In our blog, we write a lot about the issues of finding remote work and relocation. We regularly collect personal stories of Russian engineers, developers, designers and product managers, in which they tell about how they live in a new place.
Still, we regularly receive requests to write about a particular country. That is why we decided to collect in one place a summary overview of the top directions for relocation of IT specialists.
Note : The text is long and has a lot of links, including our detailed articles for each country. So make yourself comfortable, let's go!
United States of America
The first country that comes to mind when you hear the word "IT emigration". The United States consistently ranks first in the ratings of the top countries for relocation according to Russian-speaking programmers.
This is not surprising - it is the richest country in the world with a huge technology market, which is home to the most famous companies from the famous FAANG to dozens of hot innovative startups.
To obtain a work visa in the United States (H1-B), you need to find an employer and win the visa lottery - usually there are several times more applications for work visas than the quotas allocated (for 2021, 65 thousand such visas have been allocated). Another way to get to work in the United States is to use an L-1 visa, which is needed to transfer employees to the American office from a foreign division. In many ways, for this, many large companies, such as Microsoft, Dropbox and others, have opened offices in Dublin - after a year of work outside the United States, an employee can be transferred to the head office without any quotas.
There are also O-1 visas for seasoned and celebrity employees, given to talented professionals who have made significant contributions to their profession.
The coronavirus pandemic and related quarantine restrictions hit the local economy painfully, which also affected IT companies - Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, and were forced to lay off thousands of employees. But despite the fact that the general economic turmoil has affected everyone, the situation in the field of technology is still much better than in many other industries. This is confirmed by the number of open vacancies.
Salaries in IT in the United States are among the highest in the world. Developers can easily grow in grades and significantly increase their income every year.
The salary fork for senior engineers is in the range of $ 170– $ 210 thousand per year in cash and another $ 150– $ 300 in shares. In total, the salary of a senior developer can go up to $ 400 thousand per year if the scenario is successful.
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The second most popular country for relocation among Russian IT specialists. The increased interest in Germany is justified by a large number of attractive offers on the labor market, a more stable economic situation and the opportunity to obtain a residence permit under a simplified professional immigration program for persons with higher education (Blue Card EU or "Blue Card").
In the ranking of countries in the world in terms of quality of life (data for 2020), Germany took 9th place , and Russia was 70th. In addition, Germany ranks eighth in HSBC 's annual migration-friendly report (data from 27,000 expats, 2019).
To obtain a Blue Card EU - a residence permit for a professional specialist - you must conclude a contract with an employer and have a higher education diploma in your hands or confirm work experience in the profession for at least 3 years (for IT). The salary of an IT specialist per year must be at least 43 056 € for people with higher education or 49 680 € for people with work experience. Please note that the latter will most likely still need to confirm their knowledge of the language at level B1. A residence permit is issued for the duration of an employment contract or for a period of up to four years.
There is a huge shortage of qualified IT specialists in the country - such professionals are among the most demanded professions. To attract experienced personnel, a professional immigration program for people with higher education (Blue Card EU or "Blue Card") was launched.
To obtain a Blue Card EU, you must conclude a contract with an employer and have a higher education diploma or confirm work experience in the profession for at least 3 years (for IT). The salary of an IT specialist per year must be at least 43 056 € for people with higher education or 49 680 € for people with work experience. A residence permit is issued for the duration of an employment contract or for a period of up to four years.
Recently, for the IT sector, concessions were introducedin the procedure for issuing a Blue Card EU. For example, it is not necessary to validate a university not obtained in Germany - you need to prove that you have had relevant experience in the field for three years.
Netherlands
Photo: Maria Gurova
Amsterdam ranks 11th in the quality of life rating for 2019, and according to the OECD Better Life Index statistics, the life satisfaction of the Dutch is above the national average. FDI Intelligence and TNW Tech have published a rating of cities with the best prospects for investment in the IT sector and startups - “tech cities of the future”. Among other things, “Economic potential”, “The number of direct foreign investments” were assessed - according to these aspects, Amsterdam entered the top ten, and took fourth place in the overall rating.
Dealroom analysts in their report estimated the number of jobs in Dutch tech startups at 77,000, of which 34,000 are in foreign companies with a presence in Amsterdam. In 2019, the number of vacancies increased by 11%.
