These stories have become a main stay of American media – America is awful, so this individual/couple/family moved to country X where everything is bettter.
The reality is few Americans move out permanently, and close to zero (0.7% – 1.3%) of retirees retired abroad – and half of those who did were typically already dual citizens or had close ancestral/family tries to the destination country.
The mass media runs these stories daily – almost always using the formula “America is awful so this person moved abroad“. Yet these stories are misleading to the point of being disinformation and anti-America propaganda.
Few Americans move abroad and most Americans are unable to obtain residency or citizenship in other countries. Most of those who do did move abroad permanently did so because of marriage, prior dual citizenship or ancestral/family connections that gave them an immigration privilege.
Some examples of the genre (also see Parts 1 and 2 of the Myth series, linked at right for a huge number of these stories).
I am sprung from people who emigrated from the country of their birth to America. The United States was their refuge, their hope, and the dream they passed down to us, their American descendants. I could never have imagined as a child that, one day, I would leave America for a better life in another country. Yet that is what I did when I moved from New York to Paris in 2010, and my decision seems wiser by the year.
Why I’m Leaving America and Moving Back to Vietnam | TIME
Leaving America when the racism got to be too much | Vox (Many African nations extend a right of residency or citizenship to blacks in America)
Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats | Facebook (This is CNBC’s favorite writer on the subject, Janet Blaser, who moved to Mexico and writes the same story, repeatedly, about how her life is wonderful in Mexico.)
Reddit forum comments: Has anyone ever left the USA and never returned, if so how are you doing now? : r/expats (reddit.com)
(Immigration visa via marriage ->)
Do you mean never returned even for vacation or just haven’t moved back? I moved to the UK 5 years ago and have only been back once. It took awhile for it to feel like home here but now it does. I went to grad school, got married and now work in my desired sector. I made more in the US but now I have universal healthcare, good work/life balance, 30 days PTO, and cheap flights to all over Europe. No plans to return to the US.
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(immigration visa via marriage ->)
I will say that living abroad is not for everyone. I am not sure I would have even done it if my parents had not passed away or I had not met my ex wife who introduced me to international teaching. But now, I cannot ever imagine going back unless things got really , really bad for me and I had to throw myself on the welfare system
….
(immigration visa via marriage ->)
I was born in the UK and moved to France when I was 24, for work (thank you, Disney!). Met and married a Yank in 1995 and moved to the US later that year. Child born in 2001. Spent all time in Chicago suburbs, but never did big touristy stuff there unless it was when my parents visited. I regret that, and if I ever do return to the US it will be purely for touristy fun!
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Moved to china a little over ten years ago. Started as a teacher and just opened a small bakery recently.
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(Probably a teacher who taught overseas – and moved back – the counter example –>)
Since most posts I’ve read mentioned never moving back and not planning to, I’ll give a counter example. I left the US in 2014 and just moved back this year. I’m happy to be back. First, I’m in a beautiful state in the Mountain West with lots of outdoor activities and amazing national parks. My job is chill and I get over a month of PTO, which I realize is far from the norm. The pay is decent but not amazing—I can go out to eat about once a week and maybe do a cool trip that involves flying and a hotel once a quarter (okay, maybe once a semester). I joined a local book club and board-game group. There’s a brewery two blocks away with better beer than I could find in my previous two countries. There’s no communication breakdown when I have an emergency or when I need something important. I have a car again, and even though I hate making payments and insurance and all that, I’d be lying if I said I don’t love having the freedom to go wherever whenever again. It’s nice. My long term goal is to buy a house, retire early, and write books. Along the way, I want to work without too much stress and enjoy the outdoors. Being back in the States is working for me on both fronts.
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(The truth –> Their American privilege from the country they hate, enables them to live well elsewhere –>)
Living in a cheaper country and getting paid in USD/euro/pound means you can live very well even if you make far less. With the right setup, it basically means never have to worry about the financial implications of paying rent, going out to eat, taking a vacation, etc.
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(Marriage, as is typical –>)
I’d consider it too, but I live in my husband’s country these days and it’s a major judicial process.
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(Immigration privilege –>)
I’m in final stages of my permanent move.
