So...Where To Go?
While you’re bound to find Americans living in almost any country you’d care to name, certain nations (and areas within) attract far more than others (Canada, Mexico, U.K., many; Iran, Sudan and North Korea, not so many). There are some, like the Scandinavian countries, who make residency too difficult for the average mortal. Others are downright inhospitable. More than a fair share of undeveloped nations—particularly in Africa and Central Asia—suffer from too much crushing poverty, lawlessness, corruption and lack of even basic services to offer anything approaching a tolerable quality of life.
If your net worth has mulitple commas, you’d be welcome almost anywhere and can hire the right people to make the proper introductions. On the chance that you’ve fallen in love with a native of some country (particularly if marriage is involved), have family there or land a job offer or a transfer, then the decision about where to go has already been made for you—and many of the most daunting “Getting In” hurdles will have been removed from your path.
For the rest of you out there who are casting about for a place to live that isn’t the USA, the following countries offer the most logical balance of desirability, cost, ease of entry and availability of work. As you’ll see, some may favor one at the expense of another, so that’s where your personal preferences and attributes enter into it. And while it’s highly unlikely that you’d be forced to rub elbows with other Americans if you don’t want to, these represent the places where you’re most likely to find them, for the very reason that they offer some package of features that makes these countries both attractive and possible. But you’ll also find among these a few relatively undiscovered gems.
In short, you’ll find samples of every type of nation. There are brutal regimes with good working conditions, paradises on earth if they let you in and/or you can afford it, cheap and funky living if you can deal with the hassles, and everything in between. Each profile represents a synthesis of everything that’s been covered in the previous chapters, plus a whole lot more. Once you get the hang of sizing up a potential new home country, you’ll be able to do it for yourself for anywhere in the world you’d like to go (should you care to do so).
Again, much of the information contained in the following pages is greatly condensed. It is intended to give you a general idea of what kind of life you might expect there and who it might appeal to, and what possible avenues of residency and employment are most likely available. In the case of visas and residency, in particular, what is presented here are the most relevant categories for an American seeking to move there and, rather than an exhaustive list of all possible conditions, options and requirements, the focus is on giving you a feel for whether such an avenue would be possible for you.
Ultimately, moving anywhere will necessitate contact with government bureaus—particularly the Consular Affairs department of that country’s embassy in the U.S. (usually, the first stop) and/or their Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Immigration Bureau—and it is they who will provide you with all the current procedural details and make the ultimate decision about whether you’ll be allowed to stay. These and hundreds of other additional resources and contacts can be found in the last section of the book, covering almost every country in the world, connecting you to whatever else you might need to put your particular Getting Out plan into action.
But first, planet Earth. Even if you’re not one of those Americans who can’t find their hometown on Google Maps, a little geographical orientation couldn’t hurt. Herewith, we circle the globe with Getting Out in mind.
Ready for a short trip around the world?
Some people who want to flee don’t feel the need to flee very far (makes frequent family, business and shopping trips back “home” much easier). Head north to Canada (9), and your cultural transition is minimal, though your immigration hurdles can be significant. And the weather, well, in some places it’s not too bad. Off America’s Eastern Seaboard, on the other hand, lies a speckled sun-kissed world of tin drums and tax shelters—not to mention some alarming crime, poverty and human rights abuses, depending on where you land. Even in the best of that world, opportunities are scarcer than snowflakes, and generally only the affluently self-sufficient (if not the idle rich) could even cast their sails in that direction. Of these, passport-hunters choose St. Kitts and Nevis (45), where citizenship comes to those who pay, though they’ll likely actually live elsewhere. Those who park themselves in-country (often aboard a yacht) gravitate toward the Bahamas (4), which offers an agreeable blend of proximity and banking discretion. But if you’re of more modest means, the Dominican Republic (17) offers the best combination of Caribbean perks at a reasonable price-point.