You can also work in the Netherlands with an EU Blue Card, but it is rarely issued, because this country also has a national relocation program for highly qualified specialists (or kennismigrant) from other countries. To relocate to the Netherlands with an offer from a local company, several conditions must be met:
- The employer is on the list of accredited sponsors of the migration division of the Ministry of Justice. If the company is not on this list, it needs to leave an application with the migration service. Obtaining accreditation costs money and takes about six months, so some companies use the services of payroll service agencies.
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According to FDI Intelligence and TNW Tech, which ranked the "technological cities of the future", London ranks first in the overall top . Not only London is included in the overall rating of the 25 "cities of the future". Irish Dublin - in third place, in terms of "economic potential" and "the amount of foreign direct investment" is immediately behind the English capital. In addition to him, the overall top includes Belfast, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Reading and Glasgow. According to Tech Nation's 2020 report, the UK as a whole is the leader in the development of the tech industry in Europe.
Technology employment has increasedby 40% over the past two years, now it accounts for 9% of the country's entire workforce. In the IT sector, in comparison with the finance sector, the demand for specialists is almost 3 times higher. There are now 438,000 jobs in startups.
You can work in the UK with several types of work visas . Some of them concern specific types of employment (in health care or religious organizations). There are two work visas in the usual sense. First: Intra-company Transfer visa - transfer within a company to a British branch. This is a nonimmigrant visa: years of work do not count towards obtaining a residence permit, plus you are tied to an employer and cannot change it. Second: General work visa - immigration, there is also a link to the employer, but you can change it.
To apply for a work visa, you will need an offer from a local company. Here is a list of licensed sponsors - companies that can recruit and sponsor foreigners.
Switzerland
The country has a well-developed Internet and everything related to IT. According to FDI Intelligence and TNW Tech, Zurich ranks 14th in the ranking of "technological cities of the future", ahead of Moscow, Prague and Edinburgh. 2020 Switzerland opened more than 78,000 jobs. Among the sectors where the shortage of personnel is felt most acutely are the spheres of finance, IT and everything related to engineering.
Getting a work permit in Switzerland is not easy, especiallyfor people who are not citizens of countries belonging to the European Union or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA, EU + Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland). There are quotas for hiring foreign specialists. At the same time, in order to invite a foreigner to work, the employer must prove that it is not possible to find an employee in the EU and EFTA countries for this position. In particular, among the evidence may be a vacancy posted on local job boards, which has been hanging for a long time, and a list of candidates who did not come up with an indication of the reasons for refusal.
After receiving the offer, in order to enter the country, you need to obtain a national visa type D - just an open tourist Schengen visa will not work. The visa will be valid for several months, during which you need to obtain a residence permit - a special ID-card with which it will already be possible to travel throughout the EU (you will need to take another passport with you).
Hungary
According to Mercer analysts, Budapest ranked among the top 100 cities in the world in terms of living standards in 2019. The capital of Hungary took 76th place, ahead of such cities as Abu Dhabi (78), Tel Aviv (104) and Moscow (167). The information technology sector is well developed in Hungary: it is one of the main components of the country's GDP (share of 10%) along with mechanical engineering, electronics and food industries, and pharmacology. Such companies have
offices in Budapestlike Microsoft, Google, IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Prezi (the latter even made their own guide to their beloved Budapest). Hungary is a popular IT outsourcing destination, with EPAM and Tata Consultancy Services, for example, represented in this niche. According to Glassdoor, the average developer in Budapest receives a salary of about 485,000 forints, or 120,000 rubles or more - this is the senior level.
Foreign workers have the right to count on obtaining a residence permit in Hungary - residence permit holders can leave the country for no more than 90 days a year. A residence permit is given for a period of six months to three years, you can work with it - if it is marked as Employee. If you move with your family, they will also receive a residence permit, but without the opportunity to get a job. It will be possible to obtain permanent resident status in three years.
Spain
Not the most obvious country for IT relocation, but at the same time, the technological segment of the economy is well developed here. There are both small startups and IT giants with millions of dollars in investment.
According to the same Mercer study, Barcelona and Madritt in 2019 entered the top 50 best cities to live in (43rd and 46th, Barcelona was ahead of New York).
