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Forget Canada, There Are Better And Easier Places To Emigrate To [1]
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Date: 2025-02-12
If the Trump/Musk regime has you fearing for your family, or the probable future, or just disgusted to the point of finding the notion of staying here intolerable (all three in my case), then this is for you.
Some see it as throwing in the towel, for others, it's putting their family first. No judgement here. We all have to do what we think is right. I recently posted an article here detailing my family's decision to leave the USA for greener pastures. The vast majority of commenters once reading my justifications were overwhelmingly supportive. There were a few naysayers, I understand their perspective and respect their opinions (for the most part). But given our unique circumstances, we feel we are doing what makes most sense for us.
In any case, I received a number of comments and even PMs requesting information about how one can do this. We have been researching this for years and as this is not our first rodeo (we have moved abroad and back multiple times), I thought I would share some of our hard won knowledge and experience for those considering the same thing. Our research focused primarily on a small number of countries in which we were interested so it is by no means comprehensive. There are undoubtedly many countries that are fine options that we just did not include. One resource we found invaluable was ChatGpt. We found it was a great tool when seeking specific information that can be difficult to source or filter with general web searching. So if you have interest in a country not listed below, I recommend trying that resource.
Choosing a Country
This is of course a very subjective decision. Everyone's needs are different, everyone has different priorities and different levels of resources. There's no one size fits all strategy for this. I will first begin a discussion of English speaking countries and why they may not be good choices for most.
Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland
All of these countries are quite difficult to emigrate to for Americans. Most require either a huge level of financial resources to qualify, or they require that one has a job already lined up, or some sort of legitimate family ties to said country. All are also quite expensive to live in for the most part. These would not be at the top of my list, frankly they aren't on the list at all since we would not qualify for any of them.
Uruguay
This country deserves special mention, they have a pretty liberal immigration policy and a fantastic taxation policy. It's one of the easier countries to emigrate to and are one of the safest, most prosperous, and politically stable countries south of the border. Uruguay has a zero percent taxation policy for the first 10-11 years of residence, and then just a flat 12% tax level after that. Since the US has tax protections to avoid double taxation it makes this a very good tax choice. The entire policy is a bit complex but the upshot is basically, with allowed deductions you end up paying only whichever tax rate is higher between the two countries, you don't generally have to pay double. This policy is actually applicable for most other countries. Additionlly, it has a low cost of living and a good healthcare system. It's not single payer, and thus requires private insurance, but said insurance is much cheaper and much better coverage than is available for most of us in the US. In Uruguay, you can visit with a US passport (no visa required) and apply for residency after you arrive. There is no minimum income requirement although an income of at least $1500-2000 a month per person is recommended. To obtain residency you have only to provide proof of income and a local address. Were it not for my daughter's career choice (Fine Arts), I would have insisted on relocating here.
France, Spain, Italy, Portugal
All of these countries have superior transportation infrastructure to the US, modern well maintained highways, train systems par excellence, and bus services that include none of the horrors of the US bus system. All offer reasonable housing options if one is not insistent upon living within the limits of a major city like Paris or Rome. All have income requirements but the bars are not that high, comparable to that of Uruguay, and none require significant investments in local real estate or business. All have exceptional healthcare, although most will require private healthcare until citizenship is achieved. France being the notable exception. Here you can apply for the national health insurance after just three months in country, although it could take up to 10 months before your application is processed. I can't speak for the other three, but I do know that France requires that you apply for your visa from outside of France, not after you arrive.
Other Countries
The above mentioned nations are the ones that we have intensely researched or have actually lived in and consider to be reasonably achievable for most Americans. I did leave off Germany, Austria, and Switzerland because although I've lived in one of them (Germany) and visited the other two, all are quite expensive at least in terms of housing costs, and certainly beyond our financial reach which is still probably a bit higher than average.
Mexico could be a good choice, our research was limited here, but from what we were able to glean, the income and financial requirements are relatively low and the overall immigration requirements seemed quite reasonable. We did not explore it as much as the others as we know there are significant crime issues due to drug cartel activities. Having lived in Colombia during the heyday of the Colombian cartels, we know at a personal level what that meant there. As Americans we were walking targets for kidnapping pretty much everywhere we went. I don't think the Mexican cartels are as focused on that sort of targeting of Americans, but we still had concerns so we did not explore it too far. Having said that, I know there are safer areas where one could live comfortably, so it may still be worth exploring with one's own research.
Costa Rica & Ecuador
Once a “Goto” location for American expats, Costa Rica is famous for having more teachers than police and no standing military. It's reputation is as an inexpensive and safe, relaxed environment. It has a diverse geography that owing to it's proximity to the Equator is fairly stable all year round offering pleasant spring like weather in mountainous areas and sunny beach environments at the coast. Recently however, crime has been on the rise and due to the large numbers of North American expats, cost of living has also been increasing. Many expats have begun to leave due to these factors, but it's probably still a reasonably good choice worth exploring on one's own.
Ecuador offers similar climatic environments to Costa Rica and the cost of living is even lower. However a recent significant uptrend in crime has caused us to remove it from our list.
Language and Communication
Speaking the local language is always going to be a huge boon regardless of the country. But modern technology offers communication options that did not exist until recently. Handheld translating devices or even some cell phone apps can provide offline live verbal translation capabilities which should reduce (though not eliminate completely) the need to speak at least some of the local dialect.
Customs and Culture Shock
One thing you really need to be sensitive to when residing in a foreign country is the difference in culture. In Latin America for example, the big city rush that Americans are often used to is not usually compatible with local lifestyles. If you are from a place like NYC, Chicago, LA, or Washington D.C. you will need to step back, take a deep breath, and just slow things down a bit. You will still get the services you need, but nobody will be in a hurry to attend you. Get used to waiting, just learn to be patient and don't present a demanding attitude, it will not serve you well in these places and in all likelihood will slow things down not speed them up.
Western European countries are often quite proud of their culture and heritage, especially in France. It's a good idea to try to assimilate as much as possible. For example, they respect those who show an interest in and respect for local customs and culture. In France, always start any interaction with Bonjour or Bonsoir, but don't immediately jump into a lot of small talk. Try to use whatever French, German, Spanish etc. depending on nation of course, that you have in your interactions, especially at the beginning of the conversation. They will be much more receptive of your limited language skill once they see that you are at least making an effort. It usually causes them to be more eager to help you. DO NOT simply start out in English and demand they speak in your language, that's more likely to cause them to refuse to speak with you at all, even if they do speak some English.
Asian Countries
We've not done a lot of research on these, but a few deserve a mention.
Japan as I understand it is facing a real population issue as their birthrate is very low and the population overall is both shrinking and aging. If you are of a pre-retirement cohort, they offer incentives for those interested in immigrating. You can look into the specifics yourself. I do know that life in the major cities can be very expensive, but I understand in the smaller and rural towns, not so much.
Thailand and Philipines, even less research here but my understanding is that the cost of living is very low and the bar to entry is as well, again, do you own research but they are worth looking into if you have an interest in this region of the world.
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