You’ve probably come across the slang “kuenda majuu” more than the”hustler nation” cliché. All this talk simply point to means to move abroad. But away from the slangs and clichés, so many people today long kuenda majuu. Whether for study, research, work, cultural exchange or visit, the dream remains valid. The thousands that make applications for the US Green card lottery each year tells it all.
Also read: Joining the workforce in Scandinavia as expatriate workers
To be honest, you may have started off an application to study in an American University, join an exchange program, traineeship or some other thing but abandoned it midway. So many like you end up signing to legitimate opportunities as well as fake ones but in either case leaves everything along the way.
Why most people abandon applications to opportunities abroad midway
It’s common these days that people crave to travel abroad and grab the many opportunities over there. Unfortunately, so many testify to get lost in between or can’t just find the right way to complete an application.
You’ll see posts like “which is the easiest and surest way to go to the USA?” or “what were your experiences trying to process your immigration abroad?” Such are so common but a quick glance at the experiences people share shows a vast majority genuinely struggling to navigate the tricky immigration process.
Typical struggles to move abroad
You must have seen Kenyans lamenting the long process it takes to get a passport processed. The laughable response that the Immigration department gave of a broken printing machine just tells a small part of the long struggle people endure.
Aside from the long bureaucratic processes such as the embassy and local immigration authorities, most people looking up to travel abroad often get a few things wrong. Of course as a first time traveler with no much international travel experience, mistakes may happen.
Simple and straight up, most travelers either don’t adequately plan for their immigration process, remain ignorant of the nitty gritties, do not get orderly or fall victims of bureaucracy. A combination of any of these may be a heck of an experience.
The internet spamming users with loads of opportunities abroad
The moment you long into social media and other internet platforms today, loads of juicy opportunities pop up on the screen. You’ll likely bump into all manner of travel abroad opportunities, scholarship funding, immigration advisory and such kinds of advertisements.
Algorithms in the internet space have been so much sharpened these days that paranoid people may easily feel someone is reading their moves. You may search for an item and then so much related information keeps showing up whenever online.
Most of us end up falling in for the many advertisements and click bait. You click the link and it opens up to another and another until you get completely lost. Of course some will lead you to genuine sites but the tragedy would be that at the time, you don’t have all the documents and proofs needed to complete an application. So what do you do? Set up a profile with contact details, email address and a few other available stuff then save it for later…a later that never comes.
Strategy matters a lot
Whence there are so many chances to move abroad that any ambitious person can explore, strategy on how to grab them matters a lot. Some may choose to scribe their moving abroad to relatives, God’s workings, an acquaintance or whichever but all crystallizes to strategy.
A wrong strategy, miscalculation and improper scheming on your attempts to move abroad will likely land you into misery. On the flip side, getting every step of the way correctly before even starting sets you so many miles further. Like building a house, you have to figure out each phase of your travel abroad, requirements, timelines and costs involved.
Take note of Important phases of your immigration abroad
The phases of immigration can be categorized into pre-travel, travel and post travel/arrival phases. But for convenience, we may isolate the specific activities that stand out and largely determine your immigration experience and outcomes. They include;
- Identification of most suitable opportunity abroad that matches your situation
- Gathering the necessary documentation and approvals
- Starting the application process and keeping track of each timeline/deadline.
- Timely checking of and responding to correspondences
- Booking a flight and preparing for life in the new home
- Entry and integration into the new environment/culture
