Hi everyone! I’m an Indian citizen, 27M single living in Sweden for past 3 years. I came here for my master’s and finished it, and I worked for a year in my field before switching to another job recently and I resigned from it. I now have 90 days to look for a new job or move back to India. I am contemplating if I should continue living here in Sweden or move elsewhere/India.
A bit about me:
I am quite introverted and reserved, but I open up when I find something interesting. Computer programming was my interest a few years ago, but ever since I realised that being just a programmer in some company will not really help me in starting my own company. I don’t have any specifics about what kind of company I want to start, but I want to be around people who run their own businesses. Given my current situation, starting a business is not in scope at the moment. Also, I don’t have issues with climate, or Swedish food. Furthermore, I want to get married sometime in the next few years, but do not plan on having any children.
Current concern:
Although Sweden is a great country, I clearly see it is not working out at all(unable to plan a life here). The thing hitting me the hardest is inferiority complex and language. I think these two would be the same no matter where I immigrate to. Although I find Swedish to be a bit easier to learn compared to other EU languages, I would highly prefer communicating in English. Even typing on the Swedish keyboard sometimes gets on my nerves.
I would really like to move to the US, but I see gun violence as a huge issue, which is far beyond my control. UK seems like an option, but given the fact that they are out of EU and the market is probably not so great right now, I am unsure of this option. Also I will have to apply for jobs first to set my foot in the UK. Not sure about Ireland though?
My current options:
- Find another job in Sweden and try hard to integrate into society. Not sure if it’s a good idea in the long run?
- Go back to India and work on something interesting. Friends/family support and Indian food/culture is always beneficial.
- Go to some other country(ex: Netherlands, UK, Ireland etc) and try to integrate.
My biggest concern with living abroad is that no matter how much I change and accept things, I will always be an outsider. I wonder if this feeling will ever go away?
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on which option I could choose, and thank you for reading the post!
I’ll give my two pence as a software developer. I’m from Ireland, but I am living in Berlin since almost a decade.
Firstly, the USA has problems, gun violence is also why I wouldn’t move there, not for me but school shootings in particular are not something I’m willing to risk, no matter how unlikely, for my future children. The pay is unbeatable in US however.
UK will always be a good market, it will work it’s Brexit related things out eventually.
Ireland however has many benefits, great tech opportunities at FAANG, English speaking and perhaps most importantly, once you gain Irish citizenship, you have not only access to EU as an EU citizen, but Irish passport holders can also access the UK as if brexit never happened.
“Under the CTA, British and Irish citizens can move freely and reside in either jurisdiction and enjoy associated rights and privileges, including the right to work, study and vote in certain elections, as well as to access social welfare benefits and health services.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-travel-area-guidance#:~:text=Under the CTA%2C British and,welfare benefits and health services.
So at least you have a wealth of options available to you after 5 (?) years and have gained the passport.
The housing crisis is terrible though, but if you have a decent paying job it is manageable. And people are very friendly and it’s super easy to integrate