Would you immigrate to a different country?

Hey, Spain has open borders. If you wanna leave, check them out. They'll take you as a Spanish citizen if you're human. Oh, and you have to speak Spanish.

When you say you have to speak Spanish how well?

Rancho said:

When you say you have to speak Spanish how well?

Click to expand...

Proficient. Its mostly Limeys there though, moving there from England. So if you'll learn it.

This is something to consider

Every nations economy is in the dumps

KC9 said:

huh, I didn't know that about Spain. I really like Spain, but their economy is kind of in the dumps.

Click to expand...

Spain is the best in the Euro zone right now

TheUndeadPhoenix said:

Spain is the best in the Euro zone right now

Click to expand...

hah, Spain is fucked. They have some of the hardest immigration policies, and kill hundred of people trying to immigrate there all the time (africans, often on the south coast you can find evidence of rubber rafts with bullet holes..)
The unemployment rate is nearly 30%
They are one of the worst off countries in the Eurozone. The EU groups together the southern countries with failing economies, into a funny acronym (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain... PIGS).
If you are thinking you are informed by reading that single article from 2007, I really recommend against immigrating anywhere. You might be surprised what you find.
When this article was written, was the peak of the big construction boom that happened in Spain. Here is how it went down:
Spain went from a reasonably well off country (not rich, but not much of a class separation, since Franco's fascist regime hadnt been long over), to entering the Euro, and tons of MNC coming in to "develop" the country ("But lower interest rates and a healthy dose of aid from Brussels sparked a recovery—spurring demand for labor.").
There was a major construction boom, leading to massive amounts of immigration, as a source of cheap labor, which made an artificial economic boom on paper.
Now, the construction slowly ends, and you can see everywhere you go in Spain, brand new empty buldings from the last 10 years. The immigrants have since gone home, the cost of living has more than doubled, and the unemployment rates have gone through the roof.
That said, It's a great place to live honestly. I lived there for 8 months this year, and dumpster diving is not only legal, but accepted. In Granada (where I lived), the dumpster divers were mostly friendly and sharing. The weather is nice, the people are open...
Dont go there thinking you are gonna find a job though, or that you will get papers just for speaking spanish. If you believe that, I've got some real estate on the moon to sell you.
Earth is correct, Germany (and France) more or less carry the Euro these days. Germany will be fine, even if the Euro collapses. France will have to recover a bit, but will probably make it out fine.
Not every countries economy is in the dumps. If you want to move somewhere and make good money, head to Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway... There are quite some countries that are doing fine, and will likely continue to do so. Denmark will not fail any time soon. Luxembourg is in the Eurozone, but being the tax haven that it is, will never be allowed to fail. Norway is becoming one of the most powerful economies in the world in the last years. Sweden as well maintains its own currency, and a high comfort level. The Scandinavian countries have nearly a 50% tax rate, but combine this with free universal health care, free education, and one of the highest living standards in the world, and socialism begins to not sounds so bad...
I might have to immigrate some day soon, as I am sans papers, for over 2 years, and immigrating illegally is a bad idea, trust me. I think Europe is great, If you are going for citizenship somewhere else, I would recommend UK on the grounds that I am a traveler, and a UK passport will get you almost anywhere in the world without a visa.

TheUndeadPhoenix said:

Hey, Spain has open borders. If you wanna leave, check them out. They'll take you as a Spanish citizen if you're human. Oh, and you have to speak Spanish.

Click to expand...

TheUndeadPhoenix said:

Spain is the best in the Euro zone right now

Click to expand...

Sorry for the Europe rant, but idiots like this spreading misinformation really bothers me. I mean, I know its as well up to the other idiots to be critical, and not believe everything that they read, but that's clearly not the case, otherwise we wouldn't have totally ignorant posts like this in the first place.

Rancho said:

When you say you have to speak Spanish how well?

Click to expand...

Rancho said:

This is something to consider

Click to expand...

I'm a US citizen but my folks were weird missionary types so I actually grew up in Japan until I was 14. I like Oakland well enough, but I passionately do not want to die in this country so I think about emmigrating all the time. The only problem is getting a work visa without a university degree. Although I suppose that working under the table is an option.

I'd go back to Japan in a second if I could, but it's very hard to get work and a place to live as a foreigner. There is the huge homeless/squatter encampment in Tokyo, though. I know there's an official Occupy Tokyo that does demonstrations and marches (and can't camp out, sadly) but this other spot precedes that by decades.

I lived in Taiwan for a month and it was amazing. There are these fantastic parks and open-air tea shops everywhere and there are a ton of cool people and museums. I'd go there, but I don't speak Mandarin and you have to have a university degree to teach English.

Costa Rica is rad. I spent about 8 months there teaching English under the table. The only thing is that there are a ton of Americans going there and trying to retire and shit and it'd feel kind of imperialistic to move there. I loved it there, so as a US passport holder I kinda want to stay away and leave the place alone.

I've never been too terribly interested in Europe, but lately that's changed a little.

I don't know. All this to say, really, that yeah I think about leaving the US frequently, but I'm not really sure how to go about that.

KC9 said:

What country are you currently a citizen of? Have you considered immigrating, or would you like to immigrate to a different country?

I am U.S. Citizen, and I sometimes consider immigrating to Canada or Australia.

Click to expand...

I'm American, lived in England for 3 years. My immigration status fucked up, and I'm trying to get back to Europe permanently

I'm from America and am really trying to get my ducks in a row to move to Australia. Got a friend there and citizenship is super easy if you have someone to sponsor you. Roughly the same tax rate and much better gov't assistance if you need it. Uni is covered as well as health insurance and other niceties.

I'm a subject of the United Kingdom and therein lies the problem. I won't bore you with the details but very little has improved here since the American Revolution. I find the UK educationally, politically, emotionally, socially, environmentally and morally unendurable.

I would like to live in New Zealand. The people are nice, the scenery is amazing and they don't give you shit for having a few tattoos and wanting to live in the woods. I could do a lot worse.
(Any Kiwis interested in a mutually compatible dual-citizenship marriage arrangement?)