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"inhumane quasi-slavery visa situation that we do to our friends who happen to be born somewhere else" - thank you so much for this rant. I've spent the last 3

"inhumane quasi-slavery visa situation that we do to our friends who happen to be born somewhere else" - thank you so much for this rant. I've spent the last 3 years in Taiwan sitting tight and waiting until I have enough work experience to qualify for the Skilled Migrant Category visa for New Zealand (Canada and Australia are also options, with similar requirements). Now I have those 3 years, I'm trying to get a job at one of the 75 tech companies on the Accredited Employers list who can actually give me a visa. Then, if all goes well, I can get be a Permanent Resident after 2 years. And only then can I think about getting married, learning to drive, settling down. It's been a long road to get to where I am now, aged 28, and I really hope some company will notice my plight and be willing to take me through the last step of finding a country to call home.

fjsolwmv 9y ago
You don't have a country to call home?
- peterburkimsher 9y ago
  "Home" is a place I can settle, start a family, go back to and live in. I grew up near Geneva. My parents bought a house in France because it was cheaper. My dad crossed the border every day to work at CERN and take me to international school. I can't be Swiss, because my parents weren't resident. I can't be French, because I wasn't born there. The nearest French hospital is 2 hours away through the mountains and CERN paid for Swiss health insurance. I'm British by descent because my parents are from there. Future children born outside the UK cannot be British from me, because I wasn't born in the UK. If I stayed in Geneva and met a wife there in the same situation (very common with UN kids), and kept living with my parents, future children would be stateless. My girlfriend is Taiwanese. If she and I had children, they would be Taiwanese from her, and would have to go to the military and learn how to kill foreigners. There's a conflict of interest - I don't want children to kill me. She had a great time in Australia on Working Holiday and wanted to go to New Zealand too, but couldn't get one of the 600 visas even though we stayed up all night and applied as soon as applications opened at 6 am. For her to move to the UK requires her to meet income requirements of £18,600 per year, which she doesn't earn with her CAD job, and it would take 5 years. New Zealand offers PR after 2 years, and New Zealand PR is enough for children to get citizenship. (some countries e.g. Canada give citizenship at birth to everyone, but then it's possible for parents to lose their visa and be separated from kids - I want PR before I marry).
  - keont 9y ago
    God fucking damnit. With that amount of knowledge and detail, I hope you end when you are comfortable to be, and accepted as well. This situations seem so fucking ridicolous to me. Any country would be fortunate to have someone like you.
    - newfoundglory 9y ago
      “This amount of knowledge” appears to be a canonical example of “just enough knowledge to be dangerous”. It appears that he’s spent years arranging his life under a false understanding of the relevant laws that could have been cleared up by a question on immihelp, or ten minutes with a UK immigration lawyer.
  - ensiferum 9y ago
    Sorry I don't buy this. You make this sound as if you were stateless which of course is not the case or you wouldn't be able to be in Taiwan either unless you sneaked into there and are in fact working illegally.
    - peterburkimsher 9y ago
      I'm not stateless. I have a work visa. The article explains the pressure of living on a work visa (shut up, get in line, or lose your job, visa, and country). Taiwan is not "home" because I can't start a family here. Even if I didn't care about children's military service, I can't get a Taiwanese passport without renouncing my previous citizenship and going to military service myself. Taiwanese PR doesn't give children nationality, and I would lose the PR if I leave for more than 2 years.
      - ricardobeat 9y ago
        As a British citizen, you can already have permanent residence there. Bringing a partner over has no income requirements, either proof of being together >2 years or marriage (anywhere, marriage is usually valid across countries) [1], I’ve seen hundreds of people bring their partners over to Europe. Your children will be born in the UK and have full citizenship. [1] https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse
friedButter 9y ago
These countries seem so easy compared to US where it can take 20+ years for a residency if you're from India, and you need to live on annual visa renewals until that time
crabasa 9y ago
>> and I really hope some company will notice my plight Do you have a website? Is your story documented anywhere? It's really powerful.
- arkades 9y ago
  It is? He’s spent the last three years working in tech in a first-world country while waiting for a chance to work in tech in another first-world country, where he’ll have to not-get-deported for two whole years before he can really settle down. Maybe I’ve grown cold-hearted over the years, but “emigrating to a desirable nation for a desirable job takes several years, during which I’m stuck in another developed, desirable nation” isn’t wringing out any tears on my end. It took about that long for my family to come over in the 80s, and they were fleeing religious persecution in a shit-hole.
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jstewartmobile 9y ago
What's wrong with Taiwan? Beautiful country, lovely people.
GlennS 9y ago
Is there a reason you need to be sponsored by a company? Australia has a skilled independent points-based visa which gives you the permanent right to live and work. I've actually just been granted mine about a week ago. I take it that New Zealand doesn't have an equivalent? I've written up a little log of what I had to do, which you might find helpful: https://recklessclicking.com/notes/australian-immigration.html https://recklessclicking.com/notes/australian-immigration.ht...
- peterburkimsher 9y ago
  Your log is very helpful, thank you! I've done a lot of research and made a lot of life choices to plan this. MEng in Electronic Systems Engineering from a UK university satisfies the education requirement from a Washington Accord country. 3 years continuous relevant work experience was the hardest because I like travelling and moving around, but I stayed here long enough I have that now. Maybe I don't have enough money to do the skilled independent visa, but if I could borrow the capital, I think I have the points.
  - sangnoir 9y ago
    Congratulations on your what you have achieved so far and good luck in the future! Not a lot of people know the amount of research, effort, discipline, money, sacrifice and luck go into immigration. Hopefully your points are not just over the threshold - if they are, beware of losing your "youth points" and going below the minimum accepted points when you turn 32 or 35 (or whatever the limit is for the countries you're targeting). The years go by so fast!

