LebGeeks

ironman

Member

Looking for Career Advice

Hello Guys,

I would really appreciate hearing your input regarding my issue right now. I currently have 3 opportunities to leave our beloved country. I am in my 30's and would probably get married in the next year.

1 - I have a job offer in Europe (A major company). However the tax is around 50%. So the remaining amount at the end of monthly might not be sufficient in case something unexpected occurs.

Benefit: Nationality in 5 years

2 - I have a job offer from a company in the gulf region (Qatar to be specific). The salary is obviously higher.

Benefit: Good salary but no Citizenship

3 - Before receiving those job offers, I already applied to immigration (Canada) and I am waiting for my visa.

So mainly it will be either

Option 1 for the next 5 years.

or Option 2 for like 2 years then Option 3 when the Visa arrives

What would you recommend me to do?

Any input about the life in Europe vs in Canada would be appreciated.

Thank you very much

samer

Admin

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Congratulations on having options, this is a great position to be in!

1 - I have a job offer in Europe (A major company). However the tax is around 50%. So the remaining amount at the end of monthly might not be sufficient in case something unexpected occurs.

That 50% figure most likely includes health care, unemployment insurance and pension.

All of these options have their pros and cons, but where would you see yourself living?
Europe and Canada are both large geographies, it's hard to give you any advice unless you can specify the city you intend to live in and talk a bit about yourself.

tricky

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

will try to sum up my Canada (toronto) immigration experience.

Pros:
- free health care
- parks/hiking trails are awesome
- work/life balance is good, depends on the company as well
- not too racist
- free school

Cons:
- real estate ($600,000 for 1 bedroom apparent ~50sqm) + $500/month for maintenance and tax  (https://condos.ca/)
- toronto in general is very expensive to live in. like renting 1 bedroom  is like $1800/month
- kindergarten pretty expensive
- health care can be slow
- its very cold for like 8-9 month, a little cloudy too
- people are warm at first but distant if you wana get close to them.

Even tho i never been to Europe, I would advise you to choose Europe.  Europe in general have an excellent work/life balance and its closer proximity to lebanon and the weather is probably not crazy cold but Europe is generally pretty cloudy.   

If you decide to go to Europe you probably dont want to burn the Canadian bridge, so you probably wana check if you can apply again or something... I know you can land there and leave for like 3 years and you should be fine but afterward you would lose your PR (2 years out of 5 to maintain PR).  Problem with Europe you probably be tied to 1 company for probably 5 years for better or worst.

xazbrat

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

I second the European option.  Get the visa and maybe the nationality and you will be able to work in the Gulf for a lot more money than you would under a Lebanese passport.  Additionally, you would be able to open up your employment opportunities to other states in the EU as well as the UK, Canada and other countries.

Just as an aside, my brother in in Canada right now and while he loves it there, the cost of living is sort of high and healthcare is sort of a joke, aside from general care.  He and his wife have yet to get vaccinated so they are heading down to the US to get their shots as they are not expecting to get shots before the fall and they haven't been to Lebanon in 3 years (tickets really expensive for a family of four too).   In Europe, it is  closer to family here---if you really don't have a reason for coming back, keep the Canadian option alive.  IMO, anything in the EU, UK, US, Canada and Australia is on equal footing and you will be able to take advantage of any opportunities presented to you in the future.  I wish you the best of luck.

anayman_k7

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

I am currently in Europe and waiting my VISA application to Canada which got accepted but the process is long, so I will try to stay here for 5 years for nationality and in the same time continue with Canada application but will delay as much as possible with that

ironman

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Congratulations on having options, this is a great position to be in!

1 - I have a job offer in Europe (A major company). However the tax is around 50%. So the remaining amount at the end of monthly might not be sufficient in case something unexpected occurs.

That 50% figure most likely includes health care, unemployment insurance and pension.

All of these options have their pros and cons, but where would you see yourself living?
Europe and Canada are both large geographies, it's hard to give you any advice unless you can specify the city you intend to live in and talk a bit about yourself.

Thank you Samer,

Well yes, this 50% includes healthcare, pension ... however I won't benefit from those unless I decide to spend my life there... The country is Belgium by the way

To be honest my dream was to live in Europe but I am not able to accept the fact that 50% of the salary is being cut.

Concerning Canada, it is mainly Toronto. As I know taxes aren't better (around 40%), however the process to obtain the citizenship is 3 years (Compared to 5 in Europe)

ironman

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

will try to sum up my Canada (toronto) immigration experience.

Pros:
- free health care
- parks/hiking trails are awesome
- work/life balance is good, depends on the company as well
- not too racist
- free school

Cons:
- real estate ($600,000 for 1 bedroom apparent ~50sqm) + $500/month for maintenance and tax  (https://condos.ca/)
- toronto in general is very expensive to live in. like renting 1 bedroom  is like $1800/month
- kindergarten pretty expensive
- health care can be slow
- its very cold for like 8-9 month, a little cloudy too
- people are warm at first but distant if you wana get close to them.

Even tho i never been to Europe, I would advise you to choose Europe.  Europe in general have an excellent work/life balance and its closer proximity to lebanon and the weather is probably not crazy cold but Europe is generally pretty cloudy.   

If you decide to go to Europe you probably dont want to burn the Canadian bridge, so you probably wana check if you can apply again or something... I know you can land there and leave for like 3 years and you should be fine but afterward you would lose your PR (2 years out of 5 to maintain PR).  Problem with Europe you probably be tied to 1 company for probably 5 years for better or worst.

