I know places like Portugal and Spain are going through serious housing crunches right new and I know expats often exaggerate those problems. So where can an American flee oppression without just oppressing someone else?
For context: I’m a progressive lefty, thinking about long term relocation options cause the fash is getting pretty thick around here.
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Never had any problems with Americans anywhere.
Portugal dislikes all immigration because it has ruined their housing market and made it impossible for natives to buy homes at their salary level.
Maybe its Americans buying houses but they dont really dislike Americans as people. They just want their home country to work for people who live there.
The people? No. Their money? Yes.
If you spend big in a community, you’ll be treated well, you’ll be an ‘expat’.
If you’re poor, you’re an immigrant and you are ruining the count.
pretty much. that’s why if you have a few million you can pretty much buy a visa/residency for any country.
I like the few Americans I know in Australia.
Moved to Germany. I feel very welcome here. Theres a very similar political problem growing in Germany, several large political parties that either want things to get only slightly better or a lot worse, and a growing fascist party that wants to enrich themselves by hurting other people. But it doesn’t feel close to the tipping point like the US is, so I still recommend it.
I always feel welcome, except for a drunk white German here and there yelling at me for not knowing the language (I’m working on it, but languages have always been hard for me).
There’s a housing crisis everywhere and immigrants are not the problem, it’s the fact that housing is a financial investment vehicle and the wealthy are only getting wealthier while most everyone else is getting poorer. You’re not oppressing people by moving to their country and paying taxes. You’re the villain if you dodge taxes, are a landlord (and aren’t fighting to tear down the current housing system), or have 5 million+ and aren’t fighting to help people and fix the system.
What mechanism did you use to get there. Just a work visa? Any path to eventual residency or citizenship?
I worked for a company in both countries - so I was fortunate enough to use the Blue Card visa. If you can make that work, that lets you work anywhere in the EU which is great for back up.
Path to permanent residency in Germany takes 3 years, low language skill, and a civic test. Will be doing that in 2026.
Citizenship takes 5 years and medium language skill. I’m a bit away from that.
Generally, I think the path to citizenship is fair but the easier they make it the better the country will be (to a point I guess).
I moved to Canada and have only felt welcomed. The trick is to not be an asshole, give people a reason to want to be your friend.
How cold is it? Native Texan and lived in Ohio for a few years but the winter was brutal, thinking about CO though I know winter is pretty rough there too.
Last winter was pretty brutal. It didn’t stop snowing for like two months. There would be an extra 2" (5cm) of snow every time I opened the door. Temperatures vary depending on where you are but can get pretty cold. Parts of Quebec are infamously cold. Toronto has been chilling around 20F (-6C) but can drop close to 0F (-17C) at times. Overall weather in Toronto is closest to Buffalo or parts of the northeast. Buffalo is only 2 hours away, for reference.
That said, the cities are absolutely prepared for winter. Many of them even have sprawling underground pedestrian networks, like the PATH in Toronto or the RÉSO in Montreal. Most people have winter tires. Outside the cities it’s a bit harsher though
Interesting, I probably won’t move there then lol, but appreciate the info!
I would prefer suburbs vs big city, too many people for my liking :p
Honestly the city is very good when it’s actually properly designed, unlike most north american cities.
TLDR is that living somewhere with good density (2-3 floor condos being the norm) while still having space so it’s not crowded, like most places having backyards that connect to the alley sounds like a compromise, but the upside is that you can walk to literally everywhere you could possibly need to go except maybe your job, which is a suprisingly big boon to qol.
I say this because I used to have a similar attitude, but moving from moncton to montreal really changed my mindset.
If you want an example of what I’m talking about you can see the “le plateau” neighborhood in google street view.
What was the process like?
Very difficult and full of unprocessed grief
First take time to listen to people. Engage in their conversation. Whilst your opinions are valid take some time to listen to others instead of coming in hot with views that Canadians might feel upset about. After that build friendships from mutual acceptance. Sports is a good way to bond. If you can volunteer around your neighbourhood. You’ll find the transition easier if you try a little at the beginning. It will go a long way. You’ll soon forget the person you used to be.
I think they meant the immigration process
Are you American left, southern Europe left, eastern Europe left, or northern Europe left?
