This is based on an analysis of 223 “news stories” that appeared roughly mid 2023 to August 2024 about Americans who had moved abroad. Almost all of the “marriage” category, which is the largest category, are young American women who married a foreigner; almost no American men appear in that category.
Summary of Visas Used by Americans Emigrating Abroad
58% of all American emigrates abroad are via marriage, prior dual citizenship or right of descent ancestry. Of the marriage category, about 90% are young American women (pro tip: if you want to emigrate abroad, be a young American woman.)
Those in the “work visa” category are just 15% of the total. This implies if you are an American who wishes to obtain residency or citizenship abroad you should:
- Be young
- Be female
- Have a prior dual citizenship
- Have prior right of descent ancestry privilege
- Some work options in some countries if you have a STEM/health care background.
8% of those in these stories did not actually move abroad and do not have long stay visas. When the “None” category is removed, we then have 62% moved abroad via marriage, dual citizenship or ancestry privilege. That is nearly 2 in 3.
Note – the sample is biased since most writers of the “move abroad” stories are young women who write about themselves and publish them in the paid blog Business Insider.