or Mexico or wherever.
We moved to Europe because Silicon Valley is dead. You should too. | Sifted
This meme has become a weekly staple of the content mills at CNN, CNBC and Business Insider – but lots of media content mills are churning out these stories.
They generally feature a woman who is a writer, or a couple, one of which is a writer or teacher, or a person of color (who is often a writer) – I’ve summarized a zillion of these stories -> Immigration: The media myth that Americans can just move abroad for a better life.
The begin by asserting America is awful, probably the single worst country in the world in which to live. But by moving to country X, they have found a utopia. Always!
Frequently, they involve a romance connection – and read like romance novel short stories.
They present a perspective that America is awful, and Americans can just pack up and move anywhere you want for a far better life!
But you can’t. Getting a residency visa is not easy for most people – and is generally limited to
- Young people with the right in-demand job skills
- A “right of descent” immigration privilege for those having the right ancestry in the right countries.
- Wealthy who can purchase a residency visa by making a large business investment in the destination country
- Marriage, although marriage to a local does not guarantee residency, it does help.
Everyone else – not so easy.
Some countries prohibit residency visas to those over 45 to 55 years of age (Australia and New Zealand, for example). Perhaps 10% of countries have a “retiree” or “golden visa” program that enables some retirees to relocate to their country.
Outside of that, immigrating to another country is not a simple process and depending on your own situation and the destination, may not be possible.
