About this project

I'm Roni. At 18 years old, I packed my bags and left the US. Currently, I'm a university student in Spain. I've lived in three (soon to be four) countries and traveled to many more, and at some point during almost every move I've found myself squinting at a government website, trying to figure out how long I can stay in a country, whether my landlord is actually allowed to do that, or what a form printed only in the local language is asking me to sign.

None of that should be as hard as it is. Experiencing new places is one of the best parts of life; it should be easy and stress-free. But the laws that actually govern daily life abroad are written by lawyers, for lawyers, published across dozens of agency websites, and often only in the country's own language. Most people abroad don't have a lawyer on call, and can't get a straight answer to a simple question like “what happens if I stay a few days too long?” or “can they actually keep my deposit for that?” The gap between rules that genuinely matter and information that's genuinely accessible is what makes life abroad unnecessarily stressful. I've even seen it deter people from traveling, simply because the unknowns felt too intimidating. That's why I created Know Abroad.

Know Abroad takes these inordinately common questions and answers them in plain language, sourced from official government material, one topic and one destination at a time. It won't replace a lawyer or an official source, and it isn't trying to. It's meant to be the first stop before you go read the primary source yourself, which is linked to every page on this site. You get an overview of what to do and how to do it.

The rules listed on Know Abroad change often and without much warning. I watched two of the immigration rules on this site change while I was researching them. If something here is out of date or you think it's wrong, don't hesitate to reach out.