fjsolwmv 9y ago

You don't have a country to call home?

peterburkimsher 9y ago
"Home" is a place I can settle, start a family, go back to and live in. I grew up near Geneva. My parents bought a house in France because it was cheaper. My dad crossed the border every day to work at CERN and take me to international school. I can't be Swiss, because my parents weren't resident. I can't be French, because I wasn't born there. The nearest French hospital is 2 hours away through the mountains and CERN paid for Swiss health insurance. I'm British by descent because my parents are from there. Future children born outside the UK cannot be British from me, because I wasn't born in the UK. If I stayed in Geneva and met a wife there in the same situation (very common with UN kids), and kept living with my parents, future children would be stateless. My girlfriend is Taiwanese. If she and I had children, they would be Taiwanese from her, and would have to go to the military and learn how to kill foreigners. There's a conflict of interest - I don't want children to kill me. She had a great time in Australia on Working Holiday and wanted to go to New Zealand too, but couldn't get one of the 600 visas even though we stayed up all night and applied as soon as applications opened at 6 am. For her to move to the UK requires her to meet income requirements of £18,600 per year, which she doesn't earn with her CAD job, and it would take 5 years. New Zealand offers PR after 2 years, and New Zealand PR is enough for children to get citizenship. (some countries e.g. Canada give citizenship at birth to everyone, but then it's possible for parents to lose their visa and be separated from kids - I want PR before I marry).
- keont 9y ago
  God fucking damnit. With that amount of knowledge and detail, I hope you end when you are comfortable to be, and accepted as well. This situations seem so fucking ridicolous to me. Any country would be fortunate to have someone like you.
  - newfoundglory 9y ago
    “This amount of knowledge” appears to be a canonical example of “just enough knowledge to be dangerous”. It appears that he’s spent years arranging his life under a false understanding of the relevant laws that could have been cleared up by a question on immihelp, or ten minutes with a UK immigration lawyer.
- ensiferum 9y ago
  Sorry I don't buy this. You make this sound as if you were stateless which of course is not the case or you wouldn't be able to be in Taiwan either unless you sneaked into there and are in fact working illegally.
  - peterburkimsher 9y ago
    I'm not stateless. I have a work visa. The article explains the pressure of living on a work visa (shut up, get in line, or lose your job, visa, and country). Taiwan is not "home" because I can't start a family here. Even if I didn't care about children's military service, I can't get a Taiwanese passport without renouncing my previous citizenship and going to military service myself. Taiwanese PR doesn't give children nationality, and I would lose the PR if I leave for more than 2 years.
    - ricardobeat 9y ago
      As a British citizen, you can already have permanent residence there. Bringing a partner over has no income requirements, either proof of being together >2 years or marriage (anywhere, marriage is usually valid across countries) [1], I’ve seen hundreds of people bring their partners over to Europe. Your children will be born in the UK and have full citizenship. [1] https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse

friedButter 9y ago

These countries seem so easy compared to US where it can take 20+ years for a residency if you're from India, and you need to live on annual visa renewals until that time

crabasa 9y ago

>> and I really hope some company will notice my plight Do you have a website? Is your story documented anywhere? It's really powerful.

arkades 9y ago
It is? He’s spent the last three years working in tech in a first-world country while waiting for a chance to work in tech in another first-world country, where he’ll have to not-get-deported for two whole years before he can really settle down. Maybe I’ve grown cold-hearted over the years, but “emigrating to a desirable nation for a desirable job takes several years, during which I’m stuck in another developed, desirable nation” isn’t wringing out any tears on my end. It took about that long for my family to come over in the 80s, and they were fleeing religious persecution in a shit-hole.
- deleted 9y ago
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deleted 9y ago

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jstewartmobile 9y ago

What's wrong with Taiwan? Beautiful country, lovely people.

GlennS 9y ago

Is there a reason you need to be sponsored by a company? Australia has a skilled independent points-based visa which gives you the permanent right to live and work. I've actually just been granted mine about a week ago. I take it that New Zealand doesn't have an equivalent? I've written up a little log of what I had to do, which you might find helpful: https://recklessclicking.com/notes/australian-immigration.html https://recklessclicking.com/notes/australian-immigration.ht...

peterburkimsher 9y ago
Your log is very helpful, thank you! I've done a lot of research and made a lot of life choices to plan this. MEng in Electronic Systems Engineering from a UK university satisfies the education requirement from a Washington Accord country. 3 years continuous relevant work experience was the hardest because I like travelling and moving around, but I stayed here long enough I have that now. Maybe I don't have enough money to do the skilled independent visa, but if I could borrow the capital, I think I have the points.
- sangnoir 9y ago
  Congratulations on your what you have achieved so far and good luck in the future! Not a lot of people know the amount of research, effort, discipline, money, sacrifice and luck go into immigration. Hopefully your points are not just over the threshold - if they are, beware of losing your "youth points" and going below the minimum accepted points when you turn 32 or 35 (or whatever the limit is for the countries you're targeting). The years go by so fast!