Cross the Rio Grande and you’re in a very different world. Immigration issues are easier and the dollar’s buying power surges, but goods and services are harder to come by, roads are rougher and nepotism and bribery are facts of life. Here begins “the Gringo trail,” where for centuries, disgruntled Americans have traveled in search of exotic tropical living, young brides and cheap booze. While Mexico’s (34) borderlands (particularly in Baja California) used to be pretty popular with the quick escape crowd, narco violence has pushed the action further south where there’s not so much lead whizzing through the air. In recent years, there has also been a steady migration of “green” expats seeking a post-carbon existence living in sustainable “eco-villages” and hoping to forge a deeper connection with nature. You’ll find them in Belize (5), Costa Rica (13) and Panama (39), which offer the most political stability in the region, though look for Nicaragua (38), the low-priced upstart, to make some headway in this regard. In South America, Venezuela (60) puts you at the center of the new populist political alignment, though it’s really its neighbor, Colombia (12), now putting its narco nightmare behind it, that is earning a reputation as a new expatriate frontier. With the giant blade of Andes running down its Western flank, it, along with Ecuador (18) and Peru (40), offers every kind of climate and ecosystem in very compact areas, providing simple living and spectacular natural diversity at rock-bottom prices. South America’s largest nation, the former Portuguese colony of Brazil (6), is shaping up to be the next powerhouse economy of the Americas, offering great beaches and a great (though shrinking) Amazon rainforest in your backyard. Not-so-tropical Argentina (2) attracts bargain-hunting sophisticates with its Euro-centric vibe, while stretched out along the coast on the opposite side (in many ways besides geography), Chile (10) offers the best infrastructure on the continent, its highest mountains, most open markets and the least sunshine. And for easy Mediterranean-style living without too much immigration competition, you could do worse than sturdy little Uruguay (58).
So you want to move to Europe? Which one? Europe is a continent in the Western Hemisphere comprising as many as 51 countries, depending on whether you include certain autonomous regions. The European Union, on the other hand, is a political union, comprising only 27 countries with an additional handful of applications pending. Citizenship in one member state gives you residency and employment privileges in all of them, though residency and work permits for non-E.U. citizens generally apply only to the country issuing them. Confusing matters even more is that the Eurozone—i.e., the countries using the Euro as their monetary unit—comprises 23 countries, while other European nations, such as the U.K., are part of the E.U. but not the Eurozone, and Switzerland, right in the center of Europe, is a member of neither. And finally, you should be aware that the Schengen Area, the 26 countries signatory to a common border treaty that treats all members as a single entity in terms of entry and passport control, does not precisely match any of the other groups exactly either.
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City
(Holy See)
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Candidate Countries:
Croatia (Accession to be completed in latter half of 2011, full ratification by member states expected in 2013)
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (still in Accession process)
Iceland (Application began in July, 2009. Disputes over fisheries have delayed accession).
Montenegro: Officially granted candidate status in December, 2010. Turkey: Expected to be recognized as member state in approx. 2015.
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
Portugal
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Vatican City
Candidate Countries:
As of 2011, Denmark, Latvia, and Lithuania currently in process of applying.
Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein*
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Norway Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
*Signatory but awaiting full membership. Scheduled for late 2011.
Once upon a time, Europe was also divided into Western and Eastern halves, divided by an “Iron Curtain.” Though differences between the two erode further over time, these distinctions still persist and prove useful when contemplating a move here.
Western (or “Old”) Europe: A large (albeit shrinking) portion of the American melting pot traces its origins on the Continent. In the case of Ireland (28) and Italy (30), ancestral roots will make some headway with immigration. The hurdles you have to jump to get into the U.K. (57) and France (21) are daunting, both in terms of entry requirements and cost of living, but their large American/international populations are a testament to their achievability. Likewise, Spain (51), The Netherlands (a.k.a. Holland; 36), Greece (23), Portugal (43) and especially Germany (22) are far more do-able. The northern half seems to keep the trains running on time better than the south, though this seems to work in inverse ratio to the quality of the native cuisine. In Scandinavia, populations tend to be more homogeneous and visa and immigration issues are daunting, though people still attempt to make a go of it in progressive, though downright pricey, paradises such as Sweden (52) and Denmark (16). Social democracy is the rule here, and there’s not much here for the tax-aversive who aren’t also captains of the Fortune 500. Switzerland (53), for instance, offers a superior quality of life compared to just about any country in the world, and partly as a result, residency is only for the most tenacious (or lucky). Shelter-seekers of merely affluent status would probably have to settle for Andorra (1)...unless of course, proximity to the sea is an issue, in which case, mid-priced Malta (33) might be an option.
