michelle that’s exactly why I asked— I found what you found. And so I feel trapped and hate it even more here.
I am sorry.
If you want to switch careers, I think nurses are needed everywhere and you could see if you could get sponsored for somewhere in Europe.
Also, similar to what msmerymac said, some people who CAN be in Canada simply aren’t and are ok with that. My colleague’s husband is Canadian and just got his US Citizenship. I am going to ask my colleague if he will also get Canadian citizenship so they both can have dual citizenship, but they both seem content to live in Houston and just vacation in Nova Scotia.
yup, I have ben looking at nurse recruitment programs in other countries. I don't know if I even could convince DH, but it gives me solace to see an escape plan.
If you have enough money, many countries offer paths to residency and citizenship by investment. Portugal's is probably the simplest.
I will echo what some pps said. Everyone feels like the grass is greener sometimes. I didn't move to the UK to escape Canada's Harper years, but it was a pleasant advantage. Now that I'm back in Canada I agree that depending on where you live here (Ontario and BC especially) the cost of living can be very high. We only just bought our first home, and it's a condo, and we were only able to do it by living with my parents for 4 years to save up.
We seriously considered a move to the US when my H got a job at a university there, but we decided for several reasons that it wasn't for us. I don't know that my H will ever renounce his US citizenship, but he will become Canadian when he is eligible in another year or so. My H's career took a huge hit, but IMO it was worth it.
Post by underwaterrhymes on Oct 23, 2020 16:39:28 GMT -5
We’ve lived overseas before through the Peace Corps. Obviously that’s a short term solution, and probably not one you’d want to explore under the current administration. I know of several people who got jobs in the same country afterwards, as well.
If you can afford to buy property overseas, many countries will let you move there, but you’d need to find a job once there, obviously.
There are lots of teaching jobs overseas. I got CELTA certified to teach English as a foreign language in Bulgaria and oftentimes they help you find a job afterward.
I loved living internationally and would love to do so again for many reasons. However, as others have mentioned, you’re going to encounter a lot of the same problems we have here many places.
Post by underwaterrhymes on Oct 23, 2020 16:42:39 GMT -5
You could get SCUBA certified and teach internationally. That’s the route my sister went. She and her husband owned a dive shop in Galapagos. They’re back in the States now, however.
I am not even being hyperbolic. I don’t enjoy living in this country. I don’t feel I get much return on investment of taxes. I don’t think the standard of living is so much higher than other Western countries. I don’t feel safe. My values don’t align with the citizenry or the government.
Besides marrying someone in the country of your choice, how do you get out of Dodge and head to Europe, NZ, Australia, or Canada? Like, I want legally out, not just physically.
I don’t have the answers you are looking for but I am Canadian and am happy to answer general questions about life here.
Post by chickadee77 on Oct 23, 2020 17:04:38 GMT -5
We're starting the research of moving to Canada (likely Manitoba or Ontario). His family has had property there since the 1940's, so we're hoping that might help somehow - also, we go up every year (except this year, obvs) for about a month, sometimes longer. His job is WFH, but in an international business where his physical location doesn't matter much, so again, fingers crossed.
I grew up in WI, so the climate difference doesn't phase me much. I realize the grass is always greener, to some degree, but this has been on our minds for 10-15 years, so it's not a new thing, lol.
You could get SCUBA certified and teach internationally. That’s the route my sister went. She and her husband owned a dive shop in Galapagos. They’re back in the States now, however.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Oct 23, 2020 17:36:49 GMT -5
My DH took a job as a professor in Lima, and I got a job teaching in an English school pretty easily. It was amazing, but the government is super corrupt, and lots of racism (like anywhere really, I suppose).
You could get SCUBA certified and teach internationally. That’s the route my sister went. She and her husband owned a dive shop in Galapagos. They’re back in the States now, however.
😮
If you’re interested in this idea, please feel free to PM. Her H is from Galapagos, but she didn’t start out there. It’s a tremendously exciting lifestyle and if you own a shop, it can be lucrative.
