NGL, not asking for a friend. Given the current trends in US politics, it seems prudent to at least look into it.
Most of the online content on the topic seems to be by immigration attorneys hustling ultra rich people. I’m not ultra rich. I have a job in tech, could work remotely, also have enough assets to not desperately need money if the cost of living were low enough.
I am a native English speaker, fluent enough in Spanish to survive in a Spanish speaking country. I am old, male, cis, hetero, basically asexual at this point. I am outgoing, comfortable among strangers.
What’s good and bad about where you live? Would it be OK for a outsider, newcomer?
I’m an American living and working in Europe for years now. It’s pretty great, although language barriers can leave you feeling a little isolated sometimes. That said, the thought of going back to the US turns my stomach. European working culture is much more… Human. More understanding about things like sick days, better vacation packages and, better worker protections.
I wish the US could be better, but it no longer looks like that will happen in my lifetime so I’ll do my best to find happiness here instead.
Why would I want people from a less privileged country coming here and stealing our jobs, putting a burden on our healthcare system and making housing even more expensive?
Congratulations America, you’re now the english language Mexico… with worse Tacos.
Europe here. Plenty of expats here from the whole world. You will be welcomed, but getting a visa is a pain. Our politics are shit as well though.
I am originally from the US but moved to AU and am now a citizen. I got lucky and got out just before Trump’s first presidency.
Life here is good. Like, better than most Americans can really understand. Healthcare is free, education is good and includes topics like critical thinking and understanding how to spot “fake news”.
There is only a small aisle of frozen food in the grocery store, not nearly as much pre-packaged food. There are affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, and outside most grocery stores is an independent baker, butcher, fishmonger, and fruit and veg stand.
Minimum wage is $24.10 an hour, and you cannot be fired for no reason if you are a full time employee.
If you compare things (and adjust for AUD to USD) like rent, gas, milk, bread, eggs… Things cost about the same here as in the US.
We pay around the same amount in taxes, and get so much more.
Things aren’t completely rosy, distressingly, Australia seems to want to emulate the US in certain ways which worries me.
There is also currently a bit of an economic downturn and while it’s nothing like what I left behind, it does mean things cost more and luxuries have to be budgeted for.
I think anyone who isn’t a dick would be welcome here. There are racist cunts here like everywhere, but generally Aussies are the kindest and most welcoming people.
Brazil is a Bad Idea®.
- There’s a reasonable chance that a Trump-like clown wins in 2026. Probably a Bolsonaro ally, or even a relative (there have been talks about his wife running for presidency).
- Repeat with me the Latin American mantra: Nothing Fucking Works®.
- Ask Haitians and Venezuelans how they’re treated.
New Zealander here. I work in IT. Americans seem to get on fine here in the IT sector. NZ is less right wing than the US but you wouldn’t earn as much and housing is expensive
Given that my country is Russia and you are probably trying to escape an authoritarian regime, you may consider another destination.
But still, I think Americans are generally welcome. People can make lighthearted jokes about it and be surprised, but you’ll be a welcome guest after all. Bonus points if you say American government, and particularly Department of State, is shit :D
Language barrier might be an issue - most Russians above ~35 have very poor English skills, and younger folks mostly have it on A2-B2 level.
Oh, and the country is sanctioned to hell, so sending money in and out is an additional hurdle. But if you retain your American credit card, you’ll be alright and at least able to make payments outside the country.
Welcome to EU! Prepare for a cultural shift:
Considering that everyone on lemmy is 30+ communist tech worker, it’s probably a welcome change
Speaking more specifically about Poland, depending on how you measure, we might have the most rapidly secularizing society in the world Some Americans (catholic fundamentalists) seem to think that you can just barge in, snatch a tradwife and plot of land and live like it’s 50s, but these people are straight up delusional. Introducing ban on abortion, for example, erased full quarter of support for the party that did it (40% ish to 30% ish overnight) and caused largest protests since dissolution of Soviet Union. There are conservative women, but these tend to be 60+
In tech job market specifically, the bubble has ended (like everywhere else i guess), but if you’re a senior or able to keep your current job you’ll be fine (not sure how you’d get residence permit then). You’d need to lean Polish as a practical matter, because while lots of people do speak decent English, many don’t (esp. 50+ and in small towns) and many official matters can be done in Polish only. Like everywhere else, there’s division between more conservative rural areas and more liberal large cities; no one wants to live in the former, even locals, and so most of foreigners live in Warsaw (or Kraków, or Wrocław). It sounds like you’d blend in right away in one of these places. While property prices and rent went up since start of the plague, it’s not as crushingly bad as in, say, Berlin or Rotterdam. Random benefits include ability to pirate absolutely everything without VPN with no consequences and ability to use complaint as a conversation starter
I never thought about it before, but I agree - you can start a conversion by complaining.