Eastern (“New”) Europe: The old Soviet Bloc countries on the continent’s eastern half offer Eurovibe at a fraction of the cost, though popular and rapidly developing economies like the Czech Republic (15) are reaching parity with depressed Western bargain countries. Barriers to immigration are more negotiable and while infrastructure might not be tip-top, it’s hardly bottom of the barrel and definitely on an upward trend. Most of the international crowd congregates in the cities. Besides Prague, there’s cheap urban sophistication to be had in Budapest, Hungary (25), Ljubljana, Slovenia (48), Riga, Latvia (32) and Talinn, Estonia (20), the latter choices offering better values with a lot of the same semi-exotic charm. Budget resort-seekers will find what they’re after in Croatia (14) and Bulgaria (7). Poland (42) and Russia (44), on the other hand, offer little in the way of comfortable weather but far more of that most valuable of Getting Out commodities—jobs.
As a secular Islamic state with one foot in the E.U., Turkey (55) offers Mediterranean living and a gateway to the more exotic Middle East. Across the sea, North Africa seems to have erupted in turmoil though it’s not yet arrived as far west as Morocco (35), while in Egypt (19), the heady days of revolution are now receding and expatriate life there appears to be going on (for better and worse) as before. Full of cheap shabby charm and ancient splendor, these nations offer decadent and exotic slumming within earshot of the call of the muezzin. Israel (29) is still welcoming world Jewry, and an overwhelming number who take up the offer are American-born. Saudi Arabia (46) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (56), though hardly the roaring economies of yesteryear, haven’t stopped offering fat contracts to anyone with the right skills willing to pull a year or more of air-conditioned expatriatism out in the Arabian dunes. Sitting at Africa’s southern tip like a low-hanging fruit, and less victimized by political and economic chaos relative to much of the rest of the continent, South Africa (49) is pulling itself back out of crime-swamped doldrums, offering superior infrastructure, spectacular coastline and plenty of wild terrain to anyone with the means or the know-how to make a go of it.
Although Asia is the world’s largest continent, much of the interior is a mess of brutal and primitive dictatorships, and the action pretty much congregates along its Indian and Pacific coasts. Its two behemoths, China (11) and India (26), which together account for around 37% of the population of Planet Earth, are now attracting job-seekers fleeing the moribund U.S. employment scene. Banking and finance types weaned on first-world culture and infrastructure keep tiny sort-of-autonomous Hong Kong (24) buzzing. Still reeling from the 2011 earthquake/tsunami/meltdown disaster, the magnitude of which will take decades to fully assess, Japan (31) is still welcoming English teachers to come over on teach-and-live deals. Across the Sea of Japan, what South Korea (50) might lack in cultural verve it makes up for with very attractive overseas work packages. Then there is that other, steamier Asia, offering surf, sex and sunshine on the cheap, while offering greater sacrifices of modern comforts and conveniences in return. Despite hiccups of unrest, Thailand (54) still reigns supreme among them, though cutting-edge bargain-hunters are staking out their turf next door in even less-developed Cambodia (8). Vietnam (61), the Philippines (41) and Indonesia (27), also offer attractive rates on slices of paradise while still maintaining some pulse of economic activity—and opportunity. On the tiny island nation of Singapore (47), that pulse—stimulated by one of the most laissez-faire business climates in the world—has become a roar that pretty much drowns out everything else and some of the world’s most generous expat salaries, best infrastructure, lowest taxes and highest cost of living can be found here.
This watery region in the far corner of the globe offers lifestyles both modern and primitive. You’ve got Australia (3), far far away from the U.S. by land, but familiar enough in culture and lifestyle, and they’ve got lots of space and a need for people. Even further down under, but equally familiar in terms of culture and lifestyle, New Zealand (37) is pretty predisposed to rolling out the welcome mat should you decide pack up and move to the other side of the world. Most of Polynesia, however, is made up of tiny enchanting atolls, often pristine and undeveloped, spread out in a vast coral blue sea, many of them divvied up between the U.S., France and the U.K.. For an almost affordable taste of sun-kissed tiki wonderland thousands of nautical miles away from the closest maddening crowd, you can try and put down roots on the tiny island nation of Vanuatu (59).
Can’t decide? Why not try them all (61+)!