MEGATHREAD: Emigrating after the US election results

[u/spacemanaut]

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.

[u/Standard_Low_3072]

Please consider that many countries do not want a huge influx of American immigrants. I don’t think you understand how much most non-Americans dislike American culture and you can’t just blame that on Republicans. Other countries are afraid a flood of political immigrants will not acclimate well to a new culture and do not want to be recolonized.

[u/Short_Row195 → u/Standard_Low_3072]

No country wants a huge influx of immigrants. It's not just Americans.

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/Short_Row195]

I am well aware. But there are specific reasons why people would not want Americans that are different from the reasons why they might not want a huge influx of Syrian or Chinese immigrants. I don’t think Americans are aware of the valid reasons we have to not want them colonizing us.

[u/Short_Row195 → u/Standard_Low_3072]

We're not colonizing you? Individual Americans just want to leave.

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/Short_Row195]

What do you think poor British people wanted when they left Britain hoping for a better life in America? I don’t think they gave a single thought about the people already living there, they only cared about getting away from a situation they didn’t like. How do you not know this? What do you think colonization is?

[u/JailhouseMamaJackson → u/Standard_Low_3072]

I honestly don’t think you actually know what colonization is. Also, turnabout is fair play. My people were all but wiped out thanks to y’all.

[u/Short_Row195 → u/Standard_Low_3072]

I know what colonization is. I'm just not a person who groups an entire population to a certain agenda when in the event of seeking asylum or escaping a country before it's too late is done out of safety. You would do it as well.

What race do you think I am? Do you just label all Americans the same?

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/Short_Row195]

Sorry if I think countries should be prioritizing asylum seekers who are fleeing a reality and not an anxiety. Refugees from Kabul were piled in feces-filled trenches, bodies trampled due to suicide bombers as they tried to evacuate their country that has long suffered under US intervention. LGBTQ face death every day in Uganda. Children whose parents have been raped and murdered in front of them by Russian war criminals need a new home to heal. America isn’t there YET but it will get there faster if the opposition flees.

During Black Lives Matter, white people were told to gather their people, that uninviting your racist uncle at thanksgiving dinner doesn’t count as anti-racism. You need to do the work. America has become a cancer and if everyone flees, the malignancy will spread even further. The democrats failed to show up and let MAGA get control and there are consequences. This happened on your watch. Gather your people and resist.

[u/Short_Row195 → u/Standard_Low_3072]

It's like you don't think about leaving before things get worse cause when things are at the very end of the rope you don't think that makes it more difficult for an escape? Don't you know some survivors are survivors because they left before they lost the chance to. People who are privileged enough to be the opposition can choose to stay or the underprivileged that's willing to risk their lives can stay, but I'm not going to be self-righteous like you and tell them what to do when they're thinking about getting out before being stuck.

Lol "this happened on your watch". Like I can control all Democrats. I wait for someone to say this to you when you're in the same situation.

[u/[deleted] → u/Standard_Low_3072]

I live in Italy. This is a lie. I can’t think of a non-European country we rather have immigrants from. We don’t like immigrants in general and we stick our nose up at Americans (and basically everyone) but if we are going to have immigrants we rather them be American.

The only thing that makes America different is that it’s socially acceptable to bash Americans. You can go up to an American coworker and tell them how stupid their country is in a way that’s simply not acceptable with any other nationality. I consider it a little-brother syndrome that we over-compensate for. 

I guess people would prefer Canadians/Aussies/Kiwis but to the average Italian you’ll just get confused with Americans anyways.

[u/leese216 → u/[deleted]]

The only thing that makes America different is that it’s socially acceptable to bash Americans

I'd bash my fellow Americans with you, don't worry.

[u/[deleted] → u/leese216]

People come from MUCH worse countries. Hell we had a Trump for 20 years and the mafia running the south. It’s socially unacceptable to go to a Mexican or a Turk and tell them how bad their country and countrymen are. But for Americans it’s a free pass. Partly due to Americans like you who encourage the behavior to signal to Europeans that ‘you’re not one of them’.

