to ask if you emigrated, what criteria did you base your decision on?

[hellokittymania]

I am having a very hard time deciding where I want to stay. It will either be Vietnam, US or UK. Each has its pros and cons, and it is a very hard decision.

[WestieMamma]

We based it on the fact that the cons never even entered our heads. A job came up and all we could see were the pros.

[hellokittymania]

I'm having a tough evening. My heart is in Vietnam, citizenship in UK and mother in the US. One day, I think one thing, then everything goes out the window....

[DropYourSword]

The native language. The job prospects. The weather.

Or really, somewhere that spoke English where I could walk into a job in my profession and have a bit of sunshine. And if it didn't work out here, try the next place.

[MelanieCheeks]

Have you lived in each of those places? What will you do there? Is it just you or a family too? How is your mother's health?

[MooseBeTimeForSnow]

Weather can't be the be all and end all though. It's beautiful here (in Northern Canada) in Summer but -30 for several months in Winter.

Canada as a whole, the opportunity and the money did it for us.

[AfricanExport]

The safety element and opportunities for the children.

[Strokethefurrywall]

Tax free lifestyle, weather, quality of life, job prospects, salary.

But I was single when I made that decision 6 years ago, I'm now married with a 2 year old and another baby on the way so my decisions now will be based on their needs not ours!

[DropYourSword]

True Moose but for me it was really important because I came from a small place in UK that really doesn't have particularly good weather even when the rest of the country is having a heat wave! I think I must be solar powered

[hellokittymania]

Sword, If I could own a business in VN, this is where I would stay. I have a disability and didn't finish university. I just recently did a translation course and I am getting tutoring now. I speak 7 languages. There are plenty of jobs for English teachers, but in most cases you need a degree.

Work permits here are hard to get. Another downside.

I feel so :( tonight.

[melika]

work and family would make me move.

[hellokittymania]

I was born in the UK and we moved to the US when I was 5. I lived there til I was 19. Sometimes I think I don't want to go back, my mother just got citizenship after 25 years in US so can apply for my green card. My first expired. :( My mother is 67 and in Florida. I wouldn't want to live with her (I don't think). She lives quite a distance from public transport and I don't want her driving me. She has health issues and had a car crash last year which hads set her back a bit. She and I also are very different people. :) She doesn't want rent (I dont get any benefits and I have been doing aid work, so I get a salary which is fine for VN, not so fine for the UK or the US).

I "moved back" to the UK in September and while I love the opportunities, it is so expensive and so....lonely. It took 3 years to adjust to Vietnam and now I haave to readjust. I came back to Vietnam to do the translation course in October and am still here. Yes, I really love this place.

I am not sure what sort of work I would do in either UK or US. Vietnamese translation, probably.

[TEEurkeyDay]

I emigrated from US to UK 10 years ago to marry my husband. I wouldn't have done it for any other reason at that stage of my life.

We play with the idea of moving back to the US, but we are very settled here, his parents (in NI, we live in Belfast) are in much worse health than mine, he has a good job and our son has just started school so we're staying put.

I think you need to figure out what work you want to do and then figure out where you can do it best.

[hellokittymania]

I had thought of starting a travel business forpeople with SN/disabilities but a friend is doing this and it doesn't get enough customers. I know Asia very well (been everywhere in SEAsia except for Brunei.)

Import export crossed my mind too but selling what?

I find being self employed easier.

[Thistledew]

What? You don't base your decision on whether you would be taking a job that could possibly be done by a citizen of the country you are going to; whether your presence in the country would place even the tiniest burden on the housing, schooling and medical systems; whether you are willing to speak exclusively in the native language and fully adopt all of the native cultural, religious and social customs; as well as being 110% sure that no matter how much you contribute to the economy now these factors will never change and you will never have any need of supporting any relatives who are not fully independent? Well then, you should be put (at your own expense) on the first boat home, even if you would end up becoming dependent on the state or family to whom you would return!

