New in a country
You moved. The paperwork is done, the flat is fine, and the evenings are very quiet. The locals seem closed, your accent gets in the way, and the only people who talk to you are other people who also just arrived.
Casual conversation with people in your new country or your time zone, in the language you are learning or your own, with no dating framing.
Lumi has a room called New in a country that is always open, and one-to-one chats where you can say which language you prefer. Nobody has a profile, so nobody is sizing you up. You can sit in the room and listen until you feel like saying something.
How it works
- Open the New in a country room, or start a one-to-one and set the language you prefer. The room has a rules card pinned at the top and never closes; a one-to-one match shows the other person's language preference, and Lumi prefers a same-language match when you are both waiting, without ever making you wait for one.
- Pass the selfie age check, once. A moment at your camera, read by software on Lumi's own servers and checked by a person. The photo is deleted the moment a person has reviewed the check, and after 90 days at the latest whatever happens.
- Listen first if you like. In a room you count as watching until you say something or turn on a camera or a mic; the room shows how many are watching. When you are ready, one tap posts "Hi, I've been quietly listening" as your first line.
The safety facts
- Every person you meet has passed the selfie age check. Users aged 13 to 17 are matched only with other teens; adults (18 and over) only with adults.
- A room holds up to 20 people, with 4 on camera at a time; everyone else is in by voice and text.
- The person you meet never sees your IP address: audio and video are relayed through Lumi's own servers.
- Lumi does not record your conversations. Automated screening on Lumi's own servers may sample camera frames and check text to catch abuse; what gets flagged is kept as evidence for 90 days and reviewed by a person, the rest is discarded.
- Skip or leave at any time. Report is one tap, and a person reads every report. Bans stick to the device and the connection, and a ban is never lifted for money.
- No account, no ads, no trackers, no data sale, and no third-party vendors.
What Lumi is not
Lumi is not a dating app, and nobody here is selling relocation services, language lessons, or a visa. There are no profiles and no filters by gender.
What the research says
InterNations' 2026 survey of people living abroad found that making local friends is the hardest part of settling in; in Norway, 72 percent said so. Casual conversations with people you do not know well matter more than they seem to: in Sandstrom and Dunn's 2014 studies, people who had more interactions with weak ties, the barista and the neighbor, reported a stronger sense of belonging on those days.
Sources: InterNations, Expat Insider, 2026; Sandstrom and Dunn, "Social interactions and well-being: the surprising power of weak ties," 2014.