We're starting the research of moving to Canada (likely Manitoba or Ontario). His family has had property there since the 1940's, so we're hoping that might help somehow - also, we go up every year (except this year, obvs) for about a month, sometimes longer. His job is WFH, but in an international business where his physical location doesn't matter much, so again, fingers crossed.
I grew up in WI, so the climate difference doesn't phase me much. I realize the grass is always greener, to some degree, but this has been on our minds for 10-15 years, so it's not a new thing, lol.
So, no info, but solidarity.
Wait, someone wants to move _to_ Manitoba?!!!!
@neworleans - I graduated with an in-demand degree, and had a job offer in the US in hand. The job offered visa sponsorship, and off I moved (from Canada). Generally the "easiest" route to immigration is based on employer sponsorship.
We also spent a couple years overseas due to DH's military service. Not the type of move you're thinking about, but, a DOD job as a civilian could offer overseas opportunities - there were civilian administrators and support personnel of varying sorts there.
I have maintained my Canadian citizenship. It offers us the opportunity to move north if we choose to. I maintain a green card in the US, so I have most of the rights folks down here have. I don't know what the next while brings, but it's nice to have the reassurance of that in our back pocket.
With your name here, is there a chance you speak French? That would go a long way to helping you with the point system in Canada, from what I understand.
You could get SCUBA certified and teach internationally. That’s the route my sister went. She and her husband owned a dive shop in Galapagos. They’re back in the States now, however.
This is the absolute best route to foreign residency I have seen mentioned. Love this one and never would have thought of it. My family of 4 are SCUBA certified and we are currently expats whose assignment ends in 2 years. DH and I have already discussed that we don’t want to return to the US any time soon. This just might be the answer we’ve been looking for.
My DH took a job as a professor in Lima, and I got a job teaching in an English school pretty easily. It was amazing, but the government is super corrupt, and lots of racism (like anywhere really, I suppose).
We lived in Eastern Europe for several years, and there were a lot of great things about it (hello universal healthcare), but there was also government corruption, active organized crime, and quite a bit of racism and homophobia.
I agree with posters who have said that each country has its own issues to some degree (although some arguably more than others). There is certainly no shortage of racism and Islamophobia in Europe.
We're starting the research of moving to Canada (likely Manitoba or Ontario). His family has had property there since the 1940's, so we're hoping that might help somehow - also, we go up every year (except this year, obvs) for about a month, sometimes longer. His job is WFH, but in an international business where his physical location doesn't matter much, so again, fingers crossed.
I grew up in WI, so the climate difference doesn't phase me much. I realize the grass is always greener, to some degree, but this has been on our minds for 10-15 years, so it's not a new thing, lol.
So, no info, but solidarity.
Wait, someone wants to move _to_ Manitoba?!!!!
@neworleans - I graduated with an in-demand degree, and had a job offer in the US in hand. The job offered visa sponsorship, and off I moved (from Canada). Generally the "easiest" route to immigration is based on employer sponsorship.
We also spent a couple years overseas due to DH's military service. Not the type of move you're thinking about, but, a DOD job as a civilian could offer overseas opportunities - there were civilian administrators and support personnel of varying sorts there.
I have maintained my Canadian citizenship. It offers us the opportunity to move north if we choose to. I maintain a green card in the US, so I have most of the rights folks down here have. I don't know what the next while brings, but it's nice to have the reassurance of that in our back pocket.
With your name here, is there a chance you speak French? That would go a long way to helping you with the point system in Canada, from what I understand.
@neworleans - I graduated with an in-demand degree, and had a job offer in the US in hand. The job offered visa sponsorship, and off I moved (from Canada). Generally the "easiest" route to immigration is based on employer sponsorship.
We also spent a couple years overseas due to DH's military service. Not the type of move you're thinking about, but, a DOD job as a civilian could offer overseas opportunities - there were civilian administrators and support personnel of varying sorts there.
I have maintained my Canadian citizenship. It offers us the opportunity to move north if we choose to. I maintain a green card in the US, so I have most of the rights folks down here have. I don't know what the next while brings, but it's nice to have the reassurance of that in our back pocket.
