{"id":6857,"date":"2026-06-07T17:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T00:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/?p=6857"},"modified":"2026-06-07T18:42:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:42:37","slug":"and-one-more-reality-check-on-americans-moving-abroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/2026\/06\/07\/and-one-more-reality-check-on-americans-moving-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"One more reality check on Americans moving abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American emigrants to other countries are a small slice of the overall U.S. population, heavily skewed toward specific groups. Obtaining long-term residency abroad is difficult for most ordinary Americans without family ties, ancestry, marriage, or high skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then we get this 100% fake news item from an actual news organization:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"586\" height=\"517\" src=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image.png?wsr\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image.png 586w, https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-300x265.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 586px) 100vw, 586px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The photo, purporting to be of the US, is actually from Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reliable estimates put the number of U.S. citizens living abroad at roughly 4\u20135.5 million (civilian, excluding or separating military), or about 1.2\u20131.6% of the total U.S. population (~340+ million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The oft-cited 9 million (or ~3%) figure from the State Department around 2016 has been widely criticized as inflated and unreliable. It reportedly included temporary travelers, long-term tourists, and was geared toward contingency planning rather than actual residents. The State Department has since stepped back from actively using it. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More credible sources: Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO) ~5.5 million (as of late 2024\/2025); Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) ~4.4 million in 2022 (voting-age civilians). Independent analyses cluster in the 4\u20135.5 million range. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This has grown modestly over time but remains low as a percentage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Recent Emigration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2025, estimates of U.S. citizens emigrating (permanent or long-term moves) reached ~150,000\u2013180,000+, contributing to the first net negative overall migration in decades. This is a record recent high but still modest relative to the population. The potential that the US population shrinks is due primarily to a large net outflow due to recent immigration enforcement. An estimated 600,000+ unauthorized immigrants have been deported, and over 2 million have voluntarily left the U.S. which has offered free air flights and cash grants to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Composition of Outbound Emigrants<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Military personnel and families: Often 200,000\u2013350,000+ stationed abroad at any time (active duty rotations, most are not &#8220;emigrants&#8221;).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Students: Significant temporary flow for study abroad.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Retirees: A notable group, especially to places like Mexico (hundreds of thousands), Portugal, Spain, etc., drawn by cost of living and visas. Up to nearly 40% of Americans living abroad live in Mexico or Canada; just 20% live in Europe.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Skilled professionals: Well-educated STEM, healthcare, engineering, finance, and tech workers. Many on temporary or work visas; estimates suggest skilled migrants form a disproportionate share of longer-term civilian moves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work visas: A minority overall\u201415\u201320% range for certain cohorts is reasonable, as many moves are via other channels (ancestry, marriage, retirement visas, digital nomad programs, or self-funded).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Barriers to entry: Most countries prioritize skilled workers, investors, family reunification, or ancestry (e.g., Ireland\/Italy for descendants, Portugal&#8217;s D7\/Golden Visa, etc.). Ordinary middle-class Americans without these often face strict income, language, or qualification hurdles for permanent residency. Dual citizenship or marriage remains a common pathway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In the broader net migration picture the 2025 reversal was overwhelmingly driven by sharp drops in inbound non-citizen immigration plus enforced\/voluntary departures of non-citizens\u2014not a massive surge in U.S. citizen emigration (though citizen outflows did hit notable highs)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More data on the number of Americans moving abroad, and why the US population might shrink this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-background","category-government-regulatory","category-immigration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6857"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6862,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6857\/revisions\/6862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}