Friends: brits_americans--always good for a sadistic laugh

[winterbadger]

I love reading entry after entry that basically boil down to "Will someone please tell me that everything I'm reading about how to emigrate to the UK is wrong and that really it's easy if you know the secret handshake?" :-)

I feel for all these folks, but it does remind me of the game designer who said that 90% of the inquiries he got on rules questions amounted to "Please tell me the rule doesn't say what it does say, because that sucks for me in the game I'm playing right now." Only this is a lot bigger than a game. :-/

Comments

[snolan.livejournal.com]

There is a lot of useful information about exiting the U.S. at http://www.escapeartist.com/ - it appears to be mostly set up for tax-dodgers, but the information is useful for other likely emigrants as well.

The catch with any social health-care country is getting welcomed in once you are over 30 years old - the basic premise being that they (legitimately) don't want to simply welcome every other country's elderly folks who need free health care.

The catch with most countries that have limited jobs is that you can't be perceived as taking a job away from a local.

[winterbadger]

That, erm, looks very, well... I'm sure someone is making a lot of money of it. :-)

The catch with most countries that have limited jobs is that you can't be perceived as taking a job away from a local.

True, and that applies to almost all countries. No one wants people to show up and be a drain on their economy. People find it incredibly difficult to get into the US, and we're notionally the country that welcoems immigrants. Most nations, or at any rate many, have exceptiosn for people who have family or ancestral ties, but for the most part, it's a pretty straightforward question of "what can you do for me?"

[snolan.livejournal.com]

Dude, the U.S. stopped welcoming all but corporate sponsored immigrants a long time ago, and frankly that fact irks me. We should politely return the Statue of Liberty or re-open our borders to immigrants again. Trying to play both sides of the fence is socially and ethically irresponsible.

As far as being welcomed in another country - I sometimes have this fantasy that one could extend their welcome in another country if one opened a business and hired as many folks or more than the number who immigrate to that country. For example, if my wife and I were to move to the Czech republic, we'd probably be welcome for life if we established a business that employed at least two people (say a small book shop). It's just a fantasy, but one would at least be contributing to the taxes and the employement rosters. So the Czech republic is particularly welcoming to ex-pat Americans right now, but over time that will change.

The other truth that many Americans find hard to adjust to is that formal education is far more important overseas than it is here. I probably could not hold a job like the one I have here without a degree... the phrase "independently educated" does not really have meaning in most countries (or Japan and England would be my home now).

I have a pair of friends who took a very different tack. The own a sailing vessel, a house boat. They travel from Caribbean island nation to island nation whenever their visa runs out in one place. They are still U.S. citizens, but they are living in a variety of places throughout a typical year.

[winterbadger]

Trying to play both sides of the fence is socially and ethically irresponsible.

You mean like proclaiming how we want regions to be democratic, then rejecting the governemants that people int he region elect democratically while we support absolute monarchs and military dictators? ;-)

I sometimes have this fantasy that one could extend their welcome in another country if one opened a business and hired as many folks or more than the number who immigrate to that country.

If you can open a business that will employ you and two UK citizens, you are welcome to move to the UK, according to IND.

The other truth that many Americans find hard to adjust to is that formal education is far more important overseas than it is here. I probably could not hold a job like the one I have here without a degree... the phrase "independently educated" does not really have meaning in most countries

Well, while that's true to some extent, you can probably get more recognition for your actual work *experience* than you realize.

I have a pair of friends who took a very different tack. The own a sailing vessel, a house boat. They travel from Caribbean island nation to island nation whenever their visa runs out in one place.

That sounds very nice, if one can find a way to pay for it. And oen doesn't ever have a health emergency. :-)