Has anyone emigrated outside of the country at these ages?

I'm childfree, so I will not have any help when I'm older. The murder of the health insurance CEO has also opened my eyes if I ever need expensive treatments.

My father did pass away from stage 4 cancer at 60. His mother also found cancer too late but at a later age. I want to prepare now and emigrate to a country where I can receive humane healthcare and if I do live to be old and need assistance - a place that is kind and respectful of seniors.

With that, what countries would it be possible to achieve this even though I would be emigrating as a mature adult?

I'm thinking of Denmark and Finland and am ready to start learning the language to prepare.

Looking to move to the UK, but friends told me it took them 8 years to get a credit card since when they moved there, they had no credit history. They are on work visas. I'm wondering if it's easier to get a credit card if you are a citizen? I'm working on getting dual citizenship through my grandfather who was English. I have excellent USA credit. I've also heard it's hard to move funds from USA accounts to UK accounts. Anybody have any thoughts/advice/experience with this stuff? Thanks!

I’m 30 and have a bachelor’s degree in communications. I’ve worked in marketing for a little under 3 years, but I’m not that dedicated to it/like it very much. I’ve thought about switching to become a radiologic technologist for some time, but here in the US, it only requires a 2-year/community college degree, which I know isn’t “good enough” to work as a rad tech in many countries. I would like to move out of the US and anywhere, really, just to experience more of the world, but would it be a bad idea for me to switch from marketing to rad tech, then?

So I’ve been trying to get my Italian citizenship through heritage for the last three years, but with the new minor ruling that’s made it very unlikely to happen. My family member told me that I could establish residency and then only wait like 3 to 5 years before I could apply for citizenship because I at least have the Italian paperwork. So I want to get started in Italy, but I don’t have the ability to get a skilled worker visa so is there any opportunity for me to get a regular work visa and just start working. I have heard different things about what’s possible.

Our experience may differ from the average person on here wanting to leave the US, but how’s it going for you so far?

I’m currently in Poland and while it’s nice here. I miss my people and culture.

Hi, everyone. My UK boyfriend and I are facing a tough situation, and we’re hoping to get some advice or hear from anyone who’s been in a similar position. Our baby is due in February, and we were not expecting my boyfriend’s visa to the US to be denied. Now, with time running out, we’re exploring all of our options to ensure we can be together for the birth and the first months of our child’s life.

One option we’re seriously considering is traveling to Canada for the birth. We understand we’d have to pay out of pocket for the delivery, but being together as a family during this time is worth it to us. We’re thinking of staying in Canada for 3-6 months so we can be present for this crucial time in our baby’s life.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions on how to navigate this? Has anyone heard of families choosing Canada for similar reasons? Any insight on logistics, legal requirements, or costs would be greatly appreciated.

We’re feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed but are determined to make this work. Thank you in advance for any help or ideas you can offer!

This version is concise, respectful, and opens the door for advice and personal experiences. Let me know if you’d like to tweak it further!

hello, I am a 20 year old college sophomore currently studying mechanical engineering in Florida. I am currently considering switching schools to study industrial engineering in hopes to eventually go into human factors engineering. my question is, is this an in demand field to go into? would it be better to stick with mechanical and still do the field then switching to industrial? I want to move out of the USA within 5-10 years and want a field that will be easier to move out with. what do you guys think or do you have any related stories? I do not have a country in mind I want to move to but I know that it will be in Europe. I do not know a foreign language if that means anything. let me know if you need more info!

This is a long shot and I’m looking for literally any advice. I’m sincerely not doing well and really have no clue what to do. Typing on mobile, so ignore bad grammar and sorry for long read. NSFW bc bad thoughts mentioned.

I’m a 34F, have a BA in computer science, with a 8 year professional background as a software engineer and technical writer at a major US software company. I’m currently living in Sweden as a student pursuing a MA in Language Tech. I also have graduate certificates in Project Management and Copyediting, but these are just certs so not too much significance to them.

I am 110% miserable. I’m approaching my last semester, which is essentially doing my thesis, but I just can’t. I hate this field and I fucking hate computers. I did this MA purely to get out of the US and thought it wouldn’t be as intense as an MA in CS, but it’s still too much. I originally started with CS for money reasons because I was nervous about being unable to pay off my student loans. I’ve managed to do that, but now I can’t escape this field.

My current mental and physical health are so bad. I feel constantly ill at the thought of doing any homework. It’s gotten to the point where I open my computer and just start immediately crying. I feel I’ve aged 5 years in the last 3 months mostly from being overstressed and major depressed.

I really don’t think I can continue, and I seriously can’t do another software job to sponsor a visa or something. My preferred field would be tech writing for something that isn’t software or editing books or similar. I wouldn’t mind being a freelancer, but I don’t know how I would start with my skill set. I’m also very skilled with cooking and hiking if that’s somehow useful as an alt (writing a travel or cook book would be cool for instance). I just can’t stand the thought of looking at more code ever in my life. It’s made me feel like unaliving would be better for me as I really feel I have no other out.

I am only fluent in English. I can mostly read Swedish but can’t speak it well, so I cannot say I’m fluent in it.

