I’ve considered moving to another country, but the more I think about doing it, the more difficult I imagine it would be. What motivated you to leave your original country? Was it expensive to come here? What was your education & employment situation like? Did you find a place to live before getting here or after getting here? And finally, would you say you are happy with your decision?
11 comments
Not an immigrant myself but my parents moved here to escape a communist dictatorship.
Both sides of my family came because they were poor in the overpopulated old countries and they had sponsors here. My dad was HS age, came alone, and lived with his adult siblings. My mom was a young kid, her dad had a HS education and her mom 2 years of middle school no elementary. Both are happier here, dad probably would’ve been dead or in jail if he had stayed in the old country, mom probably would’ve been educated but stressed tf out and poorer. Both were able to attend elite university here. My mom’s parents worked at the family business here, opened and ran a very successful small business of their own, own their house outright, had a luxury car, and retired in their 50s.
It was a really easy decision for me to move here. Totally effortless and not a care in the world about a job or money. My parents told me to get on the plane, then told me to get off the plane, and here I was. My next big step was American elementary school and not speaking any English.
(Obviously, I’m not the type of immigrant you are hoping to hear from. 😀)
Good luck.
Child of immigrants here, but my parents moved for greater educational opportunities, a better life, and jobs – and they are 7000% happier here than there
Son of immigrants myself. My parents both wanted to leave their home country of El Salvador because just how unsafe it was and believed America had much better opportunities. They had family members and friends be attacked or die due to bouts of gang violence. They didn’t want their children to be subjected to such things, growing up in poverty, either lured in by the the gang violence or become a victim by it. My father came first illegally, finding migrant work that allowed him to save money. Absolutely busting his ass in order to save up enough for the rest of us to make the journey to the border and into the US
Child of immigrants here. My parents moved from Europe because my dad got a short term job offer that was supposed to be a six month gig, and then apparently did so well that he got hired/sponsored by another company and they’ve been here ever since!
My family escaped a few days before Khmer Rouge started massacring people.
Crossed the southern border with my parents when I was about 5.
Even having to work under the table with an uncertain future has been leagues better than what my parents could have built in their home country. They say they don’t regret it at all.
We’ve recently become US residents and visited their home country for the first time in 25 years. I’ve been poor in the US and I’ve worked non profits that deal with underprivileged kids. It’s not even close. I don’t think most folks in the US complaining about how bad they have it understand how much better they are than most folks in the world.
I moved in 2021 to study for masters. Been dreaming about it since around 2016-2017. What inspired me were great opportunities in the job field I’d been (and still is, mostly) interested in (mathematical finance).
Education was very expensive, but my family helped me greatly. I have a student loan, but it’s not that huge.
Coming here was kinda difficult. Especially considering my home country’s not best relationships with the US. I had to travel to another country to have an interview for the visa.
Overall I like it here. It’s a very diverse and interesting country. After 2 years I started seeing some drawbacks, in particular a kind of crooked immigration system, when you have to wait for years to get somewhat similar rights as people born here have. A medical system where you have to pay a lot even with the insurance. And also this huge political divide, when there’s basically a choice between two extremes. But I don’t see myself moving anywhere in the near future.
I worked with a woman who immigrated from Mexico to the US and I asked her this. She liked Mexico but overall could build herself a better life here. She also had easier access to decent healthcare
I moved for grad school, it was cheap because I was fortunate enough to get a full ride + tuition. I lived on-campus my first year for ease, and then share houses after that. I did not plan to stay in the US, but I did that thing that fools do & fell in love with a US citizen, so I’m 2 years into overtime now and we’re figuring it out. Employment is tough because I’m on a visa so there’s restrictions on the kinds of jobs I can take, my field is very niche and notoriously underpaid so I’m grinding under the poverty line until I can either get a promotion or permanent residency, or my savings run out and I head back to my home country. I’m very happy with my choice to study here, it was the right place at the right time (except COVID), at the right price haha. And I’m head over heels in love with my partner, he’s worth everything! But life can be hard here, especially without the rights and protections afforded by residency or citizenship, so I’ll be much much happier if/when we can go down that road.