Living in Poland all my life, I also would like to mention it feels really safe here (as a white male, so…).
Unless you’re into football, or low quality clubbing you’ll be hard to find violent crime. Domestic violence and related murders do happen, but you’ll be hard pressed to get yourself mugged or assaulted these days.
You can pay by card or via app (blik) nearly anywhere, small village shop, street produce vendor, food truck, anywhere. If they don’t want your card they are probably doing some tax fraud, or are bad at finding low card payment fees.
TL;DR: I’ve travelled a bit, and I really don’t think I’d rather live anywhere else.
I guess it’s good to hear that things are changing for the better, I emigrated from Poland when I was a child to Norway and my perception of Poland is a far less favourable one lol
Though my entire polish family are also very religious and conservative so
look up all the weird shit polish immigrants are up to in Chicago. You’d think they’re living in 20s or at least 70s
That’s really funny - my very Catholic mom is going to Poland next year with some church group and the priest, lol…I apologize for her in advance!
I’ve always wanted to visit Poland and still hope I can, one day. But no weird Catholic shit!
I’m guessing she’s going to Częstochowa?
Is that the church in the salt mine? That’s the only place she’s mentioned so far, but I don’t recall the name or if she even said it, really. She may have just read about it and not known how it was pronounced.
That’s Wieliczka. There’s more to it than the church, it’s pretty cool, but you’re liable to be salty on you ur way back up.
That’s Wieliczka salt mine, sounds more like a regular tourism and less like pilgrimage. At least it’s not Licheń, plastic-clad tourist trap monstrosity where you have unique opportunity to get scammed by our only televangelist (whose main medium is radio, and is catholic)
Częstochowa is on a hill, that’s a big centuries old monastery. Frequent pilgrimage target
I want to say on that cultural shift, having lived my entire life in the dark blue sections of the US… that would be such a freaking welcome change.
Also fucking shocked that Kansas ISN’T dark blue.
Heidelberg, Germany. This town is already more American than some towns in America.
Weird way to talk about immigrants
First of all, stop using word “expat” when you’re talking of immigrants but from “better countries”
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Hard agree, expat as a term only exists because white people wanted to separate themselves from those they deem ”lesser immigrants”
I moved to Japan from Sweden, I only call my self an immigrant because that’s what I am
Ive usually seen “Expat” defined as someone working in another country, but explicitly with the intent to be there temporarily and leave once their time at that job ends, rather than moving there with an intent to stay and join that society. Which, granted, doesnt seem to be what OP is actually talking about in this case.
What OP is talking about has been a thing since the 90s and even 80s and earlier with ex-military.
Move to a cheap country where your pension/disability/passive income/whatever makes you wealthy.
Originally places liked it because it was an influx in cash. But then it became too popular and they were gentrifying places to the point locals couldn’t afford to live and these leeches never worked.
It became big again with the internet when people became able to work and American job while overseas remotely. But by now most American companies just won’t pay American wages. If they wanted someone overseas they’d pay them the low wage they always do.
With those younger people they added the “temporary” because they say they’ll move back someday.
What you’re talking about (if the job is in that country) would be a migrant worker.
But they also don’t like that label, they think they’re better than it.
I’d argue we should call all migrant workers expats. Unless they’re literally working in a migratory fashion, spring here, summer there, fall somewhere else, etc.
It’s short for “expatriate.” I’m not saying it isn’t used in the way you described, but that’s not the original meaning.
Yea, I always thought an “expat” was someone who was temporarily sent to another country to work for their company there.
Americans don’t want to be grouped in with “dirty non-white immigrants” so they consider themselves expats even if they intend the move abroad permanently.
Thats just the expats changing the narrative when people started calling them out on it.
I always understood that you refer to yourself and your fellow countrymen abroad as expats. You use the word immigrant when referring to others.
That’s some old fashion ‘us versus them,’ kinda thinking.
