• How to Immigrate to Canada for Work
• How to Immigrate to the United Kingdom for Work
• Best Quality of Life Country- Canada
• 5 Best Countries for Job Opportunities

My Story

I moved out of India in 2015. It was indeed the adventure of my life. I moved to China, in Chengdu, as part of an intra-company transfer. So there I was in Chengdu, a bustling metropolitan city of over 16 million people with many foreigners and expats living there. It is also the fourth largest city in China after Chongqing, Shanghai and Beijing in terms of population and is the capital of China’s southwest Sichuan province.

So there were many questions from acquaintances. Why China? But moving to China was one of the greatest experiences of my life. How? It’s been a journey. China has probably one of the best public infrastructures in the world and the best part is its people. They are so warm and welcoming that it was a very pleasant surprise. Living in China is very safe and they respect foreigners a lot, particularly they love Indian movies. So many times when I used to hang around, there were total strangers who wanted to take selfies or photos with me and my family when they were around. Isn’t that amazing? Which country in this world is so warm and welcoming?

Then, in 2017, I moved to the US, again as part of another intra-company transfer. For sure, I have been very fortunate to have been working for a great company. And since then I am living and working in the US and have got permanent residency in the US now. We got our green cards in 2020. That is my story in a nutshell about moving out of India and working abroad in China and the US.

Why People Move Abroad for Work

The fact is in India, millions of people dream and yearn to move to other countries for work or immigration. A valid question is why is it so? Why does a sizable population want to move abroad for work? Because there are for sure many reasons. But a significant chunk want to move out for a better quality of life for themselves and for their children. If we want to put this into perspective, according to Wikipedia, per Ministry of External Affairs of India, over 32 million people of Indian original now live and work abroad. So this the largest diaspora in the world from any single country living overseas.

Employment Opportunities

Probably the most important reason people move abroad is for employment opportunities. Is that people don’t have enough job opportunities in the countries they are currently living in? For example, in countries like India, there are millions of applicants for clerical government jobs. So yes, it’s true in many developing countries there are far more applicants than job opportunities.

Then what options do people have to either find an employment and find better paid jobs? Is moving to another country for work an option? If so, how difficult it is or is it also possible? For most part it is. But it does needs focussed efforts, hard work, perseverance and ability to take some risks.

Quality of Life

Depending on which country you live in, moving abroad to another country could be an opportunity to improve your quality of life. There are many aspects to quality of life. Besides earning a good livelihood, there are other aspects like access to quality education, healthcare, public/ social security, equality and freedom. So let’s dive into each of these aspects in a little more detail.

Education

Again, depending on which country you currently live in, the quality of education in most developed economies is good. The onus is on understanding and application of principles in real-life situations rather than regurgitating memorized study. Further, there are lots of options for majoring on a variety of subjects or specializations depending on interest and knack of students. To support those freedoms, there are also a variety of job opportunities in different realms of life, both for local and global markets.

Healthcare

Although developed countries may have great healthcare facilities in many countries like the US, it becomes prohibitive even with insurance cover. But in other countries like Canada and several European countries, especially Scandinavian countries, there is free quality healthcare. But it comes with higher income taxes unlike that in the US. Also the taxes we pay toward Medicare are something the government returns to its residents in the US and many other developed countries. In a nutshell, access to quality healthcare is a key driver but there are many developing countries including India which provides quality healthcare at a very affordable cost which has spun the concept of medical tourism. So medical tourism is where people from developed countries go to low-cost countries with good healthcare facilities for treatments and procedures.

Public Security

By public security, what I mean is physical security provided by better law and order. So this is one of the major differences living in developing versus developed countries. Because developed country by far have more resources to provide better law enforcement compared to the population of the country. Then the judiciary systems also have more resources available to provide speed trials compared to countries like India where judicial cases run for decades.