I want to stay out of the US because I genuinely don’t feel safe there. I am a gay woman and despite living in liberal US cities, I never truly felt safe, along with the fact I have a bit of a stalker ex and am scared he’ll find me one day. I also have major PTSD from a car accident and feel uncomfortable in cars, so living in a car-centric country is miserable. There are also many other reasons, but those are the biggest. An ideal country for me is basically a lower crime country with gay acceptance and not horribly overpriced, like Sweden. I am willing to move anywhere that just feels overall safe.

I need some sort of plan to keep me out of the US that isn’t what I’m doing, but I have no clue what to do. I’m so done I can’t even research how to escape this stuff. I really cannot fathom doing my current program or do any software job any longer so I’m desperate for any advice.

And no, please don’t suggest some sort of mental counseling. This is 100% related to my current work field and fear of having to live in the US again. I’m looking for logistical advice to stay abroad long-term to hopefully get EU citizenship someday.

TLDR: majorly depressed to continue with software stuff, but desperate to stay out of the US.

Hello everyone, I am considering moving back to Canada (dual citizen) temporarily for some personal reasons. Question I have is what to do about US brokerage accounts?

From what I gather, if I intend to go back to the US later, I should just keep my 401k in the US and deal with those at my later retirement date which sounds great. They’re all in index funds and I’m planning to just keep it that way.

But what about the non-tax advantaged accounts? It looks like as a non-resident of the US, my accounts would be frozen in the US so best to move to Canadian brokerage, but if I don’t plan to sell anyway, can I just leave in US account and no harm/no foul? I would still have an address to use in the US. Has anyone had experience here?

I do plan on getting professional advice but wanted to see if any big implications I should be aware of.

I don’t know why I keep getting taken down I’ve put as much information as I can , I’m Currently in California ,US finishing my bachelors with no hope for the future , From what I’ve seen people commented how it’s all but almost impossible to move to another country if you’re American and it’s kind of freaking me out.Im nearing thirty but only have a bachelors degree I know I’m willing to learn a language or get skills if I need to but I don’t know how or what I’d need to do if it’s even possible(my family moved from china and I was born in the USA it’s getting too stressful living here )) .What do I do ? I want to leave the US to preferably somewhere in Asia but it feels nigh impossible.Ive been looking at Taiwan or china does anyone know what I need in terms of qualifications?

Currently have Medicare plans A&B, plus a Supplemental plan. The medicare B & Supplemental cost about $350/month.

My plan is to reside in France for approximately 10-15 years and then return to the U.S. because my children live here and I will be old! Very active & healthy now, but you never know. I know I will also have to get my own medical insurance for living in France.

My question is should I also keep the Supplemental Plan going? I ask because I know there can be paybacks for not being on certain plans, or needing underwriting to be approved.

Anyone have any experience with this?

To keep things relatively straightforward, I have been legally blind all my life and yet never did it limit me. I'm now in my mid 20s, for the first time in my life I've been unemployed for longer than 3 months and had to move back home, apply for SSDI.. struggling to find employment.

I hold a BA in political science and Hungarian citizenship, so I know that provided I have the money I can certainly move any time.. but the public health system in Hungary is in bad shape. I thankfully only need to see a doctor once every six months, which will only cost me $120 a year instead of the $800 I spent this year (excluding the thousands in surgery costs they wrote of as charity eventually). I am still on my parents' insurance, but they will both be retiring soon and SSDI processing times in my state leave me thinking I'll be without insurance for a year unless I find a job in 2025. My state has managed to build a 3 year backlog of cases.. which my dad refuses to believe is even possible "Because I got my Social Security retirement easily".

My gut is telling me that unless a hyper-speciic set of levers flip in my direction, my life in the US will be a meager existence, reliant on my parents and the inability to live a full life because they didn't want to (nor could we afford if I was able bodied and working, to be frank) to maintain our quality of life in the Northeast once Trump removed the SALT tax deductions. I can either live that meager life.. or emigrate. I'm starting to think emigration is the ticket.

I have “department of state report of birth abroad” signed by a consular officer and I have “certification of report of birth” signed by an authentication officer in Washington DC. Which document (or both) should I get apostilled?

Not sure if this is the place to post my query, and I'm a total n00b. If it's not allowed, I apologize in advance.

I'm wondering if Trump, et al. will start clamping down on our ability to 'leave if we don't like it here', when they realize just how many people want out?

Edit: The number of comments is a wee bit overwhelming, but I just wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback. I'll be doing a lot of exploring thanks to all of you.

I was born in the US.My father is was born in Mexico.Im 19 and getting my Mexican citizenship and do I qualify for fast Spanish citizenship even if I wasn’t born in Mexico?

I'm 35 and have had a stable IT career for 10 years but I'm not impressive enough or have the network to pull a job in Australia or New Zealand. I want to find a university with a 2-year program there that can take my Bachelor's of Science and get me on the road to a permanent residence visa.

I think my next step is to reach out to universities? Trying to cross reference the jobs that a country finds desirable with the programs an institution offers is tricky. My undergrad school hasn't gotten back to me with assistance (probably because there's no money in it for them, maybe because of holidays) so I don't have an idea of what my old degree/credits can do for me.

