In addition to immigration laws, there are lots of other reasons that make it difficult to move. Aside from obvious financial considerations, it is difficult to just walk away from one’s social circle. People often underestimate the importance of social support (I’m talking about friends and family here). Cultural differences compound this social isolation further.
Precisely this. My partner and I uprooted our lives to move to a new country. I left a loving community, a strong career, and so much more. I absolutely miss my home but didn’t feel safe continuing to live in the states. I pulled the trigger first chance I could and I’m glad I did because there haven’t been any since then.
We cry very often because there is so much just trauma and grief that we haven’t been able to process. No one tells you just how hard it’s gonna be. To give an example, I frequently hallucinate seeing or hearing my friends around my new city. Every time I do I have to hold back tears. I absolutely choke up whenever I video call them. Getting a visa is just the start of the process.
(Don’t get me wrong, I also LOVE my new home, this country has been nothing but welcoming and we have had a super easy time assimilating and making friends)
I never had friends in China, I never missed anyone “back home” (well… its not like I got to know any of the relative very well, so I didn’t miss them being 8 at the time) but I constantly think about the hypothetical alt-universe where I never left China… like for better or worse… its hard to stop thinking about it.
I feel like I belong in neither places.
Like existential crisis stuff.
On the surface, in 2010, the US was also seemingly welcoming, but you have subtle casual racism stuff, especially when you move to less-immigrant cities like Philly. Kids here wete just horrible. The Elementary school I went to had not much Asians so racism was common, worse in middle school.
Like you had no idea how much shit I had to go through, and identity crisis. Who the fuck am I. I don’t know if I can do this again, especially the learning a language thing, now I don’t have the advantage of youth again. And I’m the adult now having to plan everything, instead of everything already being done for me.
Like… it’d be so sad if I pick a place, miraculously get an immigration visa, then that place goes to shit AGAIN, then I’d have to do this v3.0 lmao
Depression is killing me lol
I think for me, its not just “move to EU” that easily. Like… the population of Asians in EU is much lower afaik, I would feel even less “belonging” there tbh.
Which country?
Immigration is only easy if you’re wealthy.
US citizen here, have been actively preparing for a permanent move to Japan with my Japanese citizen spouse, dual citizenship toddler, and our dog for the past 6 months. We are fortunate enough to have the money and legal pathway to do it, and it has still been one of the most stressful experiences (if not the most) of my life.
We’ve had to:
Sell our house, Sell our two cars, Get rid of all our belongings (gave most of them away because it’s just too time consuming to try and sell everything), Apply for a certificate of eligibility for my visa Apply for my visa, Get all the vaccinations and paperwork for our dog and wait 6 months after getting them done, Make arrangements for the dog’s overseas travel, Buy our airline tickets, Find an apartment in Japan without being able to see it in person, Find work in Japan, Find a preschool for our kid in Japan, Have to enter Japan within 3 months of my visa being issued (but NOT sooner than 180 days after the dog gets his 2nd rabies shot and bloodwork results), Etc.
And if we make a mistake on any one of those steps or get delayed and miss our 3-month window, we have to do half of the steps again.
All while continuing to work full time and with a move from our house to the apartment in the middle.
We are close to the finish line, but it has pushed us all to the absolute edges of our mental and physical limits. And again, we are extremely fortunate to have enough savings and equity in our home to even be able to try this…
For the average US citizen, I’d say it’s nearly impossible.
Yeah, but isn’t Japan about the toughest country on Earth to emigrate to? I’d have a nervous breakdown going through all that. I have a special hatred for rules and forms and legal doings.
Doesn’t that mean you hate life in general? Every second of every day is performative nonsense.
No? I just hate legal and governmental obligations. Day-to-day life is fine. I can hate work if it’s a “lawful” kinda place, but I don’t last in those places anyway.
For jobs I have my “Hawkeye Pierce Theory of Work”. Be so damned good they can’t get rid of you and have to let your fuckups slide. Been working great for me!
I read that you can’t hold multiple citizenships as a citizen of Japan. So I’d imagine your kid will be forced to give one up when they become an adult?
This is actually a very fun legal loophole for Japanese citizens. The Japanese law as written states you cannot gain citizenship to a country and remain a Japanese citizen, but because of US law, you aren’t voluntarily a citizen when you are born, you just are a citizen. So as long as you don’t renounce your Japanese citizenship you can remain a citizen of both.
