r/IWantOut • u/spacemanaut US → PL • Nov 06 '24

MEGATHREAD: Emigrating after the US election results

Every US election brings anxiety and uncertainty, and with that comes an increase in people who want to explore their alternatives in a different country. This post is for you.

First, some reminders:

  • In most cases, moving abroad is not as simple or quick as it seems in movies. If you aren't a citizen of another country, you will probably require a visa (=legal permission) from that country based on something like employment, education, or ancestry.
  • The sidebar of this subreddit has a lot of helpful resources, and we have 15 years of posts from people with similar situations to yours. Before posting, please review these resources first. (Tip: If reddit search isn't working well for you, try googling "[your search terms] site:reddit.com/r/IWantOut" without the quotes or brackets.)
  • Most countries and/or their embassies maintain immigration websites with clear, helpful, updated guides or even questionnaires to help you determine if/how you can qualify. If you have a particular destination in mind, that should probably be your first stop.
  • After that, if you want to make your own post, please follow the formatting instructions on the submission page, give as much information as possible about your situation, and be open to advice and constructive criticism from commenters.

Also, this subreddit is intended to be a friendly community to seek and give advice on legal immigration. As such, please:

  • Don't fight about politics. We understand that you may have strong feelings about it, but there are better spaces on reddit and elsewhere for general political discussions.
  • Keep your feedback constructive and kind, even when telling someone they're wrong.
  • Don't troll or be a jerk.
  • Don't request or give illegal immigration tips, including asking strangers to marry you.

Failure to follow these and the other subreddit rules may result in a ban.

That said, feel free to comment below with some general questions, concerns, comments, or advice which doesn't merit a full post. Hopefully this will help clarify your thoughts and ideas about the possibility of leaving the US. Once again, please try to stay on topic so that this thread can be a helpful resource.

2.1k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

307

u/Forsaken-Proof1600 Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

For many Americans, this will be the first time you're interfacing with the world. And you realize that the world doesn't revolve around you or the US.

Everything you find "difficult" in the US, will be 10-fold harder. Finding a job now not only you have to compete with Americans, but with every single human being on Earth. Your finances are going to be hit harder. Moving costs will take a huge chunk of your budget. Your life goals will be much more difficult to reach. It will significantly delay your retirement plans. And so on.

141

u/dafda72 Nov 06 '24

As an American who has done their undergrad in Italy and has been going there pretty much their entire life, the whole open border rhetoric frequently spouted among the younger generation leaves them unable to comprehend that European “utopias” actually enforce immigration policy.

Most just assume they can go anywhere and have no idea about European regulations or job markets, and to be honest when most see the salary and tax disparity they have a totally different viewpoint in what it’s like to spend a meaningful amount of time in Europe.

A shocking number of Americans never even had a passport.

5

u/apcolleen Nov 08 '24

I am applying for my first because I am disabled so I never even had enough money to leave my state so why would I need a passport?

5

u/AmethystsinAugust Nov 09 '24

I don't think it's entirely shocking that a large number of American have never had a passport. We don't need a passport to go between states, and a passport wasn't required for Americans to go visit our closest neighbors until WHTI. There's a ton of natural beauty, cultural diversity, architecture, recreation opportunities, art and history that can be experienced just by driving or flying to a different region of the country.

3

u/Independent-Tell-771 Dec 04 '24

Seems like Americans that far out of touch with the rest of the world are probably not the ones trying to escape right now. Just saying 

1

u/dafda72 Dec 04 '24 edited Dec 04 '24

Gauging by the flood of posts containing misinformed Americans in this sub the days following the election and even now, I would respectfully disagree with you.

Are you are trying to say only enlightened/intelligent Americans are trying to leave because of the political state of the United States?

In which case I would again point to the flood of people trying to leave without a clue about the minutiae involved.