Seriously, I don't have any proper advice, but I do wish you the very best wherever you decide to go.

[hellokittymania]

I wish I spoke Hindi or Polish.

I like working with Asians and know the cultures well. I also speak Vietnamese (nearly fluently) along with basic Thai and bahasa and chinese.

I met a Vietnamese-English interpreter but she lives in Manchester. I went to a conference for translators while in the UK and most speak and read the standard EU languages (as do I). One mentioned that vietnamese was "unique" and not many native speakers of English can translate it.

[hellokittymania]

Thistle

I base it on the food! Vietnam wins :)

On my first day in the UK, I went to a giant......not sure what supermarket and shop assistant asked me what I wanted.... I said "cheese" since we only have laughing cow and it isn't refridgerated....which makes me wonder if it is really cheese. Same with yoghurt. There is a Big C that has yoghurt in the cold section but it is also sold at outdoor markets in 36 C heat. Anyway, we went to the cheese and yoghurt section....milkybar yoghurt? Flake? I can't even remember the cheese! I remember the disgusting raspberry tarts

In Vietnam, 2 very good iced coffees, 2 plates of vegetarian food and a fruit shake (fresh) per day costs 42,000 VND ($2)

I can't cook [another challenge in UK) but here I don't need to. It is fresh and healthy food too.

[Selks]

Totally off-topic (sorry) but I hear Vietnamese coffee is very good! Vietnamese food looks amazing - in my book that is a good reason to live somewhere

[Pippilangstrompe]

From what you have written here, Vietnam sounds likethe place you should be. It sounds like it is there your heart is.

I think you can rationaliseas much as you want but you will never be quite happy anywhere other than where your heart tells you to be. All the other stuff will fall into place. Don't expect your dream life to turn up immediately, that is a long term goal, but you can put up woth a lot if you know you are where you want tobe.

[HicDraconis]

For us it was based on language (we only speak English & wanted to migrate to an English speaking country) and lifestyle - I work in a hospital so we needed somewhere with a similar healthcare system.

Which left us US (we didn't want to move there), Canada (would have loved it but not enough points on the immigration score), Australia (extremes of weather and enormous spiders), or NZ (been here 5 years and love it).

[Selks]

It does sound like you love Vietnam, but there must be something unsettling you to make you question where you should be. I'm not sure whether there is an easy answer for this. Could making a list weighing up the pros and cons of each option help a little? Where do you see yourself in five years time - can you see yourself still in Vietnam?

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

I based mine on a football match.

Had a job offer in Spain (where heart was, and is)
Had a job offer in Italy.

1994. World Cup in the US. Quarter final IIRC. Spain v Italy. I decided to go to whichever country won.

bastard bloody Italians

This is not a good premise on which to base your entire future.

[Pippilangstrompe]

When I first emigrated, I just decided to go to a new country, and went. No thought for possible problems, pros and cons, etc. I am convinced this is the way to do it. I think if you try to think it over too carefully, you end up going nowhere. Also, it is guaranteed not to anything like you imagine it is going to be.

This of course is only relevant for adults without children in tow. Obviously then a move needs to be much more carefully thought through.

[hellokittymania]

Oh, the coffee is looooovely! :) I don't mind the floods/typhoons/rain so much as long as I get my ca phe sua da (iced coffee with milk!)

The toughest thing I face here is the visa issue... You also have limited opportunities as a foreigner. You can't own anything. Starting a business is cheap, but you only get 49%.. I see so many foreigners start businesses only to lose them. Many men put their wives down as the local partner but I don't have a Vietnamese prince so that isn't an option. :)

:(

[BadgersRetreat]

we fancied moving abroad, but not sure where. Knew it would have to be English speaking and we had some reservations about Oz.

Then went to Canada on holiday, LOVED it, started the visa process when we got home

been here 7 yrs and are v happy here.

[hellokittymania]

Sangria

I was proposed to on facebook by a man in the US who had been in jail twice for violence....

I'm 76 pounds. No way!