Ask HN: How to immigrate considering my "circumstances"?

[bitkiller]

Developer/programmer here.

By circumstances I mean: wife and kids, age, skills.

I live in Brazil and I really would like to leave this country and definitely live in another place. I don't have any preferences for the place right now and I accept suggestions.

My main issue on immigrating is to be accepted given my age (37) and family. AFAIK, having an effective job proposal and employer sponsorship is the only way for many countries. Do you know anywhere where people can go on business or as tourist and apply for jobs?

[Geekette]

Don't see why your age would be a problem for immigration. For many western countries, academic/professional qualifications and financial capability (especially if applying for investor visa) matter more. I believe Canada also has a points system where you can apply to immigrate based on your qualifications without necessarily having a job lined up.

Why do you want to emigrate from Brazil? Listing some reasons would enable people to give you better country suggestions.

Mentioning your technical skills here and including some type of contact info in your profile would also be useful for anyone interested in contacting you in regards to employment.

[bitkiller]

Thanks for replying.

I decided in this question to focus on what I regard as obstacles to enter on another countries or finding a job. That's why I avoided talking too much about myself professionally.

The reasons I want to emmitgrate are basically the same as the ones this guy described: http://amatarazzo.tumblr.com/post/79624842882/bye-bye-brazil.... I disagree on some views, but he is almost 100% correct.

On my skills, I prefer not to talk about this now, as I'm interested on understanding how the process would work. I would say I've been in the workforce for more than 12 years, and have done a little of a lot of things.

Thank you again.

[msantos]

> I decided in this question to focus on what I regard as obstacles to enter on another countries or finding a job.

That's the wrong approach. In most countries you'll need a job before getting a visa, so focus on job market research beforehand, then check the visa obstacles.

Unless, of course, you don't need a job because you have (loads of) funds to apply for a entrepreneur kinda of visa.

If you have never lived outside your own country, I suggest you write down a list of questions you might have and then ask them around. You might have better changes to get them answered that way, instead of generic stuff. Immigration is highly subjective, by which I mean it depends a lot in people's particular circumstances as much as in foreign laws.

[RealGeek]

You can go to almost any country as a tourist and apply for jobs. Just don't mention this in your visa application or they will refuse your visa.

Once you have an employer willing to sponsor your H1-B / visa / work permit, you can go through the immigration process and move with your family.

[msantos]

Bear in mind that some countries (i.e. UK) will not allow you to change visa categories while already in the the country. You must leave and apply for a new visa from your home country.

Example: in the UK if you hold a valid student visa (Tier 2) and find a company willing to employ you based on your expertise (Tier 2), you must to go back to Brazil and apply for a visa "Tier 2" from there and then come back to the UK.

[msantos]

Edit: student visa (Tier 2)

student visa (Tier 4)

[RealGeek]

It's the same in US.