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diff --git a/content/en/posts/immigration-2022.org b/content/en/posts/immigration-2022.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b7738f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/en/posts/immigration-2022.org @@ -0,0 +1,234 @@ +#+TITLE: Immigration experience after events of 2022 +#+DATE: <2024-10-30 Wed> +#+LANGUAGE: en + +* Immigration experience after events of 2022 + +[[../../public/images/wkz-immigration.gif]] + +I had left Russia in September of 2022 as many other Russian +developers. Not sure if I did it permanently or temporary. I've moved +to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)][Georgia (country)]] (also named Sakartvelo) with the help of [[https://trop.in/][Andrew +Tropin]] (big kudos to him) as a temporary solution after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Russian_mobilization][partial +mobilization]] was announced in Russia. That temporary solution did last +2 years already and third year is to come. + +[[https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/flights-out-of-moscow-russia-putin-intl/index.html][The aircraft tickets price went high]] immediately after partial +mobilization, so the only choice left was to move by land. The only +Russia-Georgia border was [[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/10/03/in-photos-russians-fleeing-putins-draft-queue-at-georgian-border-a78957][stuck in a huge traffic jam]] before even we +started to drive. It took us ~3-4 days to manage to drive there facing +corruption, closed oblasts (Russian administration borders) and buses +on roads with ongoing mobilization. My mental state was bad, because +it felt like the country can be closed at any moment (government can +accept new laws extremely quickly, like for 1-2 hours). I don't want +to concentrate my story on that part much, because there are already +many evidence published. + +So we passed the border after all the struggle and stayed at the +longest traffic jam of my life. Both borders were quite easy to pass +thankfully. I had a two hour long small-talk with FSB guys at spring +before when I first tried to leave Russia, so I was nervous. + +I decided to migrate extremely low on cash: I had about $600-800. So I +needed to find a job to grind my way for a living in a new +place. Luckily the tax-rate is extremely low here: only 1% for small +business and 0% for micro-business. I wanted to stay outside of Russia +as long as I could, so I found a job in a two-three weeks as Symfony +Developer (php) and made some money to stay here for some time. + +** Why I have left Russia in a first place +- Men can be mobilized. Mobilization thing is still going. +- USD and EUR were prohibited or limited at banks atm and + VISA/Mastercard stopped working + sanctions (mostly minor) +- [[https://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-rub-advanced-chart][Ruble became weak]]. There is less and less reason to work with it, + because it drops all the time and salaries usually don't get + re-indexed. +- Many random censorship blockages of Internet resources (and other + media for example books). For example GNU Mailing lists were + banned. Also [[https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2022-03/msg00004.html][Guix servers were banning ru IPs]], so you can't use + substitutes there, which is critical for such system as GNU Guix. + + - Censorship is strong enough to get you into jail just for [[https://roskomsvoboda.org/en/post/gigest-apr-2022-kritika-derzhavy/][posting + online that war is a war]]. ([[https://roskomsvoboda.org/en/cards/card/safe-posting-rules/][Instruction on how to not get arrested + for posting]]). + + - Censorship is strong enough to get you into jail just for LIKES + and REPOSTS of some materials. For example there is ongoing thing + of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_foreign_agent_law][FOREIGN AGENTS]], if you repost them without marking YOU will be + fined. + + - Censorship is strong enough to get you into jail for [[https://meduza.io/en/feature/2018/05/23/russia-finds-a-new-tor-criminal][hosting TOR + exit node]]. In general in Russia you have a feeling that everything + is prohibited if otherwise is not stated, not the other way + around. The state has a centralized control over society. + +- Political propaganda became [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine][too wild to handle]]. Schools started to + have propaganda too ([[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/02/17/russian-tv-airs-wartime-patriotism-lessons-for-schoolchildren-a80253][Уроки о важном]]). +- I was arrested once at the protest (and after that police might be + interested in you) + +Those reasons you might find a bit silly, but I believe if you are +involved into IT it would be a shame to be not connected to the rest +of community especially if you are into free software. Internal market +might be ok, but I think it would suck like it sucked in USSR. + +Majority of my Russian friends stayed in Russia. Immigration is costly, +standard of living will be lower and there is no guarantee that +immigration is even the answer. I find myself that I might return +any-day if something critical happens to my friends, family or +something else. At the same time would be nice to distance from Russia +even further. + +** Tbilisi + +[[../../public/images/tbilisi.gif]] + +[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi][Tbilisi]] is a capital of Georgia. It is very nice city and I like being +here. At the time of arriving it had lots of support of Ukrainian +people and lots of hate to Russia expressed in wall graffities and +demonstrating Ukrainian flags. It was a bit of a shock for me, because +in Moscow if you do something like this you just get arrested, you +literally can't even write something on a wall without being punished +hard. Tbilisi also has lots of EU flags, because the state and people +want (or wanted) to be in EU hard enough. + +The currency is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_lari][Georgian Lari]] (GEL). And when I've arrived it was +something like 20 rubles per lari, now it is 35 rubles per lari. Ruble +has dropped for at least 33% if you ask me and lari became much +stronger currency compared to it. It was easy to buy crypto here, it +became a bit harder after the regulations, but it is still +possible. Yet I don't use this, just noting that you can see some +Bitcoin shops in the city, which was a surprise for me because there +is literally none in Moscow. + +*** Arrival + +[[../../public/images/tbilisi2.gif]] + +I've arrived with no plan at all. I was randomly luring the city with +a backpack full of my clothes + my Thinkpad. My phone was low on +charge, so I've stopped a random taxi driver and asked for direction +to hotels. Because [[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65790759][~100-200k Russian migrated at the same time]] (not +exactly to Tbilisi) all hotels were full. Gladly that driver invited +me to his house, I've recharged my phone there and ate. After he +proposed me a deal to rent his country-side place. Knowing that +everything has high prices right now I've agreed. + +It was 40-60 minutes away from Tbilisi which felt actually far away +and it was on a mountain, so it was colder. Tbilisi itself is very +warm city, when I've arrived in the end of September it was +33 +Celsius. I was using my winter clothes because the border was located +in mountains, so it was cold there. + +[[../../public/images/tbilisi3.gif]] + +After settled down in a country side, I've came back to Tbilisi +city. I've bought a local sim-card, Georgia doesn't has stupid +limitations for tourists, so I've bought same sim-card as locals. Went +to the bank and opened VISA card with no problem. Other Russian +fellows had problems with that, so the process is a bit random, but I +particularly had no issue. After that I went and registered a small +business. It took me 1-3 days to do everything, which is extremely +quick and it was easy in general. After all of that done I was ready +for legally earning the money. + +After that I found a job and after several months moved to the city to +better neighborhood. + +** Why Georgia is nice + +[[../../public/images/tbilisi4.gif]] + +- No VISA required :: Russians can stay here for 1 year without a visa + as a tourist and than do the visa run and stay another + year. Ukrainians can stay for 2 years straight. +- 0-1% business tax :: probably the lowest in the world +- Rent is cheaper :: I think the minimal is $300-350 per month + here. It was even cheaper before big migration wave. +- Products :: Products are generally cheaper than in EU (I hope) +- Community :: Many Russian-speaking people are here. It means that + Georgia is a good place for meetups, conferences and other + activities. For example there is a hackerspace F0rthsp4ce. @akater + organized [[https://gitlab.com/akater/emacs-tbilisi-meetup-page/-/blob/main/public/index.org][Emacs meetup]] and @tropin did [[https://fosstodon.org/@w96k/112483547960128437][guix meetup]]. +- Russia :: Georgia is close to Russia, so friends, family and other + can come here more easily compared to other countries. +- Climate :: Georgia has a warm climate. There is almost no snow at + winter and generally very warm. +- Nature :: Georgia has a lot of mountains and caves and it is great + for hiking. +- Georgian are friendly :: hospitality is their feature +- Free (Libre) Internet :: Mostly not blocked at all. +- No bureaucracy :: It was extremely easy to open a business and bank + card. In general country feels much less trouble than others, I'm + sure that EU has much harder procedures for everything. +- Minimum regulation :: Georgia feels like it has low government + regulations in general, but it might be only a feeling. Russia and + Moscow felt much more over-regulated, you can be arrested if you + cross the road in non appropriate place for example. + +** Why Georgia is not so nice + +[[../../public/images/tbilisi5.gif]] + +- Russia :: Russia is too close and has influence in Georgian + politics. Also it might be dangerous for activists. +- Citizenship :: It is mostly impossible to get a citizenship. You + need to stay here for 10 years with a permit for a living and + government often declines providing those. +- Less jobs :: If you work outside of IT it is much harder to get a + job compared to Moscow. +- Less salary :: If you handle to get a job it will be less + profitable. My brother works here and get 50% less. I might guess + that IT jobs has the same downside here, but not sure. +- High import fees :: You need to pay 20% fee if you order stuff from + Internet markets above $100. +- Hard language :: Georgian language is very hard to learn compared to + others. It is old and niche language. +- Visa problem :: Many embassies requires a permit for a living in a + country before your visa request, so I can't for example do a visa + in Georgia. I need to go either to Russia or seek other countries to + get a permit. The only exception is Spain Embassy in Armenia which + works as a proxy for Embassy in Russia, so you can get a visa + without a permit. +- Internet is expensive and slow :: In Moscow I've paid $3 per month + to get 40MBit. Here 45MBit costs $12.5. It is actually not so + critical as packet losses and overall quality. +- Electricity shutdowns :: Compared to Moscow it happens a bit too + often and it depends on your neighborhood. + +** Other options +Of course Georgia is not the only option for migration. It was for a +moment because of mass emigration and prices, but in general there is +a choice. EU and other countries closed its borders for Russians or +made it harder to get a VISA. + +If something happens to Georgia, most likely I would move to one of +these countries: + +- Serbia :: +- Montenegro :: +- Spain :: +- Portugal :: +- Argentina :: +- Urugway :: + +Most options has a common problem - *T* *A* *X* *E* *S*. They are extremely +high. In Russia the tax for individual business is 6-12%. I'm not +saying that this is a bad thing in general, but it is a bad thing for +the guy, who wants to start living in a country without having +billions beforehand. 15-22% is kinda nice, but still quite high +compared to Georgian 0-1%. + +** Conclusion + +[[../../public/images/georgia_mountains.gif]] + +Overall I'm glad that I've left Russia. Even if I would return it is +nice to have an experience living abroad. I never been abroad before +and generally I'm more "sitting at one place all my life" type of +person. I've found new connections here and not feeling alone, maybe I +even became more social here. I hope other Russian fellows who decided +to not participate in government actions are doing well. + + +/Peace./ |