I always saw expats as something between immigrants and tourists. They aren’t trying to switch countries and they aren’t just on vacation. There’s plenty of good reasons for this category, like being sent somewhere by your employer. This naturally creates a community of foreigners who aren’t necessarily worried about fitting in as a new citizen or permanent resident would be.
But yeah, this idea that Western countries have expats instead of emigrants is weird.
I’d love to see countries mark “expat” as an option on forms…
Just as a trap to filter them all out.
It was literally in the last couple of weeks that I first came across this. I thought it just meant ‘a person living in a country in which isn’t their home country’ regardless of origin, etc. The only thing I thought of it is that it wasn’t necessarily permanent whereas immigrant to me had permanence. It’s wild that, to me, it seems to have come out of nowhere.
Austrian here, I work in software development, I have encountered people before who didn’t speak much German and whom I had to speak English with. I think you’d be fine around here, we’re a pretty generic Western culture I think.
Depends how they behave. If they behave like “Expats”, who don’t care about integrating into our society, don’t care about learning the local language even after years, they are not welcome.
If they integrate seamless (and this does not imply giving up their identity, just to make sure), and become a good member of this society, be welcome.
Summed it up pretty well.
We love our country, and welcome you to join it. But join us - don’t bring your country’s problems here.
i barely integrate now as an american; mostly because of my neuro-divergence makes it easy for people to misread me due my intonation and body language and the number episodes of misunderstanding happened MUCH MORE frequently when i visited my potential new home country as a tourist over the last 40ish years.
i automatically qualify for citizenship for the country and i wonder what it’s going to be like if i have to live there because i have both legal and cultural claim to the country; but i’m very much american plus an american that always seems arrogant and callous to everyone no matter how much he tries.
Do you speak the country’s language already?
yes and i’ve leveraged it along w the stereotype of the entitled american tourist (thanks to my very strong american accent) to get out of most of those episodes.
Preach
When I here Expat I assume asshole xD
You would literally lose your job and social life in the US if you said this in America about immigrants lol
The fact you’re getting dunked on for this comment shows how delusional people are.
If you’re a nurse or some other skilled professional in some specific fields… We have kind of a labor shortage with some jobs here in Germany. I live in the city, should be okay for outsiders. I guess.
I’d recommend to visit a place before considering to move. See how the people act. And you’d need to learn the language to be able to take part in regular every day life. (Edit: And for most jobs.)
Ja, aber man braucht wenigstens b2 für eine Ausbildung zu machen. Das gelt auch für wenn man möchte als Pflegefachmann/frau arbeiten
Stimmt, da habe ich wohl ein großes ‘Aber’ ausgelassen. Habe das mal ergänzt, Danke. Angeblich ist Deutsch ja auch nicht so ganz so leicht zu erlernen. Viele der anderen Sprachen aber wahrscheinlich ebenso wenig.
Ja genau, Deutsch für mich persönlich war/ist schwierig, aber es ist nicht so kompliziert wie es auf Youtube oder Tiktok erklärt werden. Ich schätze, dass es viel einfacher als Arabisch ist.
Beim Sprachen lernen kommt’s immer drauf an wo man her kommt/welche Sprache die Muttersprache ist.
Wer als Deutschsprachiger Japanisch lernt hat es z.b. schwieriger als jemand, der schon Chinesisch kann und Japanisch lernt, weil die Sprachen in den Regionen mehr Ähnlichkeiten haben.
Andererseits ist es für uns Deutsche einfacher Englisch zu lernen als z.b. für die Japaner, weil Englisch und Deutsch vom Aufbau relativ ähnlich sind.
Here in Scotland / the UK you’d be absolutely fine so long as you’re a decent person. There’s not even a language barrier beyond dialect, and dialects vary hugely within the UK and each part of the UK anyway. Just please don’t insist that your great-great-grandmother is actually from Clan MacWhatever.
What if my mom grew up across the road from Bellahouston Park?
Then it’s no wonder she left
Does establishing some kind of ancestry actually do anything? I did a whole report on my great great grandfather on my mother’s side and learned about the name and the clan. Still remember the motto and official plaid and all that jazz. Never once considered it’d ever be relevant to anything.
It is fun seeing “nec sorte, nec fato” pop up ocassionally tho.
It might allow you to join the clan as a social club, essentially. A fair few of them have newsletters and run events where they get together, so it can be a good network. It doesn’t affect the day-to-day life of the average person, though