With your name here, is there a chance you speak French? That would go a long way to helping you with the point system in Canada, from what I understand.
Seleument un peu
I'm not sure how fluent you need to be, but because Canada is a bilingual country, and french-speaking immigrants seem to be fewer in number than english-speaking immigrants, that may help you. It might mean moving to Quebec or Newfoundland, but it's still Canada. (I'll admit I don't know as much about Canadian immigration as I ought to...)
This, although you'll still have to pay taxes to the US government as long as you remain a US citizen.
Not always. There is lots of wiggle room here, according to our expat friends in Oman.
There is not really wiggle room. The rules are very clear, they are just not as terrible as they sound for most people. You have to file federal income taxes no matter what, and may have to file state income taxes depending on where you own property, etc.
BUT your fist $110k ish US tax free and you are able to deduct local taxes. And no payroll taxes. You have to make a couple hundred thousand to owe the US even if you live in a low tax jurisdiction.
Anyway, Hong Kong is easy to move to, but not a great place to be these days. If you are independently wealthy it is easy enough to buy a new passport and some countries have rules where if you buy property you can live there but maybe not work there.
Citizenship by descent is good to look into if you have European ancestors. Maybe other places do it too, I’m not sure.
As others said, some European countries have more lax standards than others. I have tri-citizenship (US/UK/Ireland) even though I was born in the US, and I submitted my kids' Irish foreign birth certificate applications a few weeks ago just in case shit hits the fan (DH can theoretical, pre-C19, get a spousal visa easily). For Ireland you only need a grandparent born there and then you can pass citizenship down indefinitely as long as your parent has it first (i.e. my kids wouldn't be eligible if I hadn't already applied for mine before they were born).
We're starting the research of moving to Canada (likely Manitoba or Ontario). His family has had property there since the 1940's, so we're hoping that might help somehow - also, we go up every year (except this year, obvs) for about a month, sometimes longer. His job is WFH, but in an international business where his physical location doesn't matter much, so again, fingers crossed.
I grew up in WI, so the climate difference doesn't phase me much. I realize the grass is always greener, to some degree, but this has been on our minds for 10-15 years, so it's not a new thing, lol.
So, no info, but solidarity.
Wait, someone wants to move _to_ Manitoba?!!!!
Lol, aw I live in BC but actually love Manitoba. Very fond memories of a few road trips out there as a kid. Plus it has a thriving little francophone population. If only it didn't have hideous winters and giant mosquitoes.
I'm not sure how fluent you need to be, but because Canada is a bilingual country, and french-speaking immigrants seem to be fewer in number than english-speaking immigrants, that may help you. It might mean moving to Quebec or Newfoundland, but it's still Canada. (I'll admit I don't know as much about Canadian immigration as I ought to...)
I'm not sure how fluent you need to be, but because Canada is a bilingual country, and french-speaking immigrants seem to be fewer in number than english-speaking immigrants, that may help you. It might mean moving to Quebec or Newfoundland, but it's still Canada. (I'll admit I don't know as much about Canadian immigration as I ought to...)
La famille de mon père est québécoise mais je ne veux pas déménager dans un endroit encore plus froid qu’ici. Lol.
You could get SCUBA certified and teach internationally. That’s the route my sister went. She and her husband owned a dive shop in Galapagos. They’re back in the States now, however.
This is the absolute best route to foreign residency I have seen mentioned. Love this one and never would have thought of it. My family of 4 are SCUBA certified and we are currently expats whose assignment ends in 2 years. DH and I have already discussed that we don’t want to return to the US any time soon. This just might be the answer we’ve been looking for.
They loved it. Honestly, they’d still be doing it if the educational opportunities weren’t so poor and teen pregnancy rates weren’t so high on Galapagos. They have a pre-teen daughter whom they wanted to attend school in the US. He still does several dive trips a year since he’s fairly renowned in the dive industry for a particular kind of diving that rare and dangerous. She misses it a lot. And they have discussed moving back to Ecuador if Trump wins. He’s experienced a lot of discrimination here.
