(guitar playing softly)
- [Briggs] What is going on everyone.
I thought we'd start winding down our
"Where Americans are Migrating
to Outside the United States" series.
Today's video is about the countries
that are the easiest to immigrate to.
Whatever country you've decided to immigrate
and acquire any sort of citizenship,
they're going to be hurdles to overcome
and there's always going to be strings attached.
There's always strings attached
in red tape and bureaucracy and all of that nonsense.
One thing I have learned
while doing all this research
is most countries love American retirees.
And that's because you are adding money to the economy
without needing a job
that might otherwise go to one of the locals.
So you're just strengthening their economy.
So how did I figure out
which countries are the easiest to immigrate to?
It was easy.
I called a relative
who works on the legal side of immigration,
she hooked me up with the information I needed.
So yeah, this one was kind of easy on my brain.
Let's see what we got.
(screeching)
Number 10, Panama.
Now I lived in Panama while I was in the military
and I loved it.
It's a beautiful country
and it's extremely cheap to live especially back then.
I remember someone telling me back then
as a young corporal in the army,
which you don't make much,
but apparently I was making more a month
than the average Panamanian man was making in a year.
So that was nice.
So it had an extremely low cost of living back then
and it really hasn't had any major jumps
in the last 25 years or so.
Spanish is the main language here
but English is widely used in Panama as well.
So, that's one hurdle
you don't have to get over in most cases.
You and your valid American passport
allow you to visit Panama without a visa for 180 days.
If you want to stay longer,
you got to go talk to the immigration authorities.
Now I'm going to give you a lot of numbers and timetables
on this video and keep in mind,
a lot of these countries
change their restrictions and their policies
on a regular basis.
So don't give me a hard time
if three months from now something changed.
Plus we're in the middle of COVID-19,
so God knows what's going to happen 60 days from now.
Anyway, to get residency you need a job
or deposit $5,000 in a Panamanian bank.
If you're opening up a company,
they have other rules about what it's worth
and how many people you could possibly employ.
You become eligible for citizenship
after five years of permanent residence.
Like I said about the retirees,
Panama offers retiree visas
for those having a minimum pension of a $1,000 a month.
So if you're on social security and not making that much,
they probably just won't give you a free pass.
This visa also gives you discounts on movie theaters,
restaurants, hotels, healthcare and medication,
sort of like a visa slash AARP card.
No dual citizenships in Panama.
So you've got to give up that US citizenship
to become a Panamanian citizen.
(screeching)
Number nine, Belize
Belize is often an overlooked Central American country.
It's really not even a Central American country
even though it's in Central America.
It used to be known as British Honduras.
And it is actually a Caribbean country
located on the Northeastern coast of Central America.
Belize is bordered on the northwest by Mexico
and on the east by the Caribbean Sea.
And then to the southwest you have Guatemala.
I think it's overlooked
because it's really one of the least developed countries
in Central America.
The entire country has less than 500,000 residents
and its biggest city has only around 50,000 residents.
More people on a normal Sunday
watch the Jets lose in person.
Yeah, 50,000 people.
Belize is sparsely populated
and the cost of living is very low.
As well as the real estate is pretty low too.
The official native language in Belize is English.
So that's good for you Americans
who don't want to learn another language.
There's an old joke that says,
"What do you call someone
that speaks two languages?
Bilingual.
What do you call someone that speaks one language?
You call them an American."
Yeah, we're just not too big
on learning other people's languages for some reason.
I don't know if it's arrogance or laziness.
Anyway, if you're into environmental causes,
rainforest, scuba diving, and nice beaches,
I'm sure this place is already on your radar.
US citizens can enter the country with a visa for one month
but to stay longer,
a visa extension has to be requested every single month.
If you live here for 50 consecutive weeks
you're entitled to apply for a permanent residence.
Holding permanent residency status
for a minimum of five years
will make you eligible for citizenship.
Citizenship applications
are usually decided upon within six months.
In order to get your actual Belize citizenship,
you got to give up the old citizenship.
(screeching)
Number eight, Ecuador.
Now we've talked about Ecuador in previous videos.
It's a great place to live.
It's a lot like Belize
when it comes to the natural environment.
