Hello, all! Longtime lurker on Reddit and now on Lemmy. I’ve tried looking into getting out of the US as things aren’t looking too great as I’m sure many of you know, but wanted some tips from those of us who have gotten out. Where did you decide to move to, and what were the things you looked at when deciding to move there? How did you go about the process? What are some stories you can tell about the immigration process? Where can I start? How can I realistically make it happen? I hope this isn’t silly to you all, as it matters quite a lot to me and I’m genuinely interested in getting away from here for good. Thank you all for your time!
I’m sorry OP I couldn’t answer your questions directly since I am in a same boat, so I can only share my experience trying to get there… Maybe some of this would be useful
So the only immigration-friendly countries I can find are Canada, Australia, and Germany. Not a big list to begin with, but for US citizens there might be more options with other EU countries. Canada has… issues, someone else in the thread mentioned about their experiences. Australia apparently is closing its doors. Sweden used to be fine but I heard things went really South for them a few months ago.
And if you’re a lurker on Reddit you probably know r/IWantOut? Country-specific wise I know r/Germany has a phenomenal wiki for their stuff, and Canada has r/immigrationcanada. Unfortunately a lot of good information is still on Reddit so yeah
Other countries… I don’t think Asian countries do much immigration at all, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Maybe some EU countries are fine depending on heritage and/or where you are from. I have no idea what’s going on in Africa, if anyone knows something plz let me know.
For your privacy plz don’t answer in this thread, but 1) how old are you, 2) what type of education do you have, and 3) what type of work do you do? Having a college education and an in-demand career goes a long way, although this is also country-dependent. And yeah under many circumstances your employer could help you with the process. Certain parts of Canada and Germany obviously have language requirements, but a lot of other countries accept English. I heard some places allow investment-based immigration, but 1) it’s expensive AF and 2) not sure if countries that allow this plan are remotely desirable for US citizens…
Also side note: please DO NOT give up US citizenship unless you have a really good reason to / already have something in your bag. I’m not a citizen here, and most US citizens have no idea how excruciating it is to immigrate to this country
Thank you so much for your in-depth answer! I truly appreciate you and the time you took to reply! I am in a career path, so I should start there I’m assuming?
Maybe try looking up info from governmental websites first? A lot of countries (not US, cough cough) seem to have fairly straightforward immigration guidelines, so they’d probably write up what types of person they are looking for & the standard procedures
Old Reddit posts could be second
And… depending on the country, for some places it may be better to just DIY, some places having a lawyer might be extra helpful
Oh wow, where did you see that?
Immigration-specific groups. Not in a major way like completely shutting down immigration or install a per-country cap or something. Since Australia does skill-based immigration, my understanding is that they are limiting the types of ppl they allow in. I’d love to be proven wrong though, if I’m not right plz correct me