Thank you for your input. Much appreciated. Concerning rent I agree, Toronto is crazy expensive and taxes are around 40% if I recall.
I am really lost to be honest because the decision that I make today will mostly affect the upcoming 5 years. The thing is that if I go to Europe, I think it's smarter to spend those 5 years there and obtain the citizenship (instead of "Losing" 2-3 years without getting anything)

The other alternative would be going to the Gulf, saving some money and then going to Toronto for 3 years and then hopefully going back to the gulf with a Canadian passport.

What do you think? Do you find yourself spending your whole life in Canada?

Last edited by ironman (May 26 2021)

tricky

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

@ironman, I pay around 34%.  The way taxes work in Canada and guessing Europe is that you can save some money but you will always keep on paying money. Even if you own a house, you will pay around $600/month, car insurance around $250/month etc... its not like Lebanon once you own a house/car, you berly pay anything...

The main problem i see in Europe is the language and how good/fast you can learn it and if you willing to put effort etc...

What am saying, is that if you accept Europe offer, and decline or stop/pause the canadian immigration papers, can you apply for the canada immigration again? You dont want to burn that bridge in case for example the company you work for closes and u cant find another job or you really hate it there or whatever... you wana keep your options open even when you decide on one, try not to burn the canadian bridge...

I have a lot of mixed feeling about Canada, probably not.  I just dont feel like working till 65 and pay mortgage  and the weather is really bad.  You would probably have the same problem in Europe but at least the weather is better.  And you can go to another country after 5 years.  In Canada, people go to USA where you will probably get overworked or shot 

I was looking into Europe myself, but I suck at languages and dont feel like learning a new language. Plus currently, i have a super easy going job at one of the top universities in Canada and currently working remotely from Lebanon :) I will probably visit Toronto soon tho, its great in summer!

as Samer said its a personal decision, and what is important for you. if you are gona have children in couple of years, you probably dont want to end up in gulf and move around...

best of luck with your decision.

jsaade

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Pros and Cons for each depend on your preferences. As you said your dream is to live in Europe, why just not go with it. Go with whatever you are most comfortable with. Future planning is nice and everything but if 2019/2020/2021 taught us anything is you can never be sure your plan will work, there is always a high risk of external unplanned major events changing everything around you. Go with what you feel is good for the next year max and try not to worry about the next 5 years.

Like this Gulf job could be non-existent in 5 years, but now you have an offer. The contract you have could be very good there, I do not believe they differentiate between nationalities (salary) any more (I work in the Gulf), so that US/EU citizenship holder differentiation is for some companies but definitely not for good ones.

Salloum

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Taxes are everywhere except the Gulf. However as others have mentioned taxes are not a bad thing, you get a lot in return for paying taxes. If you eventually end up in Canada, taxes there are around 40% as well. So you can't escape this. On a side note, Belgium is a great country, lovely for a family life. It's also strategically placed - you can take the train to many amazing cities around there (Paris, Amsterdam :), etc..). Personally if I had these three options I'd settle in Brussels.

anayman_k7

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

In the UK where I am right now, the taxes are 20% for < 50k GBP per year salaries plus you get ~12.5k GBP tax free per year, and in case you make more than 50k per year you will be taxed 40% only on the delta amount over 50k. The taxes are applied on the taxable amount only which does not include any pension scheme and national insurance

specility

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

go for Europe definitely. The fact that you are asking this question means that you are a young adult (probably in your 20s). This means that you aren't really worried about kids and family.
My dad has been working in KSA for like 28 years as a full-time employee. No nationality no nothing.
think about it this way:
1) once you get nationality, pretty much the entire world is open for you (easier paperwork thanks to European relations)
2) laws are much more respected than the Arab world (in general)
3) more stable than most Arabic economies
4) when you have kids down the line, they will have a much easier life

the same points apply for Canada but you don't really have the visa acceptance yet. I would personally go to Europe instead for the time being and plan my future from there.

ironman

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

I would like to thank everyone that gave his/her opinion in this thread. It helped me a lot. Good luck to everyone of you and I hope you will be able to achieve your dreams and find success in this life

user

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

I personally opted for the citizenship option over money in my life and went to Canada.
I have a friend who went to work for a major company in an arab country. It was great and all for 5 years, he piled up a good amount of money and he is married now. And he is deeply worried about having children because he does not have a citizenship, and Dubai does not give anything to children born on their soil. The moment he loses his job it's back to Lebanon for him. All the money in the world won't fix that...
My take on it is, you can always make more money later. Get that citizenship and then move to the Gulf, or to Africa or wherever and things will be much easier because you have a good citizenship. Stability first...

rolf

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

All the money in the world won't fix that...

If he's that rich he can apply for investor programs that give some kind of residence or citizenship

user

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

He considered buying a citizenship from one of those Carribean countries, that's what your savings from the gulf as an employee would allow you to do. But an investor program in Canada or the US or Europe needs a few millions that you need to actually burn(by opening something and hiring people) Working in the gulf is not going to give you all the money in the world sadly...

Guitaret

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Hello ironman,

Interested to know what path did you pick:
I currently have an opportunity to go to Brussels and I am curious to know if you picked that and how did it go.

ironman

Member

Re: Looking for Career Advice

Hello Guitaret,

First of all congratulations on the opportunity.
Actually I ended up choosing the 'European' road. No regrets at all
Go for it :)