My wife wanted to relocate to Lithuania 3 years ago. Why we decided to look for a different country

Anatoly Bezkorovainy <br><br>I immediately apologize, this post is not about the positive aspects of Lithuania, but about the negative ones. Lithuania is a country of emigration, and I hope that it will be useful for someone to read this post before deciding to move to this country. <br><br>In 2020, my wife and I began to look for countries to move to with our family. My wife is Lithuanian, we met in Lithuania, she has lived there for more than 15 years. I am 42 years old, she is 37 years old. We live in Moscow, so at one point we decided to leave the Russian Federation. The reason is the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the very idea of war, which contradicts our principles. <br><br>There were 2 main criteria for choosing a country: <br><br>1. Distance - we wanted to stay in Europe, not far from Russia and Ukraine. On our list were Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova. <br><br>2. Costs - we didn't want any additional costs for moving, such as international student loans, the costs of documents, school fees, 2 years of integration courses, and other nonsense. <br><br>And here is what we found out about the countries on the list. <br><br>-Estonia - it took us several days to get a long-term visa. The process was very simple, digital and we didn't need any help. But they have the so-called "gray card" status, which is a bit tricky and we are not big fans of bureaucracy. So this was the first county to be crossed off. <br><br>-Latvia - when we asked the embassy if we could get a national visa, we were immediately answered that we didn't have any chance. On one hand, we didn't want to spend months to study Latvian, on the other hand, we didn't want to live in a country whose citizens were so hostile towards us. We didn't have many friends in Latvia, so we crossed this country off our list. <br><br>-Lithuania - it was the most obvious option. We didn't have to learn a new language, we had some friends and my wife's family lived there, we knew a lot of people. So we decided to go for it. <br><br>-Belarus - the situation was exactly the same as in Latvia. The people there were hostile towards us, we didn't want to learn Belarusian, and the country was a authoritarian regime, so we quickly gave up the idea of moving to Belarus. <br><br>-Poland - we got a job offer in 2 weeks, the process was very simple. But we decided to move to Lithuania first, so we turned down the job offer. <br><br>-Germany - we received an offer from a company in Germany right away. But the price of the apartment was 3-4 times the price of an apartment in Lithuania. The weather was also very cold at the time and we didn't want to live in a big German city like Berlin. So we ended up declining the offer. <br><br>-Georgia - it was very easy to get a residence permit, but the country was too far away from our main destinations. It was a beautiful country, but I didn't want to go back and forth to Russia and Ukraine. <br><br>-Kazakhstan - we got a job offer from Nur-Sultán immediately. Everything was very simple and smooth. We even bought tickets and planned to visit the city. But we didn't like the fact that we would have to live in a huge megalopolis. The salaries were not very high either. <br><br>-Moldova - we didn't quite understand the logistics of the move and the costs, so we decided not to risk it. <br><br>We went to Lithuania first, and then we would decide which country to move to next. We were lucky, we found a house with a pool, a gym and a park. The neighbors were also great, we were happy. We were quite surprised at how simple it was to get the residence permit. There were not many requirements, we got it right away. But then our happiness began to fade away. <br><br>-My wife got a job offer, but she was told that she was unqualified for the job and that they would have to train her. She was very offended because she worked for an international company for 5 years. But it turned out that she was unqualified because she didn't speak Lithuanian. After all, you can't work without knowing the language. <br><br>-And I got a job offer at a company that was a leader in the market. I had a lot of experience, I spoke English, German and other languages, and I knew the tools and technology. But they told me that they would have to train me because I didn't know anything about Lithuanian legislation. But I wasn't willing to be trained. I had plenty of experience and I just wanted to work. They didn't want to hire me because I didn't speak Lithuanian. But I am a cosmopolitan person, I don't have a nationality, so why do I have to learn it? <br><br>-We went to a restaurant in Vilnius and asked if the menu was in English. The waiter was quite hostile towards us and told us that they were in Lithuania and they should speak Lithuanian. Then my wife translated the menu for me. There was one dish that caught my eye. I asked the waiter what it was. He just said "blood, meat, potato, etc" and immediately walked away. So we left, paid and never returned to that restaurant. <br><br>-We bought some fruit at the market, I thanked the seller, she replied "I don't understand you" and walked away. Why was she so hostile? Is it a crime to speak Russian? <br><br>-We went to a store and asked where the milk was. The seller told us "I don't speak Russian". Then my wife translated. Why was he so aggressive? <br><br>-My wife got sick and we went to the doctor. There was no one who could speak English or Russian, not even an interpreter. I translate everything myself, but I am not a doctor. What would happen if they told me to translate something wrong? <br><br>-I went to the hairdresser and asked her what style she would recommend. She said that she didn't understand me. So I left. <br><br>-I went to the hardware store and asked the seller if he spoke English. He said "No, I don't" and walked away. I wasn't willing to be treated like this, so I left. I don't speak to people like this, especially not in a professional setting, so why should I accept it? <br><br> We spent 3 months in Lithuania. We had a great time, but we decided to leave the country on December 31, 2020. We decided to go back to Moscow. After getting back to Moscow, we immediately got an offer from a company in Warsaw. We agreed on everything, so we immediately bought tickets to Poland. <br><br> It's been 2 years since we moved to Poland. We really like it here, the people are very nice, we have met a lot of people who speak Russian. They don't have any problem with it. Everything is very smooth and easy. We don't have any problems getting documents or getting a job. We are very happy. If you are thinking of moving to Lithuania, we recommend you to consider other countries as well. If you are already in Lithuania, keep looking, don't lose hope. There are plenty of opportunities out there. You just have to look for them.<br><br>P.S. This project is created by Ivan Zhuravel who left Lithuania for good. If you are interested in joining our team, please send me a direct message.