The relocation process is usually simple - the inviting party deals with the documents, the employee must be provided with certificates of no criminal record and, if necessary, a marriage certificate with an apostille. After that, the company can obtain a work permit for the employee - this process can take up to two months. After its approval, you need to provide a package of documents to the embassy and in another 1-2 weeks the visa will be ready.
Cyprus
Photo: @ nati_kseni
According to Mercer, Limassol is in the top 100 cities in the 2019 quality of life ranking, just outside Kuala Lumpur and ahead of, for example, Riga and Greek Athens. In another rating, the Quality of Life Index from the Numbeo website, Cyprus bypasses not only all the countries of Eastern Europe, but also, for example, Italy.
The European Blue Card program is also officially operating in Cyprus, but in practice the quotas for it are currently zero, so in fact it will not be possible to move in this way. The relocation procedure for engineers who have received an offer from a Cypriot company is quite simple. After receiving a job offer, you need to prepare a small package of documents and go to Cyprus. Here's what to bring with you:
- International passport valid for at least 2 more years.
- Internal passport with registration.
- Certificate of no criminal record.
- Diploma of Higher / Secondary Special Education
- Resume in English.
Upon arrival in Cyprus, you will need to open a bank account - usually an employer helps to do this - and rent an apartment. A confirmation from the bank and a lease agreement must be attached to the package of documents and all this must be submitted to the migration service.
After that, the applicant will receive a so-called pink slip - this is a work visa that gives the right to work in a specific company. Family members are given non-work visas. Before quarantine, the terms for consideration of documents were 1-3 months, at the moment they can be extended.
Australia
This country also ranks high in various rankings - Sydney and Melbourne are consistently in the top 20 cities in terms of quality of life. The country has offices of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft. Do not forget about Atlassian, which also actively hires foreigners, as well as actively developing local startups.
Most of the vacancies are concentrated in Sydney, but you can also find something in neighboring Melbourne, although the choice there is not so great. In other cities, the chances of finding something interesting are further reduced. Australian IT salaries are not as high as in the US. The standard salary for a software engineer is somewhere between $ 100-110k. Senior developers get more.
The very process of moving for foreigners in the company is well-established - large employers have special people who help with paperwork, transportation of things, arrangement on site. Applicants only need to collect a package of necessary documents:
- Confirm work experience using recommendations - it must be at least two years to obtain a work visa.
- Pass the IELTS language exam and get a certificate. The minimum is 5 points in each of the Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking sections.
- Pass a medical examination - you need to confirm that there are no special and contagious diseases.
- Provide a police clearance certificate - Australians want to let into the country, first of all, people who have not been noticed in anything criminal.
- Get medical insurance. It can be done online, but I had to get confused myself. Then you will have to pay for the insurance monthly, and in Australia, medicine is expensive - $ 70 / month is the cheapest and practically useless policy.
After sending the final prepared package of documents, a work visa for a period of four years is usually approved within a couple of weeks.
China (Shanghai)
In 2020, Shanghai was included in the list of the 10 most expensive cities to live in, and in terms of quality of life it ranks 103rd - the best result for a settlement in mainland China (Moscow - in 167th place).
Developers are in great demand in China - China has the largest number of Internet users in the world , the market for mobile devices and PCs is growing, and the country lacks qualified specialists .
The income of an experienced developer (Senior Software Engineer) in Shanghai ison average 283,810 yuan per year (about 3 million rubles at a rate of 1 yuan = ~ 11 rubles), however, the salaries of specialists in local branches of large international companies (for example, Intel Corporation) can reach 378,588 yuan per year (about 4 million rubles ).
With "professional" migration, you can legally work only with a work visa type Z. In order to get it, you must find a job in a company located in the country. The visa is issued only after obtaining a work permit and receiving an official invitation from the employer.
Permission to hire an employee is issued by the employer after the applicant provides copies of the passport and diploma of higher education (with translation into English), resume, photographs, completed application form, police clearance certificate, as well as copies of work and medical records. All documents are submitted on a special website . After that, a work visa is issued .
In addition to a work permit and invitation, you may also need copies of contracts, a letter from the employer, and a COVID-19 test.
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