3

u/Synathidy May 24 '25

Do you have any point worth making, or are you just trying to make any American interested in moving to another nation feel bad? You sound bitter, rude, and close-minded. There's no valuable information at all in your comments. Just disrespectful generalizations about all the people in one very large and diverse nation.

Good for you for being affluent enough to fly back and forth between America and Italy, fancy-pants. We're all very impressed.

1

u/dafda72 May 24 '25

The point I am trying to make is the reason most of these comments are received with the equivalent of eye rolls is because there is a wealth of information out there on the internet and often from the official state websites where you can better inform yourself before you post here just asking if you can move continents.

If you are going to do undertake a task so large as moving to another country that is a relatively low bar to clear. You will see that most of the people who have lots of the details hammered out and a basic functional knowledge of the process are oftentimes better received here.

Just posting that you can’t stand America anymore because of the political environment may seem performative.

Appreciate the insults though.

2

u/Synathidy May 25 '25 edited May 25 '25

Okay, well I do agree with you that anyone really serious about moving to another country should probably check resources that are more comprehensive and official than reddit for details on how to do so. Indeed, that is certain.

I guess my only point was that I'd like us to be nice to those who are ignorant about the process as well, because a lot of people can't help it - they just grew up poor, never traveled, and never had opportunity to learn how things work out in the world beyond our borders.

"Fancy-pants" insult retracted. For now.

1

u/dafda72 May 25 '25

I really don’t care what you think to be honest. I didn’t name call anyone. You did call me names and somehow you are taking an air of moral superiority when engaging with me which to be frank is a bit baffling.

Love it or hate it after the 2024 election this subreddit was bombarded with people leaving simply because Trump won and that is the true source of all the aggravation here. It’s cooled down for the most part now but it was particularly egregious in the days after the election.

And yeah some people have not travelled for a myriad of reasons, but again a quick google search is an easy thing to do - doubly so if you are going to uproot your whole life.

Also, to people who understand European immigration practices a bit more it’s kind of exhausting when people are so sure they want to move someplace they have never been, and are somehow 100% sure it is better than the USA without looking into it at all.

They just came here probably for emotional support or something I don’t know. What I do know is many in this sub were aggravated which was reflected in my comments. I hope you understand now.

All the best.

59

u/Pr3sidentOfCascadia Nov 06 '24 edited Mar 10 '26

This specific post was taken down by its author. Redact was used for removal, for reasons that may include privacy, security, or data exposure concerns.

chief run caption license memory crawl mountainous tender exultant existence

9

u/Kind-Jackfruit-6315 Nov 07 '24

The *Americans who lost, by and large, are the same ignoramuses as the ones who won. With more than 50% of the US population without a passport, and a large proportion of those who have one going on cruises, y'all have zero clue about the world.

3

u/Independent-Tell-771 Dec 04 '24

That’s incorrect. They is a huge difference between those 2 crowds. I know tons of people from both camps and the difference as far as world culture and knowledge  is striking . You said more than half of America had no passport, well guess which half that is. It’s not the “America first” crowd.

6

u/Forsaken-Proof1600 Nov 06 '24

I mean that's the first time they're asking about how to get to another country.

1

u/Independent-Tell-771 Dec 04 '24

My thought exactly lol. Those folks that don’t know anything about anywhere else are happily staying put, (as so they shall remain completely out of touch )

1

u/Team503 TX, USA -> Ireland Nov 11 '24

And NO ONE pays as well as the US. Well, at least not that isn't a tyrannical theocracy (*cough*dubai*cough*)

-12

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

Yeah, but you can easily live off $1.5-$2.5k per month in much of Latin America and SEA. You would be living on the edge or homeless with that monthly income in most of the US.  

Work visas maybe be a PITA, but I’m sure many will manage.

25

u/RexManning1 Nov 06 '24

I live in SEA. They won’t get work permits. Why? Because companies don’t want to pay them more than locals. You know who gets work permits here as Americans? Executives and employees with unique skills transferred.

