7 Things to Ask Yourself When Emigrating

You’ve got to end something for a beginning to start.

I, with my wife, arrived at a demilitarized kind of a border where we faced a decision that we need to make. A decision whether to leave the platform and board the train or just sit on the bench to watch it leave and wait for the next train to which we don’t know if it will come or not, or will it arrive on time or already too late. Will this train be going to the same destination as the previous train is heading or is it going to a different one?

After 10 years of memorable expat life in United Arab Emirates (UAE), specifically in Dubai whom we are forever in-debt (metaphorically), we finally decided to board the train and step into the next stage, next experience, next HOME, aiming to be the last.

It was a decade of both long and short-lived life experience. We’ve gained friends, life lessons, unique experiences, and the most visible, weight. It’s not an easy 10 years working while progressing in life looking for new challenges and adventures. It’s a double-edged-sword that we have to enjoy and endure. Those are forever memories that are etched in our minds and hearts as we move on. Thank you, United Arab Emirates for having us and being our 2nd Home! Shokran!

So… why emigrate? Why now? So many questions. It may be an easy path for others, getting the smooth side of the coin but on the scratched and rough side of it, it’s a challenge. An adventure that we confronted head on.

When you’re emigrating, whichever country it is, it’s gonna be a tough decision to make. Unless you’ve visited the country before as a tourist or you have friends and relatives that will support you and will be waiting for your landing, it’s gonna be difficult. Remember, it's a completely foreign land. The quick adjustment and immediate blending-in will be very unlikely. Critical parts of your current life will be directly affected. Work, finances, convenience, comfort, and plans will be put into the firing line, achieving each goal can be imperial. It will be scary at first. If you can handle it, feeling scared will remain at the initial stage and the rest will already be manageable. Depending on how you handle a similar situation, it will give you a significant amount of sleepless nights knowing that you are already established, convenient, and comfortable where you currently are. It is an opportunity that was deemed to be bright in the end but relatively blur during the process.

A lot of narrowing choices and option elimination in the decision-making process is inevitable. It's an important move that needs to be diligently studied. The one we went through we think is applicable to all doing a similar emigration move. Some of the concerns we looked at and the questions we tried to look for answers are:

1. Life in the New Country

What is in store for us in another new and foreign country? What’s the difference between the new country with the country you are exiting? It will be helpful to make a comparison list for your decision reference. We found our comparison so biased that the decision we made became definite. Which part of the country will you settle in (urban and rural life will obviously be very different)?

2. Family Life

Is it a good place to settle in? A good place to start a life, a family? Is it the right place which you can call Home?

3. Work Life

What is the work available for you? Depending on which country and its accreditation of your education and work experience, are you ready to start from the bottom of the ladder (again)? Will the work you’ll get sustain you or at least for the 1st year? How about the next year? How are you going to penetrate the current workforce? Work Culture? This can be different from where you came from.

4. Social Life

Are you ready for new friends? They can be very conservative or the opposite, ultra liberal. Social culture adjustment. Can you protect yourself and probably your future kids with this new culture? How will this influence you and the rest of your life?

5. Religious Life (If You Have One)

What would be the church community will be like? How will this affect your family? How will your established faith and morals react to the contrary of yours?

6. Finance

How complicated will your financial management be this time? New expenses. New mortgage. New investments. New savings. Your planned retirement.

7. Professional Development (Continuing Education)

Can you still do this? Can you still accommodate this self-initiative financially and add an additional complication to your daily schedules? How important is this in your work life?

Research, read, and do your homework about your new home. Talk to select people whom you know are credible enough to advise you. This is not just being an expatriate but having a goal of becoming a local citizen. Similar to comparison list above, make a checklist, tick off each of the concern tick boxes one by one. The goal was for you to be aware (at least visibly) and understand the decision you are making in the end. You have a detailed rational of the move that you will make. You have justification for the action you are undertaking.

It may be too much to think of the 7 concerns I provided here. Not everyone migrating does and needs to do this crazy stuff that we did. This is just how we roll! Most of the moves we did related to our emigration are calculated up to a certain extent. We don’t want surprises. If there are surprises, we want to make sure we are prepared to handle it intelligently and graciously. We will refer to our ticked off checklist. The risks are minimized. This is not just a $1,000 worth of decision you are making, it's definitely more and thus cannot be shrugged off just like that. It's too precious. It’s too valuable in a literal sense that failure and regret are not acceptable.

My wife and I are faithful and prayerful. We believe that we have the hands to work on, and God has his mercy and plans to give us a sign whether to proceed or not. It worked well for us. Find your most effective strategy and motivation of your own so that after your first step, you will keep on moving to the next. This is essential, based on our experience.

Fortunately, the decision we made from the preparation we undertook resulted in a successful move, effortless border crossing, and seamless migration. Check your life plans. Check your timeline. Start your checklist. Start gathering information. Make a good, intelligent and firm decision. It should be a decision worth taking.