How Settily Works

Our data methodology

Why this page exists

Moving to another country is a high-stakes decision. The information landscape is scattered — spread across official portals, forums, paywalled guides, and second-hand advice that may be years out of date.

Settily's answer is transparency. This page explains how our reference information and community data are produced, checked, and displayed — so you can judge the information for yourself rather than taking our word for it.

Settily launched recently and is still building its community dataset. Submission volume is low on many migration routes today. What follows describes the process and standards we apply — and how the platform becomes more useful as more people contribute.

Our two data sources

Settily combines two distinct types of information. They serve different purposes and are always labeled differently on the site — never conflated.

Verified reference information

Structural guides drawn from official and primary sources — government immigration portals (such as BAMF in Germany, IND in the Netherlands, and Migrationsverket in Sweden), tax authorities, labour-market agencies, and similar institutions. We organise this material for clarity, cite sources where used, and date it so you can see how fresh it is.

Community migration data

Anonymous, first-party submissions from people who have made the move — visa processing times, cost surprises, salary bands, whether they would do it again, and what caught them off guard. This is lived experience, not official policy. It complements reference guides; it does not replace them.

How community data is collected

Community data is submitted anonymously through our Share Your Data form. No name, photo, email, or phone number is required. We collect only what is needed to make the data useful: your migration corridor (origin country, destination, and migration type) plus structured experience fields such as visa type, processing time, salary band, and key surprises.

Contributors may optionally provide contact details for follow-up — for example, a newsletter email or willingness to be interviewed. These optional fields are never displayed publicly and do not affect whether a submission is accepted.

How we keep quality high

Every submission passes through an automated quality-and-safety system before it can contribute to public statistics. This system checks for spam, implausible or internally inconsistent entries, abusive content, and patterns consistent with bot activity. Submissions that fail these checks are not published.

Manual review for early and sensitive submissions. The first submissions on a new migration route are reviewed by a person before they contribute to public statistics. Submissions with longer free-text answers or optional contact details also receive human review. This is especially important while community volume is still building.

The N≥5 rule. We do not show aggregated statistics for a migration route until at least five verified submissions exist for that data cell. Below that threshold, we show honest counts — for example, that the first few migrants have shared — rather than averages or percentages that would be misleading at low volume. Small samples produce unreliable statistics; we would rather show less than mislead.

Sample-size visibility. Where implemented, our public statistics show how many submissions stand behind them, so you can judge the weight of the data. A small, honest N is a trust signal — we show it plainly rather than hide it. This is our design standard; we are still rolling out consistent sample-size labels across every statistic on the site.

We publish negative experiences too. If a contributor says they would not make the same move again, that is part of the data. We do not cherry-pick only positive stories.

How we present the data

Community data is aggregated and anonymised. We never display an individual submission as a standalone, identifiable record on the public site.

Salary and other sensitive figures are shown as buckets or ranges, never as individual values — and not below the N≥5 threshold for that data cell.

Where implemented, we prefer showing distributions (for example, processing-time bands or salary buckets) over a single average, because real migration data is messy and averages can hide important variation. Full range displays are not yet consistent across every statistic on the site — we are improving that over time.

Reference guides cite official sources directly. Where useful, we note when community-reported experience and official guidance align or diverge. Automated side-by-side comparison of official guidance and community data is not yet available on every page — that is something we plan to expand.

How we keep information current

Migration rules, fees, and processing timelines change frequently. Reference guides include sourcing and last-reviewed dates where applicable, so you can see when information was verified. We update guides when rules change or when we identify errors, but we cannot guarantee a fixed review cadence for every page at this stage.

Community data reflects the period when contributors moved. Older submissions remain valuable for trend context, but visa rules and labour markets evolve — always cross-check current requirements against official sources.

Our honest limitations

• Settily is early-stage. Community data is still growing, and many migration routes have little or no submissions yet.
• Community data reflects what contributors report about their own experience. It is not a guarantee of your outcome.
• Information can become outdated as laws and procedures change. Always verify against official government sources before acting.
• Settily is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated on behalf of any government body.

Legal and data-protection notes

Informational purpose — not advice

Everything on Settily is provided for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not legal, immigration, tax, financial, or professional advice, and must not be relied upon as such. Using Settily does not create a professional or advisory relationship. Consult qualified professionals and verify requirements against official government sources before making decisions.

Accuracy — no warranty

We work to keep information accurate and current, but provide no warranty as to accuracy, completeness, or currency. Migration rules, fees, and timelines change without notice. You rely on information on this site at your own risk. Settily is not liable for decisions made based on its content. See our Disclaimer for a summary of informational-use and liability terms.

Data protection

Community submissions are anonymous by default. We apply data minimisation — no name, photo, email, or phone number is required to contribute. Submissions pass through automated quality and moderation checks before they can contribute to public statistics. Only aggregated, anonymised data is displayed on the site; individual identifiable submissions are never shown publicly.

For legal basis, data subject rights, retention periods, cookies, and how to contact us about your data, see our Privacy Policy.

Sourcing and affiliation

We cite official sources where reference information is drawn from them. Settily is independently operated and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government, immigration consultancy, or law firm.

Help this data grow

Settily becomes more useful with every honest submission. Early contributors shape the data that everyone who follows will rely on — especially on routes where almost no public migration data exists today.

If you have made the move, share your experience through our Share Your Data form. It takes about five minutes, stays anonymous by default, and goes directly into the community dataset that powers the site.

Last updated: June 2026