How hard is it to move to another country?

I've got a music friend (Charlie Hunter - 7-string jazz guitar monster) who now lives in Greensboro... he told me he and his wife are relocating to London (just outside) next spring with plans to stay at least 2 or 3 years. They will rent their house in Greensboro through a Realtor that handles rentals. Their 2 kids are grown and out of the nest, so they were looking to down-size anyway... looking for a change.

Charlie is a huge progressive BTW... like most musicians (I think there is only Kid Rock and Cat Scratch Fever guy on the Right, and perhaps a few Country music folk... but I don't count them as real musicians - neither is Kid Rock now that I think about it).

He tells me he tours Europe, U.K. and the rest of the World more and more these days and he's always having to fly back and forth. Says it makes sense to cut down on his travel time and distance... but he also admits he's looking for a way to get out from under this oppressive regime. The "2 to 3 years" seems to fit that narrative - obviously hoping for a regime change in 2028
 
Callatoroy said:
Why worry about it? Just pick where you want to live and sneak across their border. Im sure you won’t run into any obstacles and will be openly welcomed by their g’ment. ;)
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I'm sure there governments have actual policy and don't have a masked goon squad looking for brown people. Of course I'm not brown, so my lily white ass would probably be ok. Didn't trump say he liked immigrants from lily white countries...
Yes, trump is a racist piece of shit hiding behind this supposed immigration crises which the republican party has presented no policy to actually make the issue better. Just hire less qualified people to the masked goon squad is trump's answer.

Why not policy? Why is trump afraid of policy? Why is the GOP controlled congress so inept at providing actual policy
 
dukeman92 said:
How safe is it here? The Trump administration has targeted the FDIC for "deregulation and restructuring".
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This is my concern.

What is trump does something to social security like stop payments to anyone not living in the US.

I assume that people who worked their whole lives here, paid taxes, paid SS, current receive their SS payments no matter where they live. I could see this administration changing that.
 
UNCatTech said:
This is my concern.

What is trump does something to social security like stop payments to anyone not living in the US.

I assume that people who worked their whole lives here, paid taxes, paid SS, current receive their SS payments no matter where they live. I could see this administration changing that.
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Well the courts would have to go along or else Trump would need to flout court rulings. And messing with social security, even for expats, is a third rail that could end up burning Trump. He only has power as long as he is relatively popular. If he messed with social security, he could start approaching the 20s in popularity. If that were to happen, the emperor would suddenly have no clothes.
 
hereiam39 said:
Your information is outdated. The Golden Visa is now €500k (almost $600k in US dollars due to crappy exchange rate now because of Trump - was 1.08 at the start of the year versus the current 1.19) per person, not €250k , and has become "super strict." The political party Chega, which is fairly strong right-wing, is gaining momentum and power, and is influencing the political climate towards immigrants/expats. They are trying to lengthen the amount of time to become citizens from 5 years to 10, and do away, or tighten even more, the Golden Visa. As to feelings of Americans/tourists/immigrants, in Lisbon and Porto, there are definitely protests and demonstrations due to over-crowding and inflation, especially in housing. It is less seen in most other cities. In the northern town of Braga, where I live, it really hasn`t hit here yet. But the Chegas are definitely here too. But you don't need to buy your way to citizenship/residency, just put in your time by living here. Right now, it takes 5 years of residency to become either one, but that is subject to double soon if Chega gets their way.
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I guess my buddy didn't get the Golden Visa, but he just moved to Cascais two months ago and said he only had to show he had 150k euros. Maybe that was just for residency and he's working his way towards citizenship like you?
 
Calheel said:
Well the courts would have to go along or else Trump would need to flout court rulings. And messing with social security, even for expats, is a third rail that could end up burning Trump. He only has power as long as he is relatively popular. If he messed with social security, he could start approaching the 20s in popularity. If that were to happen, the emperor would suddenly have no clothes.
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The emperor already has no clothes, just some wear clothes creating glasses. Probably purchased from the trump store.

But, nothing is beyond this administration to try. That inconsistency is a big part of the issues.
 
It sounds like for now for me it will have to remain a pipe dream - I don't have enough funds to stop working and I don't know how easy it would be to find a new job in another country
 
NOVAHEEL13 said:
no, the hostility isn't towards Americans specifically, the hostility is towards tourists who are shitty. Now are most of the shitty tourists American, yes, but it's not exclusively Americans. I was just over in Europe and everyone was extremely nice but my GF and I weren't shitty tourists we wanted to learn the culture and enjoy not doing American shit so we were super welcomed.
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There is a backlash building in some countries (anti-gentrification) including Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica. Some of the objections are crap...some are well founded. Something to keep anele on for sure.
 
rodoheel said:
Paging @CRHeel94
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The grass is always greener on the other side. Every country has its challenges and problems, no situation is perfect. The big variables in my opinion are life stage (ascending, primer working years, quasi retired, retired), number of dependents (kids? caring for elder parents), and financial solvency. The best advice for moving any place is to try and assimilate a bit: learn the local language and culture. Don't try to re-create by brute force the same lifestyle you had back home; that's just swimming upstream and requires so much more effort (and resources). Take advantage of what your proposed location offers (and what you're looking for).

