[ranger_danger]

How? It's not like people can just decide to move to another country and they will say "sure, come on in!" right?

Are they getting visas from work or a spouse or something? Surely that does not account for a vast majority of cases?

[toomuchtodo]

If you are in Spain on a tourist visa, and apply for the equivalent of a digital nomad visa while in country, you get three years as a temporary resident. At three years, you re-apply for another two years, and after those five years you can apply for permanent residency. 80% of your income must come from outside of Spain. They’ll even take a letter from a US W2 employer as income verification. One example of an exit strategy you can move on almost immediately, depending on your circumstances.

Resources:

https://relocateme.substack.com/

https://old.reddit.com/r/AmerExit/comments/urwlbr/a_guide_fo...

https://old.reddit.com/user/Shufflebuzz/comments/1iv4dud/shu...

https://www.helpmeleave.us/

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/se... (Canadian citizenship by descent)

https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/b58914ce-b98d-4330... from https://pancakeonastick.substack.com/ (Digital Nomad Visa Map)

[kalleboo]

I have several US friends who got European citizenship through ancestry. They found a great grandmother or something from "the old country" and by proving their relation to them could get a passport.

[UncleOxidant]

That got me to googling around since my grandfather was born in Germany and came to the US when he was 5 (circa 1920). But from what I'm finding it sounds like when he became a US citizen that tie to German citizenship was broken. Also, prior to 1975 the citizenship only passed down through the father - it was my maternal grandfather so it wouldn't pass down, apparently. Well, it was fun to think about the possibilities for a few minutes, anyway.

[ProllyInfamous]

Almost without exception, any US citizen can perform self-employed work in Netherlands via the DAFT program.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT>

This can lead to eventual citizenship, but you have to follow the rules (e.g. monetary requirements, which are actually quite low).

[TrueGeek]

> monetary requirements, which are actually quite low

Technically, yes - you are required to hold only €4,500 as an "investment" in the business you create. In reality you will need a lot more. My wife and I spent about €40k to move over which is inline with what others on the DAFT program have said they spent.

Completely worth it though!

[peterlk]

I have quite a bit of family in Germany, and have had several friends move from the US to Europe. Europe absolutely knows that they have an opportunity to capture a ton of talent right now. If you have skills that are in demand, basically any country in the Schengen zone will find a way to get you a visa. For example, if you’re a trans researcher, you will find open arms at academic institutions in Europe.

You could also lie and claim your address as a US address, and then just live in another country. This is obviously illegal, but I’ve met a few people who made it work for a while. But I’m also speaking abstractly on the internet, so maybe I’m just making all this up.

[ytoawwhra92]

> It's not like people can just decide to move to another country and they will say "sure, come on in!"

Many countries actively try to attract skilled migrants with simple, points-based immigration systems and fast processing times.

Simply having a bachelor's degree, 5+ years of work experience, and fluency in the local language will get you on the fast-track to a permanent working visa in many countries.

[archagon]

At least as far as tech migrants are concerned, the points floor for Canada and Australia has become quite high in recent years.

[ageitgey]

It's very hard to get a UK work visa normally (and getting a lot harder each year, like in the US), but if you are a HN type with a good tech, start-up, investor, or researcher career, they roll out the red carpet for you.

https://www.gov.uk/global-talent

If you qualify, you get a 'Tier 1' visa where you can work at any company without sponsorship, change jobs at any time just like a citizen, or start your own company with no fear of your visa being tied to a job. You can become a citizen yourself in 5 years.

Source: Am now UK citizen

Various other European countries have similar programs with different requirements. Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain are common places that a lot of US people go depending on what options they have to qualify and where they want to be. Spain has a digital nomad visa right now that is easy to get.

[UncleOxidant]

If you're a doctor or nurse Canada is definitely saying "sure, come on in!" - they're actively recruiting in the US for healthcare workers. But that's because like most other countries they've got a shortage of health care workers. They're not likely to tell us software engineers that we can com on in.

[socalgal2]

According to an LLM I asked, about 80 countries have a way in for $$$.

I was superprized it was as high as 80, assuming I can beleive the answer. I knew though that the USA is one of them. Also Singapore, since it was big news when the co-founder of Facebook did it.

[analog31]

One option is dual citizenship, which varies by country. I know about half a dozen people who are in various stages of applying.

[WD-42]

Maybe not North America and Europe, but with proof of income most countries most definitely will tell you sure, come on in!

[Bender]

There are a few dozen countries that one can buy citizenship. Some require investing in something or starting their own business. Search for "countries that offer citizenship for money". Some places will pay for people to move their under certain conditions and lack of criminal history.

[toomuchtodo]

“Golden visa” and “citizenship by investment” are good search terms to use.

[reaperducer]

How? It's not like people can just decide to move to another country and they will say "sure, come on in!" right?

If you read the article, you'd see that for some countries that is almost precisely what happens.

[ranger_danger]

The website blocks my ISP unfortunately, so I am not able to read it. Same thing when trying with a VPN as well. And the archive.ph link posted elsewhere in this thread is an endless captcha loop for me.

[popularonion]

Destination Thailand Visa is comically easy to get if you have ~$20K in savings