I heard its by age 22
2 decades to decide
This is actually a very fun legal loophole for Japanese citizens. The Japanese law as written states you cannot gain citizenship to a country and remain a Japanese citizen, but because of US law, you aren’t voluntarily a citizen when you are born, you just are a citizen. So as long as you don’t renounce your Japanese citizenship you can remain a citizen of both.
Not really a loophole, more like legal grey area stuff that is hard to enforce.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nationality_law#Dual_nationality
Dual citizenship of Japan and another country is prohibited in some cases due to the provisions for loss of Japanese nationality when a Japanese national naturalizes in another country (see “Loss of citizenship” above), and the requirement to renounce one’s existing citizenships when naturalizing in Japan (see “Naturalization” above). There are still some ways in which a person may have dual citizenship of Japan and another country, including:
They acquire multiple citizenships at birth, such as being born to a non-Japanese citizen parent and acquiring that parent’s citizenship as a result of that country’s laws or by being born in a jus soli country. However, they must choose one citizenship/nationality before the age of 22 or within two years if the second citizenship is acquired after the age of 20, or they may lose their Japanese nationality (see “Loss of citizenship” above), although this is often circumvented by dual Japanese citizens not using a foreign passport when entering or leaving Japan.
In practice, dual nationality may also be maintained with states not recognized by Japan such as in the cases of North Korean or Taiwanese dual nationality as the Japanese Ministry of Justice does not recognize either North Korean or Taiwanese citizenships.
Could have been worse, you could be a white person trying to find a place to live in Japan in person. There are lots of places that would not be open to you.
Yeah, I’ve certainly experienced my fair share of racism in Japan. Mostly micro-aggression / implicit bias type of stuff, but a few intentional instances as well.
Not looking forward to that.
Something you can look forward to: you get to watch anime without subtitles after you learn Japanese :P
I’ve been studying / speaking / reading / writing Japanese for 25 years. Lived there for 6 years, and used Japanese exclusively at work for 3 years after coming back to the states. So no big issues language-wise.
I was never a huge anime person until my wife and I started watching some during covid. We’re definitely anime people now.
My thing was always Japanese arcade games.
Us citizen here recently moved to Sweden. I have a lot of things going for me: I was able to save up money working in tech, I’m using that to pay for living and tuition on a study permit, recently divorced and mostly estranged so I don’t have a lot of ties holding me back, I have a sought after skillset and enough savings to basically be guaranteed I was accepted.
I’m still struggling with everything. There was and is so much paperwork, so many loose ends, even after getting here it’s just been months of hardship trying to get stuff lined up. Trying to get my savings out of USD without interrupting being able to pay for things and not risk being flagged for money laundering is an ongoing battle. Housing here is wonky and I’m risking homelessness next year if I can’t get it figured out in time. I have no strong community ties here yet so I’m toast if I stumble too badly. The US has their grubby hands all up in my business still so I’m answering to two countries at any given time instead of just one.
There are certainly avenues people can take to get out of the US that are easier than what I’ve done but anyone who says it is easy is full of shit or incredibly privileged.
I wish you all the best. I moved countries twice and had to learn 2 different languages. It’s a struggle
deleted by creator
I could have gained citizenship in Spain or Portugal based on my family name alone (and like €600 or so) when they had the citizenship path for Sephardic Jewish heritage. I found out too late though and they had closed the door before I even knew about my distant relatives in the first place.
Wife is Irish enough to claim her passport so we’re working that path currently. Those things are just your right to establish a life there, though, and don’t include figuring out housing, source of income and everything else.
It certainly feels like we’re going to miss our chance, but it’s definitely worth it to keep working toward IMO.
Yeah. Apparently to these people, America is the only country that people can think of that has strict immigration laws. Everyone else is apparently open borders without question.
Dude, I would flee the US in a heartbeat to somewhere that isn’t a fascist state if I feasibly could, as I kinda don’t feel safe here as a citizen, let alone what anyone visiting the country may feel like.
So that “if I feasibly could” part is exactly what the poster is talking about.
Americans have probably the easiest migration path in the world. Strong passport, very high wages and currency value, strong migration support and programs, remote friendly economy etc etc.