Costa Rica has some great things: mild weather year round ( but rains every afternoon for 3 months), great beaches, close to the US, US friendly culture, decent health care system, friendly people for the most part.
We also have some issues: rising cost of living (housing in coastal areas is increasing rapidly) so its not the value play many expats are seeking, bottlenecks infrastructure, tardiness, mañana attitude, rising crime in certain areas (there are ways to mitigate).

You could make a similar pro/con tally for any country. I love living here...but I'd also love to spend three months per year up north somewhere (Europe for now...would love NC some point in the future).
 
CRHeel94 said:
The grass is always greener on the other side. Every country has its challenges and problems, no situation is perfect. The big variables in my opinion are life stage (ascending, primer working years, quasi retired, retired), number of dependents (kids? caring for elder parents), and financial solvency. The best advice for moving any place is to try and assimilate a bit: learn the local language and culture. Don't try to re-create by brute force the same lifestyle you had back home; that's just swimming upstream and requires so much more effort (and resources). Take advantage of what your proposed location offers (and what you're looking for).

Costa Rica has some great things: mild weather year round ( but rains every afternoon for 3 months), great beaches, close to the US, US friendly culture, decent health care system, friendly people for the most part.
We also have some issues: rising cost of living (housing in coastal areas is increasing rapidly) so its not the value play many expats are seeking, bottlenecks infrastructure, tardiness, mañana attitude, rising crime in certain areas (there are ways to mitigate).

You could make a similar pro/con tally for any country. I love living here...but I'd also love to spend three months per year up north somewhere (Europe for now...would love NC some point in the future).
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Visited Cabo San Lucas back in March for the first time. It's being completely overrun by soulless expat housing communities designed to keep locals at bay. It felt like all the people who used to do spring break in Florida in the 90s had created an even worse geriatric version of it in Mexico.
 
NYCBlueBlood said:
Visited Cabo San Lucas back in March for the first time. It's being completely overrun by soulless expat housing communities designed to keep locals at bay. It felt like all the people who used to do spring break in Florida in the 90s had created an even worse geriatric version of it in Mexico.
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MUST resist urge to ask about taking a vacation in Lebanon!
 
Sounds like
Gmonet said:
I guess my buddy didn't get the Golden Visa, but he just moved to Cascais two months ago and said he only had to show he had 150k euros. Maybe that was just for residency and he's working his way towards citizenship like you?
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Sounds like he is either getting/got a D7 visa (retirement) or a digital nomad visa. Both require that you have enough income to not be a burden to the state. But the income is just a little over minimum wage, which currently about €1100 (roughly $1300US). And you have to prove that you have enough to last the length of the Visa. The Golden Visa you actually have to spend the money first, in a government approved way. When I moved here buying property was enough, but that loophole is gone. Now you have to either purchase or create a business with 10 or more employees, or invest into approved sectors locally. Your buddy is definitely not on the Golden Visa if he just moved here and didn't start a business.
Casçais is lovely as you said. Been there many times. I like to say it is the rainbow capital of Portugal. Because of the Duoro and the Atlantic being on 2 sides, there tends to be many rain-showers, and rainbows appear almost after every one. There have been days were I saw 5 or 6 in a day. Covid cut short a week's vacation we spent there once. Hopefully you made it to Sintra to see the castles and palaces there.
 
05C40 said:
MUST resist urge to ask about taking a vacation in Lebanon!
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It's been a long time since I was last there... 15ish years. But was a gorgeous country at that time, with almost none of the obnoxious American element. Though you did have to be careful about avoiding the Hezbollah controlled areas. Beirut had a great night life scene, You had skiing in the mountains just a couple hours away, and it was possible to day trip to the wine region in the Bekaa Valley. The food there was spectacular, especially in the summer. Many best restaurants maintained their own gardens, so things were picked the same day they were served. Also amazing seafood.
 
This thread is depressing to read. My wife and I desperately want to move overseas but we have an adult son with significant disabilities who depends on both Medicaid and Social security and, of course, us. He is likely to live for decades and outlive us (we hope). That all assumes he retains Medicid and SS benefits which now is uncertain. So all I can do is watch all of you leave with us having no options but to stay. I hope you all make it to a better place.
 
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