I’m from the USA, but one of my parents is from Poland. I have received Polish citizenship through her, but I plan on moving to Prague.
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(Wasn’t even born in the U.S.)
Does it count if you weren’t born there, moved there as a child, did public school, then college, naturalized, and then moved away and no plans to ever return??
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(Marriage–>)
Ive been away for 6 years. Barring a huge family emergency, I don’t have any plans on moving back. My wife (non-American) also has no strong desire to move there.
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(Immigration via grad school/eduation ->)
Moved to Japan (for the second time) four years ago and have no plans to permanently return to the US. The first time was for an internship. This time was for grad school and since I’ve just started a Ph.D program I’ve got at least another three years of studying here ahead of me. At this point my life is established here.
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(Not really a US citizen –>)
I moved 2 years ago but in fairness I also lived here growing up (though a different country in the UK), so it’s not like the place is new and I needed time to see what I thought. We just bought a house this month and I haven’t been back to the US yet. I’ll visit but I never liked the years living in the US growing up and my kids are growing up here and I don’t want to uproot them like I was, so no, we’re here for good.
Recent reality check: Millions of Americans have left the country. Where are they going, and why? | The Spokesman-Review – notes most Americans who leave do so for love/marriage or a job – “A significant other or a significant paycheck turns a traveler into an expatriate before they know it.”
Those who do move tend to be elite, work in teaching or academics, or are writers.
Depending on the survey, up to about 30% of the U.S population says they will consider leaving the country if politician X is elected! Yet almost none will leave for political reasons (and most cannot leave anyway).
REALITY
At any given time, about 2-3% of the US population is living overseas (study abroad, working abroad, living abroad) – most are on temporary assignment. An estimated 0.7% to 1.3% of U.S. retirees are living abroad and some of those will return. The reality is that close to 0% of the U.S. population will move abroad.
From my survey of nearly 250 stories about Americans moving abroad,
- about one third were young (about 90% are young women) who married a foreigner
- about one third already had dual citizenship (they had immigrated to the U.S., or were children of immigrants to the U.S., which gave them a right of citizenship in their parents’ country), or they were descendants from the handful of countries that provide a right of descent ancestry citizenship privilege (Italy, Ireland, Canada and others) based on recent ancestral heritage.
- About 1 in 5 moved for a job assignment (which is often temporary and eventually returns to the U.S.)
The media straight up lies, though, repeatedly and falsely implying that anyone can move abroad. If you are not a young American female, or you do not have prior citizenship rights in a destination country, it is highly unlikely you can move to another country (with some exceptions – perhaps 20-25 countries do have provisions that make moving possible, albeit not necessarily simple.)
Perhaps 1 in 5, usually young and/or highly skilled/educated, will move abroad for work – which may last for years before returning, or may lead to permanent residency.
If you do not have immigration privilege by your ancestry, your best bet is to be:
- young and have the right in demand work skills (often health care or STEM, if seeking a permanent move), or can migrate temporarily as an English teacher, to many countries.
- young and study for a graduate degree at a university in another country. Some countries allow graduates to obtain work and get residency visas.
- young and female and marry a foreigner. This seems to happen as a result of a study abroad or studying an entire graduate degree abroad and sometimes for solo women travelers. Young women studying abroad from the U.S outnumber men by 2:1. Similarly, women traveling internationally outnumber men by a 2:1 ratio. And also see: Why Do Women Like To Travel More Than Men? *A LOT MORE* – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking
- Some countries in Central and South America are welcoming to U.S. retirees (Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, etc). Most countries do not want immigrants over about age 40 – below age 40, immigrants produce a net positive tax revenue – but as immigrants are older, say 50+, they may cost the local economy more than they deliver. In fact, the ideal immigrant is about 20 to 40 years old and has working skills. As Peter Zeihan notes, it costs about US$150,000 in public money to educate a student up through high school. It’s a deal for the U.S. to import workers in their 20s – whose education was paid for elsewhere – and who then generate income in the U.S. and pay taxes. But older immigrants start to reverse that – and cost our economy more than they add. Hence, most countries of the world limit the ability of older persons to immigrate. Thus, if you didn’t do this when you were young, it is increasingly unlikely you will do it after 50.