The countryside is amazing.
The big cities, not so much.
Go to Google Street View
and see if you could find any residents
with ground floor windows that don't have bars on them.
I tried for over an hour,
I found one.
I'm not even joking.
Ecuador is one of the fastest
when it comes to getting naturalization by residency.
I mean, worldwide, not just in Central America.
And it's affordable to actually buy your way in.
They have great healthcare, low taxes,
and a low violent crime rate overall.
I guess the criminals just take your junk
not your life in Ecuador.
You could stay for 90 days with just a passport
and after that
you got to kind of fill out some paperwork.
US citizens including entrepreneurs and retirees
have to apply for a temporary residence visa.
21 months after obtaining temporary residence,
you may file an application for permanent residence.
Once you have completed three years
of legal, temporary, permanent residence stuff,
you can apply for naturalization.
And if you do get it,
you got to give up your US citizenship
or wherever you came from, Canada, whatever.
That's part of the Ecuadorian law.
(screeching)
Number seven, Denmark.
And switching to Europe
we have the Kingdom of Denmark.
This is a Nordic country in Northern Europe.
Denmark is the southern most country
of all the Scandinavian countries.
This is one that doesn't have a low cost living.
It actually is one of the higher countries on this list.
It's actually one of the higher countries in the world.
US citizens get visa free entry for Denmark
for no more than three months.
That's it, three months
and you got to head back to where he came from
unless you want to apply for citizenship.
There's a few different ways to gain citizenship in Denmark
the longest being nine years,
but it's worth the effort.
To settle here,
you will have to apply as a student, a worker,
or a spouse of a Danish citizen.
So it just takes a lot of time
but there's not a lot of extra hurdles to go through.
They do have another thing called the Golden Investors Visa
which if you've invested over 100,000 euros
in a company that's in Denmark,
they kind of speed things along.
You don't really have to work,
your money just has to be there.
That can also take up to nine years
but I heard that one gets pushed along pretty quick.
Denmark does allow dual nationality.
So that's different.
(screeching)
Number six, Brazil.
Everybody knows Brazil.
One of the biggest countries in the world.
It is a beautiful country with amazing beaches
and attractive people.
Stay in the tourist areas
if you value your life.
They have some really great places to live and visit,
but they also have some places
that you should avoid going to,
actually avoid being anywhere near them
like 20 mile radius.
But they do have a solid economy and healthcare is free.
Sure you paid for it in taxes
but you don't need to avoid going to the doctor
because you can't afford a deductible
or something like that.
If you just want to move there and get a job,
that can take a while.
It can take up to 15 years to become an actual citizen.
You know, you got to fill out some paperwork,
not terribly hard,
and they're not actively looking
for people to throw out of the country.
You just gotta be there 15 years
and you'll become a citizen.
But the process will be easy
if you're an investor, a professional professor
or a skilled worker.
For acquiring citizenship,
you must live there for like 15 years uninterrupted.
But this can actually be shortened to four years
if you have a well-paying job and you speak Portuguese.
Yeah, so you can actually drop it down to four years
if you could speak Portuguese.
So yeah, that's something.
The quickest way to obtaining residency or citizenship
is by marrying a Brazilian citizen
or investing 126,000 US dollars in any local company.
Retirees may apply for a permanent visa
under the Retirement Residence Transfer Program,
that can be done in a couple of months.
Dual citizenship is allowed in Brazil.
(screeching)
Number five, Mexico.
The cost of living is why people move to Mexico.
The beaches, food, and rainforests are why they stay.
Sure they have areas that are controlled by cartels.
They should probably be avoided
but if you're looking to save some money
maybe it's worth it.
Sort of like Black Friday at Target.
Mexico maintains a low cost of living,
a good quality of life and excellent health care.
Also has the best tacos.
Mexico allows US citizens
a visa free entry for 180 days for tourism purposes.
But if you want to go all in with Mexico,
you need to apply for temporary residence visa
with permission to work.
Eventually leading you to permanent residency.
To apply for a citizenship
you must have lived there
for at least five years uninterrupted
and as a permanent resident or must have family ties.