Any chance anyone is willing to define these for those of us that are a bit ignorant?
Greek American’s take: from left to right it gets more progressive, pointing out that even progressive Americans are still conservative in Scandinavia.
American who lives in Scandinavia now:
Yup. Bernie Sanders would be pretty center here imo
“Progressive” is anyway a specific adjective that by itself doesn’t mean much. Some Americans would call themselves more progressive than others because English is a (more) gender neutral language.
Immigrants that accept that they are immigrants or self-described expats?
As long as you don’t try to make your surroundings a mini-'Murica you should be fine everywhere in Europe.
Seems like Filipinos really like us.
Hey, yup!
I’ve been traveling for 15 years in 30 countries and most people are very receptive to respectful American tourists, especially if you take an interest in the culture and learn the standard greeting. They love it if you like the food, which i am very good at!
Everyone asks where I’m from, and nobody is upset when I tell them the US.
In vietnam, they love it because they kicked our ass in the war.
It depends
In Australia, we’re happy to have people come here who will contribute to our society
Trump supporters aren’t liked here, and we have great sympathy for people moving here from 'Murica to get away from the bullshit
My fiancée is from the US, and we’re working on her visa
There are amazing opportunities here, particularly if you are interested in living outside of the big cities like Melbourne and Sydney
That’s the general consensus I’ve (we’ve) experienced so far as well. Ex federal US employee, now employed in Brisbane. We couldn’t be more grateful for the acceptance we’ve received
Albania LOVES Americans. There’s a bunch of history that boils down to America helped make Albania and Kosovo exist. There are statues here of a bunch of former US presidents. Americans even get better visas than anyone else. It’s a 1 year automatic visa on arrival. If you don’t apply for a residency permit in that year, you have to leave for 90 days, then you can stay for another year.
Albania is still developing. Everything has a little more friction than in the US. Quick examples; no Amazon, no real freeways, no drive thrus. The bureaucracy is very much like “papers please”. There aren’t a lot of local jobs. The language is hard to learn fluently, but it’s possible to get by day to day with a few phrases and Google translate.
The people are amazing. The food is great. The entire country is beautiful. If you stay out of Tirana, rent is really affordable. Every time you meet someone, they’ll ask why you’re here because everyone wants to move to America.
Interesting. My grandpa was Albanian. Not that he ever talked about it, really. Or maybe I was too young at the time to listen.
Anyhow, I’m glad we weren’t dicks to his people. There aren’t many countries you can say that about.
I mean i dont mind americans per se, more so do i dislike the loudness and disrespect they often bring. But speaking as partner of an imigrant living in germany, jobmarket is hard even for natives. And you need to be fluent in german
I’d aim for countries that have few American immigrants, like Eastern Europe, South America, anywhere but Thailand and Japan in Asia… Of course avoid those actively hostile to Americans.
Alternatively somewhere English-speaking so you’d barely stand out - Canada, UK, Australia
Actually most countries in the world have little American immigration. Avoid Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Japan, most small Caribbean countries (I guess). The stereotypical “expat” places.
It’s like any kind of immigration. A small number is always welcome, but once many immigrants of the same origin come you get social cohesion issues.
Speaking as an immigrant wannabe who personally investigated a lot on this… not ones that I’m aware of. At least I don’t know any countries that are both 1) what I’d imagine most Americans are willing to relocate to, and 2) have preferential or at least very “easy” paths for immigration for Americans. Maybe there are some for those with a “lucky” ancestry, but from my understanding that’s it
Netherlands technically “appreciates” American immigrants because of the DAFT, but that doesn’t really answer the question… NL isn’t that easy to move to, and from what I’ve heard a lot of people don’t end up making it on DAFT. Their job market is a bit screwed-up at the moment and they have a very significant housing shortage as well
Still, I think there are lots of countries that welcome aspiring immigrants who have in-demand skills (and some, with significant wealth), as long as one is willing to adapt to that particular new country/culture. If one is competent in a language that is not English that list grows even longer
I think there are lots of posts on this on r/AmerExit and r/IWantOut… lots of delusional posts, but a good bit of not-so-delusional ones too
If you get a job and pay your taxes Scandinavian countries most people don’t mind.