Social Security

Then, by social security, what I mean is primarily financial security provided by the government in case of exigencies. For example, during the COIVI-19 pandemic, the US and several developed countries provided direct cash benefits of trillions of dollars to its residents. This is besides unemployment benefits arising from the pandemic related loss of jobs. Further, the taxes one pays in form for social security is something everyone gets back after retirement in form of monthly social security paychecks.

Equality

By equality, I mean there are several aspects of equality in developed countries that are far superior compared to many developing countries.

We can start this by equality saying they consider all people more equally related to work. That means all work is equally respected. It is just that someone is doing the job of a CEO and another person is doing the job of a janitor. This might not be the case in all developing countries, especially countries like India. Wherein there is a strong social status associated with the type of work one does, this is even more complicated with the caste system there.

Then there is, of course, gender equality. In countries like India, they often discourage women from working and establishing their own identities both socially and financially. More so, only about 21 percent of women in India are in labor force.

Then, of course, there is usually minimal social stratification or segmentation of people based on caste, creed or race. But there could be instances of racism that might be of concern in some countries, especially in the USA.

But in a nutshell people are more equal in the eyes of law and entitled to equal treatments and benefits.

Freedom

So do you consider yourself free in your country? To practice your beliefs, your religion, expressing your opinions or sexual orientation without facing retribution or retaliation in any form? Do you have freedom of expression in your country?

The map from World Population Review shows the Free Expression Index for countries. The higher the score, the more free the country is in terms of freedom of expression. Where is your country on the map?

Clean Environment

Then last, how clean your country in terms of pollution, cleaner air to breathe and cleaner water?

There is some data from World Population Review on Environment Performance Index, with higher the core cleaner it is. Again, how clean is your country?

Future for Next Generations

Then what future your next generation has in the country you live in? Would like to give your next generations a better quality of life even if it’s going to a struggle for you to move into another country for work and get settled down well? These are always questions that come up for considerations. But moving to another country is difficult. It is for sure a struggle for the immigrants and the first generations. Many times, it is an identity crisis for them. Then again, leaving your parents, extended family and friends back home is probably the most painful part. Then how do immigrants deal with all these? How to they feel? For sure, these choices are hard to make, would you agree?

Why Developed Countries Need Immigrants?

Did you know most developed countries are running short of skilled and unskilled labor to run their economies? Also, these countries are having an aging population, which means more people are going to retire from work. That also means more and more people are going to depend on government social security and public money for pensions and healthcare support. This is also the reason these countries are increasing the retirement age, so that more people work.

For reference below are the retirement ages of men in G20 countries from Trading Economics. If we see the bookends, Italy has the highest retirement age of 67 and Indonesia the lowest at 57. So where is your country at retirement age?

How to Move Abroad for Work

Higher Education

First, higher education is probably the best way to move abroad for work. There are some cost associated, but it is more like an investment for the future. But again there are countries in the world like Germany where higher education is free even for foreigners outside of European Union for most universities. Did you know that?

Work Visas

Second, moving to another country for work on a work visa makes most sense with some experience and have skills that are employable. You can apply for overseas jobs from the country you are living and companies sponsors work visa once offered for the job. Many companies sponsor intra-company transfers to other countries. Then there are countries which welcome skilled professionals to come into the country on visa so that they can find work like what Germany provides.

Permanent Residency

Last, many countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand offer permanent residency based on the skills and education so that one can directly immigrate with a permanent resident status and find employment or even start your own business.

Conclusion

Moving to another country for work can be a life-changing experience. It can be for the short term or long term, but either way, it can be a struggle and rewarding at the same time. But it is difficult for sure. Because one only adapts to a new country, in terms of culture, food, language and climate, but also learns to survive, which one may not need to learn in their home countries. This experience pushes people out of their comfort zones and makes them uncomfortable, for mostly we learn when we are uncomfortable. So have you moved abroad for work ever? If so, how has been your experience moving abroad for work? Please share your comments and thoughts. Or please let me know if you have questions regarding how to move abroad for work?