Interview with Vaibhav Birthare

This interview presents the personal story of an expat who came to the Netherlands under the Highly Skilled Migrant scheme and received direct support from All About Expats. This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not replace personal advice. For more information about our services, please feel free to contact us.

In March 2021, Vaibhav and his wife had just settled into their new home in Pune. “We’d bought an apartment, chosen the furniture, and were finally building a life together there. Then, out of nowhere, an opportunity came up. Suddenly, we had to decide: do we sell everything, put our belongings in storage, and start all over again? That choice was tough.

We would have to begin from scratch, learning the culture, figuring out how things work, even something as simple as where to buy groceries. It’s all very different. I already knew this, and I told my wife as well. She simply said, ‘It’s your choice.’ But then she added one thing: ‘If you don’t go, you’ll regret it.’ And I knew she was right.”

Just a month later, in April 2022, Vaibhav left India for the Netherlands to take up a role in software testing with Nekst IT, in collaboration with All About Expats. With more than eleven years of experience in the IT sector, he was stepping into a profound personal and professional transformation.

At 31, Vaibhav’s life took an unexpected turn. A colleague, Suraj, encouraged him to apply for a position at Nextit, recognizing his deep expertise in the automation tool Provar, where he had built six to seven years of experience. After a successful interview, the offer to The Netherlands came through. His wife, who had previously lived in Germany in 2018, urged him to embrace the opportunity. “She was the one who pushed me to take the step,” Vaibhav says. “We didn’t have children yet, so the timing felt right to try something new.”

Vaibhav’s career path, however, had not always been straightforward. After completing his engineering degree, he received two job offers: one from IBM and another from an Indian firm. He chose IBM, but the joining date never came. “It’s been 11 years, and they still haven’t sent me the joining date,” he recalls with a wry smile. The contract had stated that employment would depend on business requirements, leaving him without any legal recourse.

Determined not to let setbacks define him, Vaibhav moved to Bangalore, one of India’s leading IT hubs, to prepare for new opportunities and deepen his knowledge of software testing. It was there, in a training institute, that he met the woman who would later become his wife. “We were in the same class, became friends, and that friendship slowly turned into a relationship. After almost eight years, we got married,” he shares. “Because of her, I was able to take this big step to the Netherlands.”

This wasn’t the first time he had been presented with an international opportunity. Back in 2020, Vaibhav had to decline an offer in the United Kingdom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But when the Netherlands offer arrived, he knew it was time. He made the move on his own first, and three months later, his wife and their dog joined him in their new life abroad.

Before making the leap to the Netherlands, Vaibhav did his homework. “I have an older brother who had already lived in the Netherlands for three years,” he explains. “He first worked for another company there and later moved to Latvia for work. I spoke to him about what life here is really like.”

Through his brother, Vaibhav also connected with friends and colleagues who were already familiar with the Dutch way of life. “We discussed practical things, like the salary offer,” he says. “The Netherlands is an expensive country to live in, and I wanted to be sure we could manage. Everyone reassured me that with the offer I had, we would be fine.”

He and his wife made sure they were well-prepared before the move. In fact, his wife had already secured a position at Rabobank before arriving. “She mostly works from home, but goes into the Utrecht office about once a week. It gave us both a sense of stability, knowing that from day one in the Netherlands, we were both insured of work,” Vaibhav reflects.

On March 29, Vaibhav landed in the Netherlands. Just two days later, he started working for his new client. “I arrived at the end of March and by April 1, I was already expected to be at work. That gave me only two days to settle in, which was short,” he recalls. In those early weeks, he often traveled between Weesp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam to learn the work processes. “It was a long train ride, about an hour and a half, but after two or three weeks I had gathered enough information to work from home.” Eventually, he established a routine of three days working from home and two days at the office.

Looking back, Vaibhav describes his first weeks in the Netherlands as both exciting and confusing. “I was enthusiastic, but also a bit nervous and disoriented.” The language barrier proved to be one of the biggest challenges. “In supermarkets, everything is labeled in Dutch. I’m vegetarian/vegan, so I constantly had to use my phone to translate and check if I could eat something. Even at train stations and on the highways, all the signs were in Dutch. At first, it made traveling by train and tram difficult, but over time, I picked up important words. Now I even know what ‘volgende perron’ means.”

“We had to figure things out ourselves while still in India,” he says. Leaving behind their plans and possessions meant starting over completely, finding a home, learning the culture, even working out something as simple as where to buy groceries. The logistics were especially complicated because of their dog. “We hired a company to transfer our dog from India to the Netherlands,” Vaibhav explains. “It wasn’t easy, there were blood tests, waiting periods, and she was already seven years old. Training her for a 13-hour flight was tough, but we managed.” From paperwork to travel arrangements, every detail required planning. Yet in the end, the effort paid off, and their family was reunited on Dutch soil.

