My girlfriend of two years is going back to Malaysia permenantly in a couple of months (since she hasn't been able to find a job in the UK) and I've been wondering what would be best to do. I don't really want to break up with her. I was toying with going and finding a job somewhere nearish in the far east - it woudn't necessarily have to be Malaysia (could be Singapore or HK or even Japan instead).

How viable would this be, what research should I be doing and is there anything else I'd have to bear in mind? Has anyone else here done anything similar? If I settled in Japan, would it be possible for her to join me? I've just graduated and will be working in the UK for at least the next six months in a graduate job, if that affects what I can do at all. I can also speak quite a lot of Cantonese and Japanese...

Thanks in advance =)

She can't join you in Japan unless you marry her or she gets a visa on her own merits. There is no girlfriend visa.

@Jarvik Haha, I think marrying her would be fine in a few years time - I take it I could do that while working in Japan?

@Icecream I live in York... she's just graduated with a degree in Psychology, and she's done a fair amount of work in schools. Her English is pretty good, but still reeks of Malaysianisms. She also tells me (and I don't know if this is BS or not) that employers she's applied to have said they're unwilling to pay for a visa.

I suppose I'd want to be doing a professional job of some description... I wouldn't mind teaching English, but it doesn't strike me as a permenant career move. I might try applying for jobs in Singapore first then, and then move on to Japan/HK if it's not working out. Fluency in either language shouldn't be a problem, it's just a case of time, I guess.

Thanks very much

Haha, moving would indeed be more fun... probably what I'll wind up doing, I think. (She did have a look at social services, but apparently it's only open to British citizens.)

Thanks again