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If I could give my younger self some advice it would probably be: slack off, or leave.

If you are talented and enjoy slacking off then you can have a pretty nice lifestyle in Sweden. Most of the exceptionally talented engineers I know work part time as consultants.

You can't "just move". It is quite difficult to get into the US

Is it harder to get into the US or the EU?

I am not the right person to ask. I assume it is easier getting into EU but I can't say for sure

Just some anecdotal experience from talking to several French people that worked at the USA company I was at on visas, USA is pretty much the hardest (of the desirable places) in the world to emigrate to.

Several of them ended up going to Canada because it was significantly easier and had a reasonable tech scene in the Toronto area

I have no experience with trying to get into US but I know the situation of my friends who came to EU. Generally you can forget about it without a good degree (e.g. Eng, Msc or MD).

Of course you could also come as a student and finish your education within EU. In some countries you can even do it for free.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergo_decedo