The first thing I did after landing in Lisbon was lose my debit card. Not stolen, not swallowed by an ATM. Just gone, somewhere between the airport bus and a pastelaria where I paid too much for a custard tart because I hadn't slept in nineteen hours and the woman behind the counter was patient with my terrible Portuguese.
I sat on a bench in the sun, no card, no SIM, one suitcase, and thought: well, this is the plan now.
That was four years ago. I'm not going to pretend I had it figured out. I didn't. But somewhere between that bench and now, I've lived in three countries, filed paperwork in two languages, and learned more about immigration than any brochure will ever tell you. So here's what I actually know.
Why I left in the first place
It wasn't dramatic. My rent went up, my salary didn't, and I did the maths one evening and realised I was working to stay exactly where I was. That's it. No crisis, no big revelation. I just wanted my effort to go somewhere.
I started with a spreadsheet, because of course I did. Then I found a free salary and cost-of-living calculator that did the same job in about four minutes, which stung a little. The number it spat out for my city versus three others was the moment this stopped being a daydream.
The countries I actually looked at (and the ones I'd skip)
The ones that kept coming up
Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Uruguay, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the UAE, and Costa Rica. That's the fifteen. Not because they're objectively "best", because there's no such thing, but because they consistently tick the boxes people actually care about: legal pathways that exist, healthcare that works, wages that stretch, and a realistic route from "visiting" to "living".
I used the destinations explorer to filter by visa type and climate, mostly because I kept getting distracted by pretty photos and needed something to narrow it down.
What I learned the hard way in Portugal
Portugal was my first stop and it's still the one I'd recommend to most people. The D7 visa (for people with passive income) and the digital nomad visa both exist, the cost of living is lower than most of Western Europe, and the bureaucracy is slow but not cruel. Expect rent in Lisbon to have climbed hard, roughly 1,200-1,800 euros for a decent one-bedroom in the centre, less if you go to Porto or the Alentejo. I paid 750 for a room in a shared flat in 2021. That number is a museum piece now.
The mistake I made: I arrived in August and tried to do everything at once. Don't. Get your NIF (tax number) first. Everything else depends on it.
Germany, where the paperwork is the point
Germany rewards patience. If you can get a job offer, the Blue Card is genuinely one of the cleanest skilled-worker routes in Europe. If you can't, the freelance visa (Freiberufler) is doable but you need to prove clients and income, and the appointment wait in Berlin can run months.
Rent in Berlin has roughly doubled in a decade. Expect 900-1,400 euros for a one-bedroom outside the ring, more inside. What you get back: healthcare that doesn't bankrupt you, public transport that works, and a rental market with actual tenant protections. What you pay: a tax wedge that will make you wince the first time you see a payslip.
Canada and Australia, the long game
Both run points-based systems, which means your age, language score, qualifications and work experience all matter, and they matter in ways you can't argue with. Canada's Express Entry and Australia's SkillSelect are both worth understanding before you spend a cent on anything else. If you're over 40, the points drop fast. That's not fair, but it's the rule.
Salaries are higher. So is almost everything else. I'd run any move through the city and country comparison tool before believing a headline number, because "average salary in Toronto" tells you nothing about what's left after rent.
The ones people overlook
Uruguay and Chile get far less attention than they deserve. Uruguay has a genuinely simple residency path if you can show stable income, and Montevideo is calm in a way that European capitals are not. Chile's economy is the most stable in the region, though residency rules have tightened. Costa Rica is popular with remote workers and retirees, but the cost of living has caught up with the reputation.
Japan and South Korea are wonderful and hard. Language is the wall. Work culture is the second wall. If you have a job lined up and a company that sponsors you, go. If you're arriving to "figure it out", you'll burn through savings fast.
Singapore and the UAE are for people with a specific, well-paid skill. Both are efficient, both are expensive, and neither offers an easy path to permanent residency. Know that going in.
What nobody tells you about the first six months
You will be tired in a way sleep doesn't fix. Everything takes three times longer because you don't know where anything is or how anything works. You'll get the language wrong and someone will laugh, and most of the time it's fine, and occasionally it isn't.
The loneliness hits around month three, not month one. Month one is novelty. Month three is Tuesday.
And then, quietly, it turns. You find your bakery. You know which queue moves faster. Someone nods at you like they've seen you before. That's the moment it becomes a life instead of a project.
Honest pros and cons
Pros: Your money often goes further. Healthcare stops being a source of dread. You meet people who think differently, which changes how you think. And there's a specific pride in building something from zero that I've never found anywhere else.
Cons: You will miss people in a way that doesn't fade, only gets quieter. Your career can stall while you relearn how things work. Bureaucracy will defeat you some weeks. And you'll always be slightly foreign, even after a decade, in ways that are sometimes lovely and sometimes exhausting.
What it actually cost me
| Item | Rough range (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Visa application fees | 80-600 |
| Document translation & apostilles | 150-400 |
| Flights (one-way, economy) | 200-900 |
| First month's rent + deposit | 1,000-3,000 |
| Health insurance (first year) | 300-1,500 |
| Setup (SIM, bank, furniture, deposits) | 500-1,500 |
| Buffer for the first three months | 3,000-8,000 |
These are estimates from my own experience and from friends who've done the same in different countries. Your numbers will differ. Verify current fees directly with the relevant consulate, because they change.
What I would do differently
- Start the paperwork before you book the flight. I did it backwards and lost two months.
- Learn the language to A2 before arriving, not after. Even badly. It changes how people treat you.
- Visit in winter first. Everyone falls in love with a country in June. Winter tells you the truth.
- Keep six months of expenses, not three. Things break. Visas get delayed.
- Say yes to the first invitation, even if you're tired. The friendships that made it worth it all started with me being exhausted and going anyway.
Quick practical tips
- Check whether your qualifications need recognition before you apply for anything.
- Open a local bank account as soon as you legally can. Cash-only life gets old fast.
- Keep digital and paper copies of every document. You will be asked twice.
- Browse our travel blog for country-specific guides before you commit, and the city directory if you're still choosing where to land.
FAQ
Which country is easiest to immigrate to? There's no single answer, but Portugal, Uruguay and Germany all offer relatively clear legal pathways if you meet their income or skills criteria. "Easiest" depends entirely on your passport, your job and your savings.
Do I need a job offer first? For some visas, yes. For digital nomad and passive income routes, often no. Read the specific visa requirements rather than general advice, because they differ wildly.
How much money should I have saved? Aim for six months of local living costs plus visa and setup fees. For most of the countries above, that's roughly 8,000-15,000 euros, though it can be far less in parts of Latin America.
Is it worth it? For me, yes, though not for the reasons I expected. I didn't get richer. I got a life that felt like mine.
If you're sitting on a bench somewhere with no debit card and no plan, take it from me: you're already further along than you think.