No, we can’t just move some place. Most countries require a substantial income or huge investment. Incomes require jobs, and countries require employers to make an attempt to hire citizens first. Most of us speak one language too, so even if we go to the shittiest countries, we’ll be vulnerable to scams.
Nope. I’m literally a digital nomad myself though mostly settled in Thailand these syas. Americans absolutely have an unmatched privileged here very few countries come even close to matching and can relocate relatively easily.
Not everyone is a digital nomad.
While there are definitely perks to being an American trying to relocate, it’s also definitely not easy. If you think it is, you are operating under a survivorship bias. Your situation will vary greatly from another’s.
I actually looked into migrating a bit under Bush and they were more lax then. It was at least a year waiting list, you often had to have a marketable skill of some sort in demand in the country or enough money to basically never work again there. You had to have a clean record, pay several thousand for paperwork and lawyers, wait for approval, some wanted you to try and find employment before hand. It’s probably much stricter no as I doubt I could immigrate to Canada from the USA. They’re looking primarily for healthcare workers now and a lot of places because of their aging populations and lower birth rates. It’s nuts.
Yeah, some countries do have very strict standards for entry as much as the US; they’ll choose only those they deem worthy by their standards – entry is only possible with either level of wealth, skill sets, pedigree, language, or a combination of those.
However, there are some people in my country who envy and would even fight to get a chance to be American, despite the ongoing horrors in there, because they still equate citizenship in a developed country with wealth and supposed freedom from corruption.
If it’s not sarcasm in response to americans telling other people to just move to another country/overthrow government, it can be a common misconception. Yet I struggle to see where it comes from: as far as I can tell, “just moving to another country” is not something most people who work for a wage can easily do
This is correct. Ithought I could almost afford it, but I would need to save up an amount of money that is not really possible to save up in my situation and besides that I don’t know if I could psychologically manage actually getting everything lined up and working properly in a whole other country. I’ve looked into it in depth, and it is incredibly taxing and difficult.
I don’t know if it’s something I could ever really manage, even in some of the countries that are “easier” to immigrate to.
Yeah, I can relate. Thought of migration too, but first, need to save up a… considerable lot of money. Next, that’s a whole lot of things to do, including bureaucracy, and then I am at square less than one. There has to be some kind of paradise or once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on the other side for me to go through all that
Yeah, I haven’t found any work opportunities overseas that would really make this possible.
Then there are all the ties I’d have to break and people I’d leave behind. I’d feel guilty. That’d be hard.
Francis Ngannou came to Europe by boat. 🤷 Westerners will need to tap into a different part of their Viking ancestry and move around a bit!
Did you not see word “easily” in my post?
Doable is what matters!
Lol no
Can’t really immigrate as a disabled person. I’m basically considered unwanted trash by everyone.
Yup. Being disabled you’re basically fucked.
In had no idea. Sorry about your situation.
Not entirely true. I’ve done the research. It’s difficult, yes, but some places in the world allow it. E.g. Scandinavian countries.
It’ll really depends on the disability since most countries have a big focus on ability to work in a sought after field
Just gotta have that doctorate in geoengineering (go into $200,00 debt in America to get it, never mind that)
I mean if you escape the US, it won’t matter as much… Just don’t ever go back lol
$200 isn’t that much debt…
Sorry bruv, propa bugga’d that’n up, aye? Meant’chu say bicenti kilopounds
god Dave the Queen
On top of that, people have families, jobs, and other commitments that hinder their plans. Moving to another town is already hard enough as it is, but relocating to another country is even harder.
While it’s certainly possible and perhaps even advisable, it’s not a realistic option for most people. If your life is in danger, remaining isn’t really an option, so any associated difficulties with moving and starting anew are the lesser evil. However, for everyone else, the situation gets complicated.
My small children are in Arkansas and I’m in Florida. I cannot leave. My wife and I are thinking of moving her home to the Philippines when we retire, but my kids will only be young adults.
It’s not even just the laws, it’s very expensive to move.
I’ve also read “move to another state” a lot. Which is also much easier said than done, even though there are some very legitimate reasons. Moving from a low cola to a high one is tough.
Also, you need employment and it’s really hard. Then there is no guarantee that you’ll be stable there either, since society is collapsing.