The transition to life in the Netherlands was made much smoother thanks to Patrick from All About Expats, who took Vaibhav under his wing. “Patrick picked me up from the airport, arranged my registration, took me to the bank to open an account, and even took me out for lunch. He was very helpful, not just with work-related things, but also in making me feel comfortable, familiarizing me with the neighborhood, and answering all my questions. He really helped me a lot,” Vaibhav says.

When Vaibhav was still searching for a place to live, Patrick showed him apartments from friends in his network. Thanks to his help, Vaibhav found his first accommodation in Weesp. After three months, he moved to The Hague, where his wife and their dog joined him. They lived there for nearly a year. “There was an apartment just above a Danish friend of mine in the same building. He recommended me to the owner, I spoke with them, and fortunately, I got that place for me and my wife,” he recalls. Their time in The Hague, however, came with challenges.

Some neighbors were not fond of dogs, and occasional barking at night led to friction. Since finding a pet-friendly rental was difficult, they eventually decided to buy their own place. They settled in Leidschendam, where their family could feel at home.

At that time, they were a family of three. Later, they welcomed a second dog, becoming a family of four. And in 2025, their lives changed again with the birth of their daughter. “Now we’re a family of five,” Vaibhav smiles. Becoming parents has been the most profound transformation yet. “It’s our first time, so everything is new. My parents came for a few months to help. My wife hardly sleeps at night, I work during the day, and we take shifts. It’s exhausting, but also special. Every day you learn something new about yourself and about each other.”

Reflecting on his journey, Vaibhav stresses the importance of better guidance for newcomers. “It would be so useful if there were a checklist with all the things you need to do in the first weeks: getting your BSN, opening a bank account, applying for DigiD, arranging your residence permit. That would make everything much easier.” Public transport was another hurdle. “I didn’t know about the 9292 app beforehand.

If I had, I could have prepared better for how to get around by train and tram.” In the early days, even small details caused confusion. “For example, I didn’t know where to put my garbage bags, because there were no underground containers nearby. So I called Patrick, and he contacted the landlord, who explained everything.” Over time, with the help of new colleagues and friends, Vaibhav learned how life in the Netherlands works, one step, and one question, at a time.

Vaibhav works in software testing, playing a crucial role in the development of applications. “I test the applications that others build and provide feedback on the issues that need to be solved before the public can use them. Only after that do we go live,” he explains. His work goes beyond spotting technical bugs, it also focuses on usability and the overall experience of the end user. “We look at the product from the user’s perspective: how does it feel, and what can be improved?”

Having spent over a decade in IT, Vaibhav has seen the contrast between India and the Netherlands. While the IT industry in India is fast, with many international companies and skilled professionals, the work culture is demanding. “In India, people often work ten hours a day. I did work at product companies like Barclays, where the culture was better, eight hours a day, bank holidays, even a free Friday afternoon. But in many companies, profit comes first, and that means people are expected to work longer hours,” he recalls.

For Vaibhav, moving to the Netherlands was also a conscious decision to step out of that work culture. “I wanted to experience something different, to grow my IT knowledge in a new environment, and to learn in a way that wasn’t only about long hours, but about balance and innovation.”

When Vaibhav moved alone to the Netherlands in April 2022, he already had an assignment lined up through the IT company Nextit. “I received an offer from Nextit, but because they weren’t registered to directly hire people from outside the EU, they partnered with All About Expats. Officially, my contract went through them, while in practice, I was working for the client. It was a bit confusing to understand legally, but for me the most important thing was that I had certainty and could start.”

Vaibhav quickly noticed significant differences between work culture in India and the Netherlands. “The hierarchy in the Netherlands is much flatter. Job titles don’t matter much; you can speak freely with your manager or even senior leaders. You can give suggestions and feedback directly,” he explains. In India, communication often has to go through multiple layers. “You can’t approach a senior manager directly; you have to go through your own manager. Sometimes, three or four approvals are needed for a single decision. This is partly because Indian companies often have very large teams, sometimes thousands of employees spread across multiple offices,” he says. For Vaibhav, this was a key reason for making the move. “It was always a big turn-off for me.”

He describes the hierarchical structure in India as rigid: “One manager might have ten people reporting to them, and each of those ten has another ten below them. That makes it impossible to reach someone higher up directly.” This bureaucracy, he admits, was frustrating. The open communication style in the Netherlands also applies to international companies. “When I started at a Dutch company, the headquarters were here, but now we also have an office in India and work for the US. English is the main language; if someone starts speaking Dutch, we switch back to English.” Vaibhav believes that the flat hierarchy and direct communication contribute to a transparent, accessible, and pleasant work environment, something he greatly values after his experience in India.