Post by rupertpenny on Oct 23, 2020 18:40:49 GMT -5
I’d also caution against moving abroad to teach English. Getting a legit job teaching at an international school or other school that uses English as the language of instruction is a good gig. Teaching English at a tutoring center can be brutal. I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years so my advice may be Asia specific, but most of the English teachers there work long hours for low pay. Plus if you aren’t white basically no one will hire you no matter how fluent you are.
I’d also caution against moving abroad to teach English. Getting a legit job teaching at an international school or other school that uses English as the language of instruction is a good gig. Teaching English at a tutoring center can be brutal. I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years so my advice may be Asia specific, but most of the English teachers there work long hours for low pay. Plus if you aren’t white basically no one will hire you no matter how fluent you are.
Second this. There are thousands of foreign teachers here in Korea. A small percentage work at international schools, which tend to provide a decent wage, housing, visa and cultural adjustment support. The vast majority of teachers, though, work as tutors. You pretty much have to be white, people of color are VERY much discriminated against. Hours are bad (generally after school, so 4pm-midnight), pay is low, and the recruiter will help procure visas and housing but at the recruits expense. Their housing tends to be small, moldy, with bugs, etc. I’ve heard absolute horror stories. If anyone goes this route, get LOTS of references for the school and/or recruit or first. There are lots of FB pages where info is available for teachers in different countries.
I'm not sure how fluent you need to be, but because Canada is a bilingual country, and french-speaking immigrants seem to be fewer in number than english-speaking immigrants, that may help you. It might mean moving to Quebec or Newfoundland, but it's still Canada. (I'll admit I don't know as much about Canadian immigration as I ought to...)
I think you mean New Brunswick.
Huh. Crap. You're right!
I always had it stuck in my head that Newfoundland was bilingual. Oops!
(can you tell I never lived in the maritimes? visited a handful of times as a kid, but never lived there...)
I work with companies based in Europe occasionally as part of my job. I often wonder how I can casually ask if they're hiring while on calls that include my current colleagues.
Of course our leadership was joking the other day that we should move the whole organization to New Zealand so maybe they would understand.
My company has offices that I work with in Calgary and I genuinely think I could make a play to join the team up there. Similarly, DH's company has offices in several locations around the world and could also probably make a similar play. He is wrapping up a doctoral degree this year with the University of Calgary and there's a possibility he could get a university position with an international school, whether in Canada or somewhere else. I think it's doable for us, but, as lots of others have said, it would be to follow employment opportunities.
All that said, I honestly don't feel a strong pull to leave the country in spite of what I might yell exasperatedly at times. Europe has plenty of racism and corruption. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all seem like good spots and would be potential options available to us for jobs, but Australia and New Zealand are realistically just too far for us to move right now. New Zealand truly is a magical place, but I don't know enough to really understand if we could have successful careers there and live comfortably. Ultimately, Canada is probably the best option and I'd happily move someplace like Calgary, which is not dissimilar to Denver. Of course, ask me again on November 3rd how I feel about this and I may be packing my bags. lolsob.
I work with companies based in Europe occasionally as part of my job. I often wonder how I can casually ask if they're hiring while on calls that include my current colleagues.
Of course our leadership was joking the other day that we should move the whole organization to New Zealand so maybe they would understand.
DH's company is looking at opening an office in New Zealand. He was all "I'LL GO RUN IT!" lol
We went there for spring break when we studied abroad in Australia and then honeymooned there a few months after we get married. It's really amazing.
Post by ellipses84 on Oct 23, 2020 19:38:26 GMT -5
Find a job that will get you a work visa. Alternately, if you have a spouse that has any connection to any other country that they could possibly get citizenship in, try that. It could be a long process. Become a “missionary”? Or do volunteer work if you are independently wealthy or can retire early and live off retirement income in a lower COL country.
I was born with dual citizenship but don’t really claim it / need to do more paperwork to prove it since I lost my citizenship card a long time ago and have never held a passport from there. I don’t think I’d want to live there, but I’ve thought about doing it because it could make it easier to live in other countries and would probably be best to do for the future.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”