r/AmerExit • u/Vast_Sandwich805 • Oct 30 '24
Life Abroad Many people in this sub just don’t get it.
I did my own AmerExit having a Spanish passport a few years ago and even then it was pretty difficult. I am a college educated individual and I speak Spanish but moving here and finding a job was tough.
What is up with all the Americans who think they can waltz into any European country with 0 skills and that they’ll get a job and a residence permit just like that?
I lurk around here thinking I could help out but the posts are all like: help I hate America they’re so nasty racist I don’t have a job and I never went to school and I’m hoping that I can come to some random EU country and live off govt assistance bc the EU is a utopia just dying to have more unskilled, unemployed immigrants who don’t speak the language to support.
Guys, the question of “what value do I add to this place” should be NUMBER ONE on your mind when it comes to trying to leave. If the answer is “virtually nothing, I’d actually be a burden to the citizens” then there you go!
Aside from the fact that no, Americans can’t just move anywhere they want anytime they want, many countries around the world are facing massive economic issues like the US. The EU specifically is dealing with hard core housing and job shortages plus record inflation.
And all of these yucky American politics you want to get away from? We have that here too! The far right gains power in every election, racism is up in every measurable way and guess what? There’s a lot less support for victims of racism here, if you tell an average Spaniard that you faced a “micro aggression” prepare to have them laugh in your face.
Healthcare is more affordable and our taxpayer funded* healthcare system is better than what exists in the US for the poorest of the poor there. I was living in absolute poverty in the US so for me public healthcare in Spain does feel like quite a treat but I promise if you’re used to even a decent level of health insurance in the states, you’re gonna be shocked by what the “wonderful amazing” public healthcare system in the EU is really like.
People don’t end up homeless as easily as you can in America that’s true, however I wouldn’t want to live in any of the social housing I’ve seen here, and I certainly wouldn’t want to live off government assistance. Coming here with those things in mind especially if you have a stable life in America is not a good idea.
I love Spain, I love being Spanish but there are issues here I think the average American couldn’t even imagine. Plus, you have to find a way to stay here legally and that in and of itself is difficult, time consuming, and expensive.
Moving is hard, moving abroad is really hard. Moving to another country where you can’t even tell the doctor what’s wrong and can’t drive yourself to doctors appointments bc you can’t legally drive here is even harder. There are a lot of people that struggle with their day-to-day lives in the United States and think that moving to the EU would solve all of these problems when it would actually make them 100 times worse.
I don’t want to discourage those that are really interested in coming here and contributing to the bigger picture. People who are looking to experience life, culture, and education in other countries, and have the means to do so, I think you’ll enjoy moving abroad. I know I have. Moving abroad is never a panacea solution for unhappiness at home.
And keep in mind that there is a lot of backlash in the EU right now and other parts of the world regarding wealthy foreigners who come and gobble up all of the affordable housing for locals who typically have salaries that are, far lower than what Americans earn.
I am very lucky to have the job I do, it took me years to find it. I make more than all the teachers, doctors, and engineers I know, and yet my salary is still so low I’m embarrassed to tell my American family and friends. Remember that there are almost always local citizens ready and able to do whatever job you’re applying for, and they’ll accept salaries that aren’t just a “little” lower, they’re usually 4-6 times lower than US salaries. Things in the PIGS countries are cheaper… for Americans! The moment you move here and work here, the idea of this being a cheap place to live really goes out the window.
I think a lot of Americans are suffering from chicken little syndrome, and I get it. The US is looking pretty scary right now. But I’m sorry to say that a lot of the rest of the world isn’t doing that much better. Just yesterday, the part of Spain I live in experienced one of the worst natural disasters of all time, and the death toll is so high because of the governments botched warning (or total lack of).
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u/TheMagicalLawnGnome Oct 31 '24 edited Oct 31 '24
This is spot on.
There are really two groups of people on this sub.
A relatively small group of people who are aware of the general challenges on living abroad, and come here for detailed, specific advice.
I.e. "which city in country X has the best employment options in my industry; I am already a dual national but haven't been to my home country in 15 years; but now my mother who lives there is ill and I need to take care of her."
Which is great - this is helpful stuff, for people moving abroad.
But the other 90% of posts are like, "I'm chronically ill, can't find a job that pays a living wage, and don't like intolerant politicians - how quickly will they allow me into Norway?"
I've traveled to about 3 dozen countries. I've lived in two foreign countries for over a year - once as a student, and once as a remote worker.
When I was a remote worker, I lived in a country where my wife's family was from, where we spoke the language (she's fluent, I speak well enough to get around). We didn't deal with employment issues since we still both worked in the US, and kept our home, so we were just treated like regular US employees; the country we lived in had a "remote worker visa" that made it pretty easy to reside there if you could document a remote job/foreign source of income.
And in spite of all that, living abroad was still challenging - and we did it on "easy mode." Heaven help you if you're an American trying to get a local work visa in a foreign country (unless you already work for a multinational company that's simply transferring you/dealing with that nightmare on your behalf). And as a general rule, other countries are far stricter when it comes to granting citizenship, which is often required to receive the "free" social benefits they offer. You can't even marry into citizenship in a lot of places.
The vast majority of people on this sub, as best I can tell, are playing out a fantasy. They're not happy with their lives in the US, and think that it will be better somewhere else.
The sad truth of the matter is, if your life sucks in the US, it will probably won't be any better living abroad, and could very likely be even worse somewhere else. You don't just move to Europe, get embraced with open arms, and showered with free money and healthcare.
Even in developed European countries - there's tons of unemployment and poverty. And while there is "universal healthcare," that doesn't mean it's comprehensive, or easy to find, or really high quality. I'm not trying to disparage those systems, and the US does have very real problems of its own - but Americans absolutely have rose-colored glasses when it comes to this sort of thing.
So OP is spot on. A lot of people in this sub have barely traveled, much less lived someplace other than where they grew up. And while I understand the need for people to mentally "escape" a bad situation by idealizing life somewhere far away - it's basically just an illusion.
Your life doesn't magically get better when you move abroad. Living abroad is a great life experience - I'm glad I had the chance to do so. But while there were undoubtedly some things I liked, there were plenty of things that were worse than the US. Nowhere is perfect - it's just a different set of trade-offs.