Vaibhav quickly noticed how different daily life in the Netherlands is compared to India.

One of the biggest adjustments was the absence of domestic help. “In India, it’s very common to have a house help who cooks, cleans, and sometimes even walks the dog. We had that when we lived there,” he explains. In the Netherlands, he had to manage everything himself. “Cooking and cleaning were challenging at first because I wasn’t used to doing it. Plus, Indian cuisine is very different from Dutch or European cuisine, and not all the vegetables and spices we use in India are available here.” Over time, he adapted. “You get used to it because you have to do it. Eventually, I became comfortable, and when my wife joined me, we divided the tasks, which made things easier.”

Social interactions also required adjustment. “In India, I can just go to a friend’s house or my parents’ place without making an appointment,” he says. “You can just show up, and they’ll welcome you. We always prepare a little extra food in case someone drops by, it’s part of our culture.” In contrast, life in the Netherlands requires planning. “Here, I can’t just go over. I have to make an appointment, check availability, and sometimes wait two weeks. Even calling someone is more formal: you first send a message to ask if it’s okay to call. It feels like extra steps. It’s not better or worse, just different, and you get used to it.” 

Vaibhav recalls the warmth of Indian hospitality. “In India, you always cook for an extra person, for unexpected guests. If you’re having lunch for two, you might prepare enough for three. If someone shows up, there’s enough, and if not, you eat it later. Here, you have to schedule a visit in advance. At first, it felt distant, but now I understand it’s part of the culture.” He also appreciates Dutch friendliness. “People here smile and say ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ even if they don’t know you. That surprised me at first, but it’s a nice way to interact. I asked friends and colleagues, and they said it’s normal here. In India, we never did that, there’s too much going on and too many people to greet everyone.”

Driving was another major adjustment. “In India, you drive on the left side; here it’s the right. I took four or five lessons to get used to it because I was afraid of hitting someone. Driving here is easier, when the light is green, you just go. In India, even at green lights, you have to look left and right.” Vaibhav fondly remembers his first rides with colleagues: “Patrick picked me up in his Jaguar, and a colleague in a Porsche, that was exciting!” It took six to seven months to fully adjust to Dutch traffic rules, but now it feels natural.

Finally, the Dutch winters were a challenge. “The dark winters are harsh, rainy, cold, and windy. Sometimes it feels like the day never really starts,” he says, noting how different the environment feels from India.

Relocating from India to the Netherlands also meant navigating emotional distance from family. “It was tough for them mentally,” he admits. “They worried: ‘It’s too far. What if there’s an emergency?’ In India, even living a thousand kilometers apart, they could visit anytime, no visa, no process. From the Netherlands, it’s not that simple.” Vaibhav, originally from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, had already lived far from home for over a decade, first moving to Pune for studies and work. Still, the distance posed a new challenge. Time differences added another layer of complexity. “Once I called my mother at 7 p.m. here to show her the snowfall,” he recalls. “She said, ‘Is everything OK? It’s 11:30 at night here.’ That happened a lot at first, but we adapted.”

Despite the distance, Vaibhav has kept his roots alive. “I brought lentils, food, spices, and even a small temple with me,” he says. “In Hinduism, we create home temples with statues of gods. That way, part of home stays with me.” Festivals like Diwali remain a central celebration, complete with rituals, decorations, and family traditions, keeping him connected to Indian culture. He also brought portraits and photos of his family into his apartment, creating a sense of home. “For me, worship is just chanting a name, that’s enough,” he explains.

Vaibhav also envisions the possibility of returning to India someday. “I come from a joint family, five brothers, 25 cousins. We all grew up together. At some point, I’d like to return and live close to everyone. But for now, the Netherlands is home.”

For Vaibhav, moving to a new country was about more than career opportunities, it was about embracing a. new culture and connecting meaningfully with the people around him. “It’s about blending in with the local culture,” he explains. “Even in India, where we have more than 28 languages, I’ve lived in three or four different states and tried to learn those languages. It’s about respecting the local culture.” Language, for him, is a way to engage deeply. “I’d love to speak better Dutch,” he says. “I have it in mind, maybe next year I’ll go for it.” For now, he practices at a basic level when time allows.

Looking back, Vaibhav feels the move was worth it. “It was a big change with a lot involved, but it’s all worth it. I’m happy.” He highlights improvements in quality of life: “Compared to India, work, people, nature, climate, except for winters, everything is better in The Netherlands. There’s very little pollution, things aren’t chaotic. Even at 2 a.m., it’s calm here. In one word, life quality is higher.” And for those who love Indian cuisine, Vaibhav is always ready to share a taste of home. “Anyone who loves Indian food is welcome. I’ll make sure it will taste how it feels to be at home back in India.”

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