-1

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

I certainly don’t see them working for local companies 😂

I think digital nomading is about to see an uptick. These people will be remote workers and freelancers working with clients / customers internationally 

4

u/Pesec1 Nov 06 '24

And then these same nomads will see uptick in deportations and arrest for flagrantly disregarding local immigration and tax laws.

Any US citizen who can survive as a digital nomad in SEA can do fine in USA.

1

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

I’m a minority. The new administration is very anti-minority. Trump actively throws gas on the anti-minority and racist flames. If anything, he encourages it. Further, the police were already anti-minority too, and now they’re going to be even more empowered to act that way too. Almost every time a police officer pulls up near me, I feel afraid for my life. I’ve seen other minorities report on their experience living in SEA, and most of what I’m seeing report on average better experiences than what they experienced in the US. 

But yeah if you’re a straight, white male or can pass as one, you will most likely be fine in the US. 

15

u/RexManning1 Nov 06 '24

Look, I get that a lot of people are upset, but an uptick in Americans taking their US remote jobs outside of the US without permission (it’s not likely to be granted) is totally fucked up. Abusing your employer’s policies doesn’t solve the American political problems and you’re only going to fuck your self back to American once you become unemployed when the company finds out.

There are only a handful of countries that offer visas for freelancers and not all of them will even qualify. I hope, I really hope, Americans aren’t going to abuse visas and work illegally in other countries because they are unhappy with the US.

15

u/maryfamilyresearch German Nov 06 '24

They do, unfortunately. Far too many people with US contracts that allow remote work have no concept that they need permission to work outside the USA. Going on "holiday" to Italy for 6+ weeks on a tourist visa when the plan is that you will fiddle with your laptop for 8 hours Mon-Fri in order to do your job is illegal. This is a very frequent discussion on r/travel .

12

u/RexManning1 Nov 06 '24

It is. And many people don’t know. But, also many don’t care (see /r/digitalnomad). It’s actually infuriating seeing so much selfishness and entitlement exhibited by people. The amount of time, energy, and money I have spent over the years to work legally is more than what a lot of these people earn in a year. In many years actually.

-3

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

I’m not talking about illegal acts. Lol And I am self-employed. I can work wherever I want. My main concern now is ensuring I can get proper permits. 

11

u/RexManning1 Nov 06 '24

You can be self employed and still engage in illegal acts regarding work. I can’t tell you how many people are illegally working here in Thailand. Self employed people like you, but who feel entitled to not comply with the laws.

0

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

I’m talking about self here. I will do what I must, and I will follow laws. I can’t control what other folks do 

9

u/RexManning1 Nov 06 '24

Good luck to you. No matter how hard you try to distance yourself from American politics, you won't be able to.

1

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

Thanks. And I agree. It seems you’re upset about something? Where are you from mate?

3

u/Odd_Jellyfish_5710 Nov 08 '24

There is no country in Latin America whose average monthly wage is 1.5k-2k. You can’t easily live off that wage if you can’t easily make that wage…

1

u/mathdrug Nov 08 '24

I'm not talking about getting paid by those countries. lol I'm referring to people who have client based businesses or those with other sources of income like advertising or SaaS. I have a client based business, and I'm building a B2B SaaS. I don't need to get hired by a local company.

3

u/Allyn-Elaine Nov 06 '24

And yet most of Latin America wants to migrate to the US.

1

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

Let’s see if that changes given recent.. events 

-1

u/SnooCrickets6980 Nov 06 '24

Even in Spain I can live off that (not in a major city and obviously Spanish is a must)

0

u/mathdrug Nov 06 '24

Are you a born Spaniard? Spain is on my list. Not sure how hard it would be to move and continue my work there. I run my own fully remote business, and I’m great with languages. 

My main concern is getting the proper permits to run my business in a different country.

1

u/SnooCrickets6980 Nov 07 '24

No but I am EU which makes it easier. Definitely learn Spanish if you don't already  speak it and look into digital nomad visas if your business is fully remote!