If you find yourselves considering a new life in a new country this morning, here are three countries to consider.
Canada
With a flash of your U.S. passport, you’re welcome to visit for up to six months.
That will give you a sense of what it's like here, beyond the clichés.
If you've heard Canada is progressive, spacious and diverse, that's true. But it's not without its problems, so please don't over-idealize it. Still, as an American wrote us last night watching the election results com in, 'Canada is our last hope.'
If you want to stay longer than six months, you have to apply for residency. It's easiest if you're under 45. To work, of course, you need a permit. You can apply for a work permit or residency before you come or when you arrive. There's also a way in if you have money to invest and start a new business. Go to the Canada Immigration website to learn more. It crashed last night because it was getting so much traffic when Americans realized Trump was going to win. But it's up again now.
If you become a permanent resident and have a family, Canadian provinces will educate your children free of charge, but be warned, our free-for-all doesn’t extend to tourists. Oh, and, despite all the propaganda you've been fed about Canada's terrible health care system, the truth is that it is superb and basically free.
FYI, loads of people overstay their official welcome in Canada with no problem, but more than 12,000 undocumented or improperly documented people are deported every year. If you decide to embark on the long road to citizenship, it's a 2-5 year process with no guarantees. That said, Canada remains a country open to immigrants, with 250,000 people welcomed each year.
Mexico
Spoiler alert! It’s all been a head fake. Mexicans probably want to build a wall to keep Americans out. Data shows that more United States citizens move there every year than vice-versa. In fact, Mexico is the top pick of U.S. emigrants. With your U.S. passport, you can visit for 180 days.
If you want to say longer, go to a Mexican embassy or consulate before leaving the U.S. and apply for visa de residente temporal. If you can prove you’re not a criminal and have an income of about $2,000/month or $2,500/month for a couple, the document will allow you live in Mexico for up to four years. That visa does not allow you to work in Mexico, though. To legally work in the country, you’ll need to apply for a visitante con actividades lucrativas. To get that, you’ll have to have a very specific skill. A not particularly well-paid job a lot of Americans can do is teach English. But sucky as the salaries are those jobs go like fresh churros, so get your applications in now if you’re serious about moving south.
Russia
Sarah Palin didn’t lie. You really can see Russia from Alaska. Unfortunately, that tantalizing shore just 55 miles across the Bering Straight is in Chukotka, Siberia, the last closed part of the country. Many of the Soviet-era travel restriction are still enforced there. And just because Russian officials were worried enough about the integrity of this U.S. election to want to send over poll observers, they are not apparently easing up on their nation’s entry requirements.
So first, get an invitation from a Russian person or organization, and obtain a visa—tourist, private, business, or humanitarian. Any Russian visa requires a $50 payment, a photo, and, if requested, a bank statement, a letter from an employer stating your wages, proof of medical insurance for the duration of your stay in Russia, and a certificate about “the makeup” of your family (whatever that means).
After you’ve done all that paper work, you need to get a Rasporyazheniye in order to enter Chukotkan. That requires getting a Chukotkan to sponsor you and to agree to keep an eye on you the whole time you are there. You also need to provide the government a detailed itinerary of everywhere you intend to go while in Chukotka, and obtain the permission of every mayor of every town you want to enter. If you plan to bring your cell phone or anything else with a GPS, be sure to obtain special permission from Moscow. If you don’t, authorities will confiscate the device when you arrive.
We're devastated by the results of the election last night and are thinking about you. Maybe we'll see you here soon.
Your friends at the National Observer of Canada
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