IslandX blog

Does the US Visa System Harm Its Economy?

Recently I followed Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor at The Economist, on Linkedin after seeing a link to an article he posted regarding US immigration.  You can find it here on Linkedin or view the original article he wrote in the Economist, here.  

The gist of the article is that US immigration reform of the past years has lead to a sharp reduction in the number of H1B skilled worker visas being issued, and that this will have an overall negative effect on the US economy.  A major point being made is that overall, skilled immigrants in the US are stronger net contributors the the US economy, with this group being more likely than a US citizen to start their own companies (creating jobs for Americans etc…).

I’m naturally a big supporter of skilled migration flow between countries, the benefits speak for themselves in many ways, and my overriding belief is that in the end both the immigrant and their host country end up as winners since both are helping each other fulfill their needs (value generation from hiring the right person on one side, and providing employment on the other).  What surprises me though is the number of people that are extremely critical of Matthews call for an increased number of skilled migrant visas, just look at the comments field!

Most peoples ‘fear’ if you can call it that of immigrants stems not just from grouping together many different groups of migrants that have nothing in common, but from small mindedness and a lack of understanding the nature of global business.  After all, without global migration a number of the world’s successful economies of today (the US leading the pack), would not exist today in the first place.  It is only by supporting those who are ambitious and courageous enough to seek out bigger and better opportunities that we will continue to improve the societies in which we live.

If you’re still sceptical about the benefits skilled immigrants can bring to your country, have a look at this article about the world’s most successful immigrants, working hard to create jobs and support the economy.

-Marius

Online language learning: we meet Busuu.com

Last night I went to a great event setup by TechHub London where the CEO and Co-Founder of Busuu.com, an online language learning site, gave a talk to a bunch of us start-up entrepreneurs about his experiences.

above: Bernhard (CEO of Busuu.com) in action

Busuu.com is basically a social network for language learning, and they’ve had awesome success, reaching 30 million members this week.  According to them, 1billion people around the world are currently learning English, so the market for language learning is understandably a big one.  They’ve got some very ambitious growth plans for 2015, so expect their membership to more than triple by then.

It’s also very relevant to IslandX.com since a key part of moving to a new country and integrating successfully is the ability to learn the language.  Following our re-release we’ll be looking more closely at how we can help people learn basic language skills, so if you have any thoughts about how we can go about it then don’t hesitate to get in touch.  We’ll certainly be paying closer attention to companies like Busuu.com so we can learn more about how we can help our members in the future.

-Marius

Quiet before the storm

While things have been quiet on our blog and other media, rest assured we’ve been hard at work behind the scenes with bigger and better plans.  In not long, we will be re-launching www.islandx.com with a host of new features, helping us go further in meeting our goal of providing a site that makes moving easier.  

Our new site is going to be pretty kick ass if we say so ourselves, and we can’t wait to show you!  If you’re thinking about moving somewhere new soon, then we’d love to hear from you so you can be the first to know when we’re live with the new site!

-Marius 

Why People are Moving to Brazil

by Marius

In recent years, particularly after the US and European financial crisis’ started in 2008, there have been some countries & economies that have had continued good fortunes.   The term ‘BRIC’ is familiar to many people already, however for those not in the know, it is economists acronym for some of the world’s promising economies - namely Brazil, Russia, India and China.

(IslandX in Rio!  On the top of the ‘Sugar Loaf’ mountain)

It’s my first time in Brazil and I’ve been spending the last week in Rio de Janeiro (lucky me!). This time has given me the chance to get a feel for what exactly makes Brazil a great move destination.  This year Brazil has managed to become the world’s 6th largest economy, pushing the UK aside earlier this year.  As you’ll also have heard, Brazil is hosting the 2014 World Cup as well as Rio being chosen as host city for the 2016 summer Olympics.

There are plenty of opportunities to be found for people wishing to relocate to Brazil in the near future.  Twitter is one company rumoured to be opening offices here soon (see an article about it here).  As Rio’s favellas’ continue to become pacified, safety is improving all round and the recently created ‘tourist police’ ensure visitor safety in popular areas like Copacobana beach.

If you’re interested in moving to Brazil, there are also established relocation service providers to help you out such as Brazil Relocation Centre.  So why not brush up on your Portuguese and move to one of the strongest growing economies in the world!

Visit your local Migration Shop!

Seldom does IslandX related inspiration come more directly to me than the occasion I am sharing with you in this post. After having spent one month rediscovering the Indonesian culture, food and language (my first time back since I left 15 years ago) I now find myself in Perth, Australia.

While walking through a small mall in Perth CBD (central business district) I was surprised and delighted to spot a Migration Consultancy shopfront!  It’s the first time I’ve seen a migration consultancy with an office open to the public walking past, hence my excitement:).  The companies name is ‘Easy Migrate’, which offers immigration consultancy services to help people wishing to migrate to Perth, Australia. With a physical presence in the Mall I’m sure they get some footfall from tourists curious about staying, although I suspect most of their customers probably find them online.

This approach by Easy Migrate to conduct business makes immigration seem much more accessible simply due to increased visibility of their services. Although they are the first immigration consultants I have seen with a store front in a mall, I hope there are more out there and that this can become a stronger trend worldwide.  

Nevertheless, immigration consultants aren’t always right on your doorstep, so we’re shaping IslandX to provide resources and help connect people to offer support much in the same way Tripadvisor helps people plan travels without needing a travel agent sitting in front of you. I guess you could say that we want IslandX to become the Tripadvisor for moving countries!

Who’s Looking for Greener Grass

by Marius - September 17, 2012

One of the things I enjoy taking in while travelling the world is the variety of nationalities one encounters.  Lately however, I have started thinking of it in relation to IslandX and all the migration data I have mulled through over the past year.  I thought perhaps the most frequent nationalities encountered travelling would rudimentarily mirror world migration statistics, a straightforward enough assumption to make but also a tad simplistic! 

Looking at Westerners, British citizens are by far the most prolific emigrants despite not having the most populace nation.  Overall, an equivalent of 7.5% of the UK population (4.6m) can be found dotted around the world in popular destinations such as Australia, the USA, Canada and Spain.  According to my assumption, I should therefore be encountering more Brits than any other nationality.  However, this hasn’t been true so far, with Brits falling into 3^rd place.  1^st place has so far, overwhelmingly gone to Germans, with the French in 2^nd.

This looks to throw out my assumption, but a not insignificant >4% of Germans live abroad, and considering wider world events like the Euro crisis it may be natural.  After all, the German economy is still going strong while the UK is struggling with a large deficit.  There is also geography and regional travel preferences to factor in with Indonesia perhaps not coming high on the list of places to visit for British people.  On average, across different destinations, I’m certain the link exists since they are both measures of international mobility.

Interestingly, the most populace Western nation, the USA, has a relatively low number of expats in the world equivalent to 0.8% of their domestic population.  Due to their higher population they stay on the charts though falling between Germany and France statistically.

While travelling and moving abroad (migration) are very different in themselves, I believe it’s true that they can be linked to each other.  Travelling allows individuals to broaden their horizons and can act as a precursor to a future overseas move either by alleviating worries about what life could be like ‘away from home’ or by planting the seed of adventure in people’s minds. 

So if you’re ever uncertain about whether you have what it takes to live abroad, why not take the plunge and take a stint travelling to test the water… the grass away from home may be a lot greener than you think!