How to Meet People in a New Country

Published 2 October 2026

The short answer to how to meet people in a new country is that there are several routes and you will probably need more than one: a repeated activity such as a class or a club, a language exchange, work or study, an international community, and dating platforms where people have already said they are open to meeting someone. None of these works instantly. A social circle takes months rather than weeks to rebuild, and the first stretch is slower than most people expect. It is also worth saying plainly that dating is not the cure for feeling isolated after a move. Friendships do more of that work, and the two are easier to build side by side than one after the other.

Start by Building a Social Routine

The single most useful shift is from events to routines. A one-off meetup produces a pleasant evening and, usually, nobody you will see again. Something you attend every week produces the same faces often enough that a conversation can continue rather than restart each time, and that repetition is what turns a stranger into an acquaintance without either of you having to do anything clever.

The same applies to places. Going to the same café, gym or market at roughly the same time each week gets you recognised, and being recognised is the beginning of most casual friendships. It costs nothing and asks nothing of you socially.

Give it time. Most people find the first two or three months thin and the period after that noticeably busier, because the connections made early start overlapping and introducing each other. Judging your social life at week six is judging it at its worst point. The wider picture of what changes after a move is covered in our guide to dating abroad as an expat.

Join Activities That Create Repeated Contact

Almost anything works as long as it recurs and involves other people. The categories that tend to hold up:

Sport. Team sports, climbing, running clubs, racket sports, swimming groups. Low conversational pressure and a built-in reason to return.
Workshops and classes. Cooking, pottery, photography, dance. A fixed group over several weeks is close to ideal.
Language classes. Useful twice over: the skill itself, and a room of people who are also new to something.
Volunteering. A regular slot with the same team, and conversation that starts from the task rather than from small talk.
Associations and clubs. Hobby groups, cultural associations, neighbourhood organisations.
Cultural activities. Choirs, amateur theatre, book groups, film societies.
Professional groups. Industry meetups and alumni networks, which also help if your work situation changes.
Remote-worker communities. Coworking spaces and their regular events, which solve the specific problem of a job that produces no colleagues.

Pick on the basis of what you would still turn up to in month four, not what sounds most sociable in month one.

Meet People Through Language Exchange

Language exchanges do something unusual: everyone is there for a stated reason, nobody has to invent a pretext for talking to a stranger, and the format itself is a conversation. They also mix local residents and internationals in a way few other settings do, which is hard to arrange deliberately.

The limit is worth respecting. People come to practise a language, and most are not there to be approached romantically. Treating the room as a dating pool is noticed quickly and tends to get people to stop coming. If a particular conversation does seem mutual, the honest move is to ask whether they would like to meet separately another time, rather than redirecting the evening.

Use Dating Platforms Honestly

A profile does one thing the other routes cannot: it says in advance what you are looking for, so nobody has to guess. That only works if it is accurate. Worth stating clearly:

Where you actually live now — the city you are in, not only the country you are from.
Which languages you speak, and roughly how well. Overstating this creates an awkward first meeting.
Where you are from, if you want to, though it is less useful than where you are.
How long you expect to stay. A fixed contract or an open-ended move both change what someone is agreeing to.
What you actually do with your time, which gives people something concrete to reply to.
What kind of relationship you are open to. Serious, casual, friendship first — all legitimate, none obvious from a photograph.

You can meet expats and international singles by location through our destination guides, each of which describes what the international community in that country or city actually looks like, including where it is small. We would rather say a place is thin than imply a crowd that is not there.

Meet Other Expats Without Staying in an Expat Bubble

International communities are genuinely useful early on. They are easy to find, they expect new arrivals, and they answer the practical questions nobody else can. There is no reason to be sniffy about them, and the people in them are not a lesser category of friend.

The risk is only that they are also easy to stay inside. If every person you know arrived in the last two years and speaks your first language, you will have a social life that works and a country you never quite enter. The fix is not to abandon one for the other but to keep at least one activity that is predominantly local — a sports club, a neighbourhood association, a class taught in the local language. One is usually enough to keep both doors open.

Turn Acquaintances into Real Connections

Most people you meet will stay acquaintances, and that is normal rather than a failure. The ones that go further usually do so because somebody proposed something specific.

Suggest an actual plan. "We should get a coffee sometime" rarely happens; "are you free Thursday evening?" often does.
Remember names and details. Asking how the thing they mentioned last week went is the whole trick.
Turn up. Cancelling twice tends to end a new connection before it starts.
Accept that some will not progress. People are busy, or already have a full circle, and neither is about you.
Notice reciprocity. If you have initiated the last four times, stop initiating. It is information, not rejection, and continuing to message will not change it.
Build friendships as well as looking for a partner. A life that rests entirely on one relationship is fragile anywhere, and more so when you are new.

What to Say When You Are New

Being new is the easiest conversational position there is, because you have an obvious and genuine reason to ask questions. A few openings that work without sounding like a line:

"I've only been here a couple of months — is this something you do regularly?"
"I'm still working out this part of the city. Is there anywhere round here you'd recommend?"
"How did you get into this? I've just started and I'm fairly bad at it."
"A few of us are going for something to eat after — you're welcome to come along if you're free."

What makes these work is that they are true and they leave the other person an easy way to decline. Anything built on pressure, flattery or a scripted technique does the opposite, and people can tell.

Stay Safe When Meeting Someone New

Meet somewhere public the first time, and somewhere easy to find.
Arrange your own transport there and back.
Do not share your home address, and be careful about your employer and daily routine early on.
Never send money, whatever the reason given.
Tell a friend where you are going and when you expect to be back, even if they are in another country.
Use the block and report tools on anything that feels wrong. You do not owe an explanation.

Our guide to online dating safety abroad covers the warning signs in more detail, and there is a step-by-step version in our online dating safety checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to make friends in a new country?

Longer than most people expect, and it varies widely. A realistic pattern is a thin first two or three months, then a noticeable acceleration as early connections start introducing each other. Cities with large international populations tend to be faster, because the people in them are also actively looking.

Where can expats meet local people?

Through activities organised locally rather than for newcomers: sports clubs, classes taught in the local language, neighbourhood associations, volunteering, hobby groups. International meetups are easier to join but mostly produce other internationals, so it helps to keep at least one local commitment running.

Are language exchanges good for meeting people?

Yes, and for a specific reason: everyone is there to talk, so the usual awkwardness of starting a conversation disappears. They also mix locals and internationals. Just treat them as what they are rather than as a dating event.

How can I meet people if I work remotely?

Remote work removes the one social structure most people get for free, so it has to be replaced deliberately. Coworking spaces with a regular community, classes with fixed schedules, sports clubs and volunteering all supply the repetition that a workplace would have provided.

Can I use ExpatFlirt before moving?

Yes. Joining while a move is still being planned is a reasonable way to learn about a place from people who live there. Say clearly on your profile where you are now and roughly when you expect to arrive, so nobody has to guess.

How to Meet People When You Move to a New Country