27-year-old relocated from India to Ireland, spends up to $2,927/month
Suras Nayak, who went to college at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, knew he wanted to leave his hometown of Hyderabad, India, and travel the world.
“Somewhere in the back of my head when I was growing up, I always had the idea that I wanted to move abroad, but I was a little bit influenced by Western media. I watch a lot of Hollywood movies… so I was always fascinated and liked the idea of moving to a different country, living there, experiencing what things were like there,” he tells CNBC Make It.
Nayak got his first experience of living abroad as a teenager when he participated in an exchange program that sent him to China for 45 days. And almost a decade later, Nayak got the chance to live abroad when he moved to Dublin, Ireland, in March 2025 to work as a software development engineer at Amazon, where his salary reached an estimated 122,428 euros ($144,000) per year.
Suras Nayak knew he wanted to get away from his hometown of Hyderabad, India, in college. He moved to Dublin, Ireland in 2025.
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Growing up, Nayak’s father was also a software engineer. Nayak says he introduced Nayak to the field and helped him understand coding and programming.
Nayak completed a six-month internship at Amazon during his senior year in college and joined the company full-time after graduating in 2020, where he received annual compensation of approximately 6.8 million Indian rupees (US$75,000). He was working at Amazon’s Bengaluru office, about an hour’s flight south from his hometown.
After a year at Amazon, Nayak learned that if he completed at least two years at the company and reached a certain level in software engineering, he could interview for opportunities in another country. He immediately began looking for other positions at Amazon and eventually landed in Dublin.
moving to Dublin
Nayak says he was looking for openings at Amazon’s offices in the UK, Germany and Ireland, but narrowed it down to the latter because he knew the tech industry was growing there. Google, Meta, Apple and Microsoft have their headquarters in Ireland. BTBrew.
“I was delighted when I found out I had this opportunity,” Nayak says of the position in Dublin. “I immediately went to my family and told them about the situation, it was a beautiful moment. Everyone was very happy for me, especially my father, because my father always supports me in all these matters.”
Suras Nayak was able to move from India to Ireland in 2025 with the help of his employer, Amazon.
Sam Jones | CNBC Awesome
He says it took about six to eight weeks for Nayak to get a visa to live and work in Ireland, and Amazon covered all the costs.
When Nayak arrived in Ireland, Amazon provided him with temporary housing and hired an agent to help him find a home. The company even helped him ship his belongings from India to Ireland.
“I made a lot of discoveries in my first month,” he says. “I was so excited and so happy. The more I explored, the more I realized I made the right decision moving here.”
‘I feel pretty settled here’
Nayak says the biggest thing he had to get used to after moving was the weather; He was used to India’s sunny days, long summers and short winters. He also had to get used to Dublin’s high cost of living. Nayak says compared to Hyderabad, Dublin is very expensive, especially in terms of rent and shopping.
“I didn’t think much about budgeting when I was in India because I was always spending less there,” she says. He says he now needs to set a budget for himself.
Nayak shares a three-bedroom house with two Amazon employees. Total rent is 4,000 euros ($4,725) per month, and Nayak pays 1,450 euros ($1,713), according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Here’s a look at the rest of the estimated share of monthly expenses. All amounts are rounded.
- GitHub Copilot: 9 Euros (11 USD)
- Revolut Premium Plan: 9 Euros (11 USD)
- wifi: 15 Euros (18 USD)
- phone bill: 15 Euros (18 USD)
- OpenAI for personal use: 24 Euros (28 USD)
- Streaming services including Netflix and Disney+: 25 Euros (30 USD)
- Transportation by public buses: 30 Euros (35 USD)
- electricity and gas: 50 Euros (59 USD)
- Shop for clothes and the latest technology: 100 – 150 Euros (118 – 177 USD)
- groceries: 150 – 200 Euros (177 – 236 USD)
- eating out: 400 – 500 Euros (472 – 591 USD)
“One of the things I spend more money on here is eating out, which I didn’t do very often in India,” says Nayak. “I used to either eat at home or in the office.”
Suras Nayak says he spends more time in Dublin, Ireland, than he does in his native India. “One of the things I spend the most on here is eating out,” he says.
Sam Jones | CNBC Awesome
Nayak says that when he first moved to Ireland, he had a hard time connecting with people because he was so used to having friends everywhere in India.
“I never had to actively go out and seek out people or connections, but I realized that if you push yourself and go out, you can make good friends. It’s all about making the effort,” he says.
Nayak says he uses an app called Meetup to attend various events and it has helped him meet people from all over the world.
“People in Dublin are really friendly. I always get good vibes from people here. I feel pretty settled here,” he says. “I’ve made some good friends and I really enjoy staying here, my time here and even working here.”
Look ahead
Nayak purchased a three-bedroom, three-bathroom flat in Hyderabad as an investment property in 2023. The property is worth about 16 million Indian rupees ($180,000) and he says he plans to eventually rent it.
“I wanted to make a big investment. For me, real estate made the most sense because real estate in India is always an evolving and growing business,” he says.
However, Nayak does not plan to return to India for at least another 10 to 15 years when he feels he has enough money in the bank. He says he would feel comfortable with a net worth of between 400,000 and 500,000 euros, but his long-term goal is to reach 1 million euros ($1.17 million) before returning.
Suras Nayak plans to stay in Ireland for the long term.
Sam Jones | CNBC Awesome
For now, he says he plans to stay in Ireland for the foreseeable future. He enjoys going to a park and sitting and reading a book or enjoying the view. He also loves how easy it is to travel.
“My quality of life has improved. Now that I’m in Ireland, I’ve settled into some lifestyles that I really enjoy, which I wouldn’t have had if I had gone back to India,” he says.
Nayak says she was able to travel as she dreamed of in college, including road trips around Ireland last year and visiting the United Kingdom with her family last year.
“I’ve always been a bit of a travel enthusiast and being in Ireland I explore everything whenever I can,” he says.
Conversions were made using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to 1.18 USD and 1 Indian rupee to 0.01 USD on 2 March 2026. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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