5 ms·

Germany. As of March 2019 the UK won't be Europe anymore ;-)

toomuchtodo 9y ago
Was it difficult to make the move to Germany from Canada? (I'm a tech worker in the US interested in going expat at some point)
- kogepathic 9y ago
  > Was it difficult to make the move to Germany from Canada? From a visa perspective, it's so freaking easy. Take a copy of your university degree, and your employment contract from a German company. Go to the Foreigner's office (Ausländerbehörde) and get a work visa or Blue Card, depending on your salary level. Took me 6 weeks to get a work visa. Total cost was around 150€. From a cultural perspective, it might be difficult. There are a lot of companies who will hire people with only English (especially startups, though expect less money) but the society is very German. The language isn't terribly easy either, so you'll probably have to invest in language courses to learn it. Unless you are very self-motivated and good at self study. If you're American though, things get a lot harder. Lots of banks here won't deal with you because of FINCEN/FBAR, and you have to file IRS taxes every year (and from what I hear from friends, they're too complicated to manage yourself). It can still be done, but is more difficult due to taxation requirements.
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Thank you!
Kurtz79 9y ago
I wasn't aware that Brexit involved relocating the island to another continent... There doesn't seem to be a huge difference in salaries between Germany and Canada, at least on average. https://www.daxx.com/article/it-salaries-software-developer-trends-2016-2017 https://www.daxx.com/article/it-salaries-software-developer-... Salaries vary wildly across Europe (and probably across different areas of the same country), if you get to choose, move to Switzerland :)
- kogepathic 9y ago
  > I wasn't aware that Brexit involved relocating the island to another continent... It doesn't, but it does have implications for visas and freedom of movement between the UK and continent. > if you get to choose, move to Switzerland Sure, I hear salaries there are amazing. But have you visited? It seems the cost of living is INSANE.
s4vi0r 9y ago
I've seen plenty of listings for jobs in Germany (on HN, even) paying like €50k for a senior position (5+ years experience). Ignoring currency conversion, that's right around the money you'd expect to make as a fresh junior developer in Canada... As far as I can tell, all of the money in Europe is either in Switzerland, or in contract work which is pretty much the same situation Canada is in, just replace Switzerland with the US.
- kogepathic 9y ago
  > paying like €50k for a senior position (5+ years experience) It depends on the location. That's probably about right for Berlin, but would be ridiculously low in Frankfurt/Munich/Hamburg/Köln. If you want a better idea of salary ranges, check the expat forum Toytown Germany. [0] It also depends on the company and your negotiating skills. I've had job offers in the low €50k from companies in Berlin for a normal position. > Ignoring currency conversion Why would you ignore the currency difference? The Euro buys you a lot more than the Canadian dollar does, even factoring in higher VAT in Europe. I also find the cost of living is lower in Germany than in Canada. Food is certainly much cheaper, and my general impression is that housing is also cheaper (to rent). €50k = $72k CAD You probably won't make this as a junior developer in Canada, and if you do, it's probably somewhere like Vancouver or Toronto where the cost of living is very high. [0] https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/ https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/

Was it difficult to make the move to Germany from Canada? (I'm a tech worker in the US interested in going expat at some point)

kogepathic 9y ago
> Was it difficult to make the move to Germany from Canada? From a visa perspective, it's so freaking easy. Take a copy of your university degree, and your employment contract from a German company. Go to the Foreigner's office (Ausländerbehörde) and get a work visa or Blue Card, depending on your salary level. Took me 6 weeks to get a work visa. Total cost was around 150€. From a cultural perspective, it might be difficult. There are a lot of companies who will hire people with only English (especially startups, though expect less money) but the society is very German. The language isn't terribly easy either, so you'll probably have to invest in language courses to learn it. Unless you are very self-motivated and good at self study. If you're American though, things get a lot harder. Lots of banks here won't deal with you because of FINCEN/FBAR, and you have to file IRS taxes every year (and from what I hear from friends, they're too complicated to manage yourself). It can still be done, but is more difficult due to taxation requirements.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Thank you!

Kurtz79 9y ago

I wasn't aware that Brexit involved relocating the island to another continent... There doesn't seem to be a huge difference in salaries between Germany and Canada, at least on average. https://www.daxx.com/article/it-salaries-software-developer-trends-2016-2017 https://www.daxx.com/article/it-salaries-software-developer-... Salaries vary wildly across Europe (and probably across different areas of the same country), if you get to choose, move to Switzerland :)

kogepathic 9y ago
> I wasn't aware that Brexit involved relocating the island to another continent... It doesn't, but it does have implications for visas and freedom of movement between the UK and continent. > if you get to choose, move to Switzerland Sure, I hear salaries there are amazing. But have you visited? It seems the cost of living is INSANE.

s4vi0r 9y ago

I've seen plenty of listings for jobs in Germany (on HN, even) paying like €50k for a senior position (5+ years experience). Ignoring currency conversion, that's right around the money you'd expect to make as a fresh junior developer in Canada... As far as I can tell, all of the money in Europe is either in Switzerland, or in contract work which is pretty much the same situation Canada is in, just replace Switzerland with the US.

kogepathic 9y ago
> paying like €50k for a senior position (5+ years experience) It depends on the location. That's probably about right for Berlin, but would be ridiculously low in Frankfurt/Munich/Hamburg/Köln. If you want a better idea of salary ranges, check the expat forum Toytown Germany. [0] It also depends on the company and your negotiating skills. I've had job offers in the low €50k from companies in Berlin for a normal position. > Ignoring currency conversion Why would you ignore the currency difference? The Euro buys you a lot more than the Canadian dollar does, even factoring in higher VAT in Europe. I also find the cost of living is lower in Germany than in Canada. Food is certainly much cheaper, and my general impression is that housing is also cheaper (to rent). €50k = $72k CAD You probably won't make this as a junior developer in Canada, and if you do, it's probably somewhere like Vancouver or Toronto where the cost of living is very high. [0] https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/ https://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/