a guide to moving overseas

Reposted from the lovely tyellas

Well, it seems that the worst has come to past - I didn't even want to say "Bush has won" in any LJ heading entries. And as the tension increased, I heard more and more, "Ohhhhh, if Bush wins, I'm going overseas. I'll move boxes in a warehouse - I don't care - just to escape!" I sympathize. Myself, I'm in the odd position of having already done so. I moved overseas in 1998 and now I feel stuck here.

My first advice is: are you sure this is the solution for you? That you don't want to get more involved in local politics, or move to a more liberal state within the U.S. of A.? Both of these will be less difficult than an overseas move. I say this because a move based on persecution and fear, I have seen (with some hasty post-9/11 emigres), has a radically different effect on people than a move because they genuinely wanted to live somewhere overseas. Homesickness is bad enough for enthused, engaged migrants.

Second: get a passport. You may have one, you may not. It's the first step to any sort of overseas venture.

What kind of welcome will you get overseas as a refugee from the Bush regime? Even if you left America because you couldn’t stand Bush, you will frequently be seen as the Ambassador of the Evil Empire. I’ve sat in a bar with a friend from Afghanistan and we’ve both agreed that people tended to judge us by our countries of origin instead of who we were.

Be prepared to encounter resistance to your international move from people close to you. Families are especially contentious. I know plenty of migrants from Europe who aren’t on very good terms with their family, some having chosen the move because they weren’t very close and nothing was stopping them, some on bad terms after all the quarreling. I also know more than a few migrants whose relationships shattered under the stress of the international move.

Spooked yet, or still gritting your teeth and saying “I will live free or DIE!” If it’s the latter…can you do it? Yes, you can. If you are SERIOUSLY considering this, you need to know the following things.

Pick your country, research it, talk to people from that country, and visit there. The visit has two purposes; to make sure it's not a Terrible Mistake, and to make sure you've got a passport. Make it a very practical visit. New Zealand, for example, has a big gap between its famously ravishing countryside and where most of the jobs are.

The easiest way to get out of the U.S. is to be a student in another country. This gets you into the other country legally. Once you are there, you can establish ties, decide if you like the country, and make moves towards getting a job and applying for permanent residency once your education is complete. To make your paperwork and persuasion easier, be a student in a country’s capital. Universities in New Zealand and Australia often have one-year graduate courses called “Diplomas” that are an interesting option for this. If all of the information below doesn’t scare you off and you’d be qualified to live in another country if you had a job there, seriously, think about this one. It will take some money, though, as foreign students overseas do not receive subsidized tuition rates in other countries.

What about getting a job in another country? More details later, but the short version is: don't count on it. As an example, in New Zealand, most job ads specify that you need to be either a New Zealand permanent resident or need to have a work permit to apply.

A second way that I have heard about is that of people visiting a country on a tourist visa, then wangling a work permit. (I've heard of three instances of this in New Zealand over the past two months.) This has worked in the past for Americans, especially in New Zealand, where there weren't a lot of people doing this. If too many people try it, I predict immigration crackdowns, and anti-American sentiment emerging among locals. A work permit is not a guarantee for long-term emigration; they are issued for 3-year to 2-year periods. You would have to apply for longer-term residency/citizenship, and at that time, any issues that would block your application would emerge. I repeat that if there is a rush of people trying this option in other countries (Canada, Australia, NZ, etc.) the option as a whole will evaporate, and Americans will be treated by immigration services with the same skeptical suspicion as mail-order brides from Russia.

The most reliable, and expensive, way is to apply to emigrate. This has the advantage of getting you into a country as a valid new migrant. It has the disadvantage of being more difficult, overall. You need time to do paperwork, visit boring government offices, and have chest X-rays taken.

There are plenty of “immigration consultant” companies that will take your money to, ostensibly, “help” you with your application. Honestly, if you can fill out a U.S. college application or tax form, you don’t need to hire these people. They do not expedite things, and you are adding potential communication problems by adding another step to your document processing. Go directly to the official government immigration pages listed below to learn more about:

Canada - http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/index.htm
The U.K. - http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/
New Zealand - http://www.immigration.govt.nz/Migrant/
Australia - http://www.immi.gov.au/

For other countries and tons of immigration links you can’t do better than http://www.escapeartist.com and its US expat resources.

Getting ready for a legal overseas move takes 4 to 6 months. That’s how long it takes to get all the paperwork processed by the U.S. Government and your government-to-be. So do not think that you can leave immediately. Even if you’re doing the overseas schooling option, that paperwork takes time. For some of it, you are dependent on U.S. Government offices - I needed an affadavit from the F.B.I that I was a good citizen.

What doesn’t help? If you have been arrested – even at an anti-Bush demonstration - brace yourself, because this may stop your international emigration cold. And if you’re looking to skip out on taxes, be aware that many countries have a mutual extradition plan with the U.S. to pack you up and ship you back if you get found out. Long-term health problems may keep an otherwise ideal migrant from being allowed to enter a country if that country has government-subsidized health care – the medical history you need to get treatment from a U.S. insurer may work against you when going overseas. (All of these things may come back and bite you if you've slipped in on a work visa, gotten settled, and applied for residency a year or two later.)

What does help? To legally become a resident of another country, it helps if you’re healthy, young, and educated. It also helps if you are married. (In New Zealand at least, a long-term gay or lesbian relationship counts as “married” for emigration purposes!) Two or three out of the four might do you. Being rich will overcome all of these, as most countries will then welcome you as “a business investor.”

It also helps if you have a job lined up in the other country. However, employers in other countries are notoriously reluctant to extend job offers to people outside the country; there is expense and paperwork for the company to bring in international hires in this way. Do not count on this. Another issue with this is employers in emigre-heavy countries having had bad experiences with international hires, due to the hires washing out as immigrants and going back to their original countries. IMore skeptical employers might think that Bush-related would-be immigrants will only be interested in "the four years" and will flit back to the U.S. when the presidency changes again.

That said, there are some fields that are exceptionally welcome and may even help your application for residency - and they’re not all white-collar/professional level, either. You may also find that some countries look more kindly upon your application if you are willing to live outside of large urban areas. (The disadvantage to that is that your culture shock will be squared.)

You will need a chunk of cash. (I believe Canada is particularly strict about this.) Wherever you are going, governments will often ask that you have evidence that your living expenses are covered for a certain amount of time. You will also need to pay for filing your emigration application and related paperwork – FBI reports, doctor’s appointments, etc.

So you’re in. Hooray! Get ready to go by stripping yourself of many of your personal belongings! The more you get rid of, the more you save in shipping. Bid adieu to your large personal electronics (computers can go, thanks to their adjustable power cables, so you may want a good laptop). Stock up on cosmetics, medications, other personal care items, and classic American wardrobe items like jeans and leather jackets. They won't last forever, but they'll help you get over the getting-re-established-and-homesick hump. I also find that socks and underwear sold in America are superior.

Your pets are going to be a hell of a liability. Most other English-speaking countries have strict pet quarantines – Britain is notorious for them. If you have a pet that you can’t be parted from, count on the six-month delay and several thousand dollars in associated expenses.

This is only a beginning. Was I discouraging? Well, if it was easy, I would have said so. And it's not just me emphasizing the difficult parts - I've spoken to many a homesick man and woman. That said, the Internet has made a vast difference in keeping emigres culturally linked to their country of origin. And the phenomenon of "globalization," ironically, does work to an American's advantage - those brands and TV shows can be a little bit of home for low moments. For more information, go to the sources I've linked to above.