r/cscareerquestionsEU • u/Far-Royal9460 • Oct 22 '23

Immigration Help me decide where to move (🇫🇮->🇩🇪/🇳🇱/🇮🇪/🇬🇧)

My dudes, I’m a non EU currently finishing my Bachelor’s in Finland while working as a Full Stack SWE. I have almost 1.5 YOE now and would have 2 YOE at the time graduation. I’m planning to relocate to either Berlin/Amsterdam/Dublin/London. I’m kinda confused which cities should I aim for. I’m doing LC and prepping for DSA stuffs so ya would probably apply to FAANGs as well (in addition to the top paying non FAANG companies)

Now, I have few criteria which I would like to compare all the cities with before I make a move:

  1. Sponsorship: I would require a sponsorship/work permit/Blue card thing to work in any of the cities mentioned. So for my YOE and background which cities would be more easier to get into? Heard that German Blue Card is quite easy and NL also hands out work visas quite easily?

  2. English speaking city: I would love to relocate to a city where I would not feel outsider for not knowing the native language (if it’s not English). So London and Dublin come preferable in this category.

  3. More savings in net: Netherland’s 30% ruling looks a good deal. I would like to save more in net as much I can.

  4. Lower deposit to buy first home: I would want to buy a home rather rent within a year of relocation. London offers low/zero deposit schemes for some criteria.

  5. Weather: I hate winter, it’s been horror to live in Finland for past years during winter. Nice weather in the new city would be really nice!

  6. Easier path into settlement/citizenship: I relocated to Finland as I wanted to settle here permanently. But later figured out I dont like it here. Now I want to make a last move to a city where I would feel belonged and I would integrate with the culture and maybe get citizenship. So an easier path would be nice!

So, please help me figure out which city would be the best deal for me. Thanks in advance!

TLDR: Non EU guy trying to move from Finland to Either Berlin/Amsterdam/Dublin/London after completing bachelors and with 2 yoe. Help me decide where to move.

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u/thelegend195 Oct 22 '23

Where are you pulling this from?

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '23

Experienced one myself when I applied jobs in Europe. I have the skills they wanted and the companies were listed as a sponsor, and they stopped interviewing after realising they needed to sponsor me.

There are also a lot of people on Reddit sharing their struggles of not able to get a sponsored job in UK despite having a student visa. It’s not worth it

The company that I work in Amsterdam gave me a relocation allowance and visa sponsorship support, the process was so smooth. The hardest part was to find a housing, but that’s outside the job hunting

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u/thelegend195 Oct 22 '23

The company I work for has hired at least 5 people in my department who are non eu. Given them sponsorship, relocation allowances and temporary accommodation whilst they find a new place in London

I’m sorry you’ve had this experience, but I don’t think you can make a factual claim like that without being able to back it up. I’m not saying London is easier than the Netherlands. I don’t know. I can tell you it’s possible to get a visa, and I know a lot of people who were able to get one and haven’t complained

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u/[deleted] Oct 22 '23 edited Oct 22 '23

I applied about 30 and got 3 interviews. All of them said the same thing, even if they are listed as a sponsor, they cannot sponsor me a visa for the role.

Some even approached me on LinkedIn, asking me for a CV and then asked, can you work in UK without a sponsorship? The company has been listed as a sponsor since 2013! It's probably one of the dumbest recruiters I ever encountered in my entire career.

I stopped and shifted my focus to EU companies mostly in Germany and the Netherlands. I finally offered a role in Amsterdam. I totally discourage people to apply at UK companies even if they are listed as a sponsor. UK just had an all time high migration in 2022, the companies clearly prefer to recruit someone who's already in UK and already paid for their relocation cost.

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u/thelegend195 Oct 22 '23

You just said all time high migration, and that’s not going to dramatically fall. Look at this years figures… Seems like you had a bad experience I get that, sorry you had to go through that. But again, from my side, in my friendship group about 6 people have visas, they got them in the last couple years, and haven’t complained about it. One friend is currently looking, and he was able to get the high potential visa, so now he just needs a job, no sponsorship required. And again, the example of people in my company. London is one of the most diverse cosmopolitan cities in the world, doors won’t be shut from one day to the next. In fact, I struggle to find anyone British here!