Does anyone have advice on services I could employ or next steps? I'd like to have all my ducks in a row before just cold-calling universities. Thanks!

It seems that Trump is serious about buying Greenland and seizing the Panama Canal. Is there a possibility that this could affect how American retirees are treated there? Is Panama still going to be on the top of the list?

I’m hoping to find a well reviewed law office or similar to help assist with Portuguese citizenship by decent. I’m only finding multi national law offices that do all countries.

Hoping to find a firm in Portugal that has prior experience handling Portuguese citizenship by decent to hopefully streamline the process and be able to have the experience and connections to pull local archives etc

Any reccomendations would be greatly appreciated!

I am an American digital nomad with my own tech consulting business, looking to apply for the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) residency permit by starting a new business entity in the Netherlands for an App I'm developing. I've seen a lot of people express dissatisfaction with the visa services / Dutch lawyers, and I am looking for anyone who can provide a referral for a Dutch lawyer to handle the entity creation and residency paperwork for myself and my partner. Thanks!

Hello!

I am a licensed clinical psychologist (PhD level) in the US and am looking to move to the London area. I have a background working with forensic populations (state hospitals, prisons etc). For those who have secured a skilled worker visa, would you recommend "cold-calling" agencies of interest? I am not currently able to transfer my US job to the UK. Any other ways of looking for jobs you would recommend?

We uprooted our kids from their nice cozy environment two years (really a year and a half but who’s counting) and moved to a beautiful part of the world down in the Patagonia.

Outdoor living, lakes, rivers, language acquisition, you name it. There have been ups and downs and downs, but I don’t think I can return to suburbia in the USA right now.

Ask me anything. I’m a teacher and have been able to get visas that way through schools, but we have also had sabbaticals in which we were basically on tourist visas.

We’re now in a larger city in South America but it’s a concrete jungle.

Hey there, I'm a 22 y/o accounting student graduating in spring of 2026. Ever since high school, I've dreamed of moving to a European country because I admire the quality of life there. While I know no place is perfect, I believe it could be a better fit for me than the U.S.

My university has a partnership with the University of Innsbruck, and I’m planning to pursue a master’s in Accounting there. To prepare, I’ve started learning German and researching the visa process. However, I know there’s a lot more to consider, and I’d love advice from people who have gone through a similar experience.

Here’s where I stand:

Language: I’m learning German but am still at a beginner level. Any tips for becoming fluent or resources you recommend?

Visas and Residency: What should I know about the student visa process, work permits, or transitioning to long-term residency?

Cost of Living: What’s the financial reality of being a student in Innsbruck? Any tips for budgeting or finding part-time work?

Career Goals: I hope to work in Europe after my studies, ideally in accounting. What’s the job market like for English-speaking accountants in Austria or other EU countries?

Cultural Transition: What challenges should I expect as a young American moving abroad? How can I best integrate into the local culture?

I know I have time to prepare, but I want to make the best choices now. Any advice, personal experiences, or resources would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I'm disabled (ASD) and I can't hold most jobs because I have executive dysfunction. I currently work as an Uber driver because it doesn't really require a lot of executive functioning. I (25 y/old male) live with my family and eventually I will be forced to survive on my own. I cant get SSI in the US because they rarely give it to people with high functioning autism. I have EU citizenship from Spain, so I am hoping to take advantage of that in order to move to a place that has a more generous welfare system than the US. I was thinking about moving to the nordics or something. I wonder how easy is to get access to welfare in Europe so I don't have to worry about becoming homeless in the future. My plan for now is to keep working for Uber, saving all my income and eventually using those savings to establish residency in a place like Norway or something, where you can get housing if you have a disability.

I recently took a genealogy class through my local library and located birth and marriage certificates of my paternal elders. I discovered my paternal grandmother’s parents were born and raised in France, then moved to the US where my grandmother was born. Would this qualify for citizenship through descent? In searching google, I find that great-grandparents do qualify but in reading any sort of official website I’m not finding that to be the case. Wanted to see if anyone had experience in the matter before pressing further. Thanks!

My spouse and I are looking to leave the US. We have 1 year to prepare for this and have already started saving.

We want to live in Europe. France is the natural choice because my maternal language is French (Canadian). We are not interested in settling in Canada. I’m willing to discuss the reasoning, but I’m not interested going back and neither is he.

The facts: - I have an undergraduate in biomedical science. - I have a Master’s in Data Analytics - 7 years of experience in data analytics/science. - 2 years experience in tech consulting and project management. - I have also recently finished a second master’s degree in Cybersecurity. - Fluent proficiency in English and French. - C1 Spanish, B2 Dutch, A2 German. - 36 years old.

My partner will rely on whatever visa category I land. He does not speak adequate French but is learning. He will not yet have an undergraduate degree. Immersion will help and I hope that he will attend university when his French language skills are sufficient.

Knowing that we have 1 year to prepare for this, what practical recommendations can you give? Are there courses, qualifications, or any other things that can be taken abroad in the next year to improve my employability? Decrease the probability of a failed launch?

All advice is welcome and appreciated! Thank you in advance!