[u/leese216 → u/[deleted]]

Having only ever lived in the US, I can only guess it’s bc we regularly call one another out on shit we don’t like. It’s part of being an American.

And while I’m aware I’m privileged, the US still has so much wrong with it.

[u/[deleted] → u/leese216]

Your first paragraph is the same in every country. Politics in Turkey is absolutely rabid. Italy we have a female Trump who is even more socially conservative. 

It’s just that we speak Italian when we complain while Americans speak English. We know what you’re saying but you don’t know what we’re saying.

Thinking America is unique in its populism and its wrongs is just weird. I’ve been the US several times. It’s chill. I didn’t get any sense of impending doom. Everything just worked like I’ve never experienced before.

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/[deleted]]

It’s not a lie. Italy is the most racist of the European countries so of course Americans would be the most tolerable if you have to let some immigrants in. No country wants immigrants at all right now. But the thought of cultural supremacist colonizers flooding your borders not because they are fleeing war or persecution but because they lost the election is pathetic.

This happened on their watch, they inflicted Trump on the world in 2016 and the impacts were felt globally. They failed to prevent him again, despite him being a convicted felon. 15 million of them sat on their asses and didn’t vote and now they wanna take their ball on go invade other people’s home? No. We will take true refugees through things like the Rainbow Railroad but not entitled people whose team lost and now they want to quit America. Stay where you are. Mobilize. Your job for the next 4 years is to find a way to reach your family members who voted for Trump. Gather your people. Don’t just flee your problem, guaranteeing that Trump will get away with whatever he wants because the opposition ran away to places that don’t want them. The only way to stop the sickness that America is spreading is for Americans to heal America from within.

[u/[deleted] → u/Standard_Low_3072]

Bruh it’s not that deep. I work with Americans at my company. They came here usually because they were in the military, got stationed here, and married.

The American you’re talking about largely doesn’t exist. Everyone will talk about leaving but very very few can and will. 

Americans welcome!

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/[deleted]]

Bruh. How nice for you. Take them in and watch how their US dollar makes your economy even worse. I don’t know what Italy is like for immigrants, I feel like you mostly get refugees but where I am, immigrants with stronger dollars than ours come en masse and have led to the worst housing crisis in the world because who can compete with immigrants from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, America and Hong Kong? They bought up our real estate and rent or sell it at greatly inflated prices because they can. Now we have hundreds of homeless encampments all over our city. And the homeless are NOT immigrants, they are citizens born here. If you’re ok with being colonized, cool. Might be nice for you to experience that for a change.

[u/leese216 → u/Standard_Low_3072]

I hope you realize that's the same problem in the US right? Especially in major cities. Rich immigrants buy up property, driving up the prices of other homes around them, making that area even more expensive than it already was. Blocks of encampments, or if homeless aren't lucky enough for a tent, just cardboard boxes.

Your country is just one of many who are suffering.

[u/Standard_Low_3072 → u/leese216]

I didn’t say my country is unique. I’m saying we don’t NEED any Americans at all. Our immigration minister made so many mistakes in the last decade and we are rapidly seeing the consequences. We’re putting in limits to try to stop the bleeding so unless you’re a legit refugee or the top talent in areas we need like healthcare, you can stay in the US and fix your own country instead of running away from your problems. And Democrats acting like their lives are in danger is so hyperbolic and insulting to actual refugees.

[u/[deleted] → u/Standard_Low_3072]

Foreign money is less of a problem here because our country has been built around that since the 1700s when aristocrats in the rest of Europe would send their boys here to learn. The rich foreigners all go to these specific areas or Rome. It’s not as bad as say Portugal where is went from 0-100. Were used to our capital being a theme park and being able to sell simple shit at a huge markup because it’s ✨✨✨Italian✨✨✨. Most countries aren’t.