emigration
 

I am thinking about to emigrate from Germany into an other country to develop myself! My choices are California or Japan, thir option would be New Zealand. But because of the crisis I hesitate to do it (just a little bit but I will do it)... what are your opinions to develop yourself that way?!

Develop yourself in what way?

as a person. You can explore who you are outside of your natural "home" enviroment much easier than while your at home, or in a comfortable enviroment.

I left my hometown, and now I feel f***ing boring. However, CA and Japan are good choices. I would go to Japan because I've been here in the states quite awhile. Like Matador said, which way are you going to develop yourself?

here in cali, you can find a little bit from every part of the world in the cities

Emphasis on "little bit" (and yes I know and love California). Gotta go to the source countries to actually get the feel and grow from the experience

in that way as Siriusly.Andrew said also vocational (is this the right word?).

I want to go to Japan but at the moment I see some lingustic barriers - I even don´t know if my English is well-spoken enough to live or stay in the states in States for a while. But I surmis :)

And it´s only a stone´s throw from Cali to Japan!

Japan's a bit of a pain to immigrate to (maybe more for me because I don't have a university degree). Vancouver's also a stone's throw from Japan and Canada seems to let anyone into the country... Plus lots of Japanese ESL students and JDM imported cars.

think so too, so I suppose it is going to be Cali!

I think it's a bad idea for someone to go to japan.

do you speak japanese? if not, definitely a bad idea. not many foreigners there, the language is hard. money is a problem. hard to find work. the process of getting paperwork is a pain in the ass...etc

why do you want to move to japan?

if you live somewhere, it isn't really going to be a barrel of fun every day. it's more fun to go on a vacation when you dont have everyday problems and things on your mind


I have a family friend that went to japan for school purposes and she is a very skilled and educated individual at 30 years old. She told me that of everything she's done in her life, living in Japan was by far the hardest experience she's ever faced. Communication was difficult, the schoolwork was insane, and basically... there's not much room in Japanese society for people who don't speak Japanese.

I don't mean to be a huge downer! But if you're serious about going, be PREPARED for some challenges. She's only one of several people I've heard from who say that going abroad in Japan is tough.

Another issue would be that are you ready to give up your German citizenship? read the following.

Temporary visitors (tourists)

If you are a citizen of one of the over 50 countries, with which Japan has concluded a "general visa exemption arrangement", you need only a valid passport in order to enter Japan as a "temporary visitor", otherwise, you need to apply for a visa before coming to Japan. Temporary visitors from most countries are allowed to stay in Japan for up to 90 days.

Temporary visitors are not allowed to engage in any paid activities. Short term studies at Japanese language schools are permitted.

All foreign tourists in Japan are required to carry their passports with them at all times.

Alien registration

All foreigners, who stay in Japan for more than 90 days, need to apply for an alien registration card within the first 90 days of their stay. Applications can be made at the local municipal office (e.g. city hall). The alien registration card is an important document required for opening a bank account and similar activities. Foreign residents are required to carry their alien registration card with them at all times.

Naturalization

Foreigners, who have resided in Japan for at least five consecutive years (less if married to a Japanese national) and fulfill a range of other vaguely defined conditions, can apply for Japanese citizenship. Japan does not allow multiple citizenship, which means that new citizens need to renounce their previous citizenship(s).


Now i don't know what your story is but if i were to assume the minimum, I would go to California there would be alot more opportunities for you; Learning english is very easy, considering you can type and be on this forum alone means that you have atleast enough knowldege of the language to express your ideas. If you are a determined and creative individual starting from the bottom up in america will most likely pay off more then anywhere else. One example is that you can go work at a bmw/mercedes/audi dealership since your already car savy and will have a german accent, im just saying as an example, it would be cool to be served by a salesperson that has a german accent, it would feel more authentic when buying a german car lol

The only reason to go to japan would be for travel and business(btw interest rates for business loans there are nearly 1 percent!!)

No need to become a Japanese citizen, just get permanent resident status. Foreigners won't be treated much differently whether they're 'citizens' or just PRs. And I thought it was 10 years if you are shooting for citizenship. Not even sure if you can even vote if you are a foreign 'citizen' there. If you are not Japanese, you are treated like dogshit by the system and by a lot of people. Look into the Korean-Japanese situation. These are people that are ethnically Korean that have lived/been born in Japan for generations, and they are still fighting for legal rights even though they self-identify as Japanese, were born there, only speak Japanese, etc... Stuff that makes you a definite citizen in countries like the USA and Canada.

Biggest problem I was looking at was working Visa as I have no university degree, nor 10 years as an expert in my field of work.

However they do offer some people in certain countries a one-time Working Holiday Visa good for up to a year, that allows you to legally work so long as you are just supporting an extended cultural-learning type vacation. A good option if people are more curious about the country than a 2 week trip can satisfy. (some restrictions apply... heh)

My personal experience looking into this involved an ex-girlfriend not too keen on staying in Canada and went back to Japan.

@ Raiden & Dimman

thank you for your opinions!