You'll also be required to take a test
on Mexican history and culture.
Or you'll be interviewed, they say, if you're over 60.
So if you're over 60
they don't want you to learn anything about Mexican history.
They'll just ask you some questions
to make sure you're not insane.
If you marry a Mexican
the conditions of legal residency
will drop down to two years.
Mexican law does not restrict dual citizenship
so you can stay an American too.
I have a friend that's lived in Mexico for years
and he said all those numbers can be pushed aside
if you grease the right palm.
I guess that's true
with a lot of third world countries really.
(screeching)
Number four, New Zealand.
New Zealand is beautiful
and you have to have some coin to live there.
If you look at New Zealand from a statistical point of view,
they are killing it.
The only knock on this country is the cost of living.
Their big cities are very expensive.
The rural place
is obviously like any other country, aren't as expensive.
But yeah, Auckland is one of the most expensive
cities in the world right now.
US citizens may reside and work in New Zealand
for an indefinite period of time
as a permanent resident on a skilled migrant visa.
And that's available to you
if you've got some skills they need.
You may also choose from the investment visas
where you can invest at least 3 million New Zealand dollars
and they'll let you stay.
I mean, if you're putting $3 million into the country,
they should let you stay.
New Zealand doesn't care
how many citizenships you actually have.
You can have five, they don't care.
(screeching)
Number three, Ireland.
Even though a lot of my DNA comes from Ireland,
I have never found it very appealing.
I don't know why.
A lot of people love the place.
It's right up my alley too.
It's wet, green, and beautiful.
I don't know why I have no desire to go there.
Anyway, Ireland does have a lot to offer
from a stellar quality of life, a good healthcare system,
solid education system, picturesque outdoors,
and great beer.
Acquiring Irish citizenship has its challenges
but it's a short amount of wait time.
Pathways include citizenship by descent,
by marriage or by the naturalization process.
You can become a naturalized citizen
by living in Ireland for one year.
That's it, just one year.
To go all the way to citizenship,
you have to live here for at least four years
in total out of eight.
You know, you can do one year,
go to the U S for six months,
come back for another, you know, things like that.
You just have to be there half of the time
out of eight years.
You can enter visa free
but to stay after 90 days,
you got to pick from one of the different visa
programs they have.
They have several to choose from.
You just choose the one that suits your situation the best.
And once you're in there on a visa
you just have to keep your nose clean for that year
and then you become the naturalized citizen after you apply.
In my understanding, this is just rumor,
that it's pretty easy.
If you don't get in trouble
they pretty much give it to you.
Ireland does not require you
to relinquish your US citizenship.
(screeching)
Number two, Sweden.
We all know about Sweden.
It's a great country.
It's considered one of the happiest countries in the world
with one of the highest quality of life.
Along with one of the best work balances on the planet.
With a valid passport,
US citizens are allowed to stay in Sweden for up to 90 days.
But if you plan on working, learning,
or starting a business,
you'll need to get a permit for that.
To be able to apply for citizenship
you must have lived in Sweden for five years uninterrupted
with no criminal convictions.
This is another one.
If you keep your nose clean,
I wouldn't say guaranteed citizenship
but you've got a really good chance.
You just got to keep your nose clean.
Don't get into trouble.
Just keep in mind that once you've crossed into Sweden
you'll have to deal with a high cost of living
and some pretty steep taxes.
They also have a Golden Investor Visa.
Another one of these countries
that if you have 100,000 euros invested in a local company,
you get to stay and it's easier to secure your citizenship.
My opinion, Sweden is one of the best ones on this list.
They've got really good stats.
Sure the cost of living and the taxes are high
but this is a great country to live in.
Everything else is outstanding about this country.
And stop typing,
I'm sorry you had a bad experience in Sweden
and you've got some bone to pick with some guy named Sven.
All right, before we get to number one,
don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe.
If you already haven't,
be a part of our community,
help us get over the 500,000 hump and onto a million.
All right, on to number one.
(screeching)
And number one, Canada.
The first thing that makes Canada
so attractive to Americans is,
it's the next country over and it doesn't have cartels.
I mean, that's the top of everyone's list.
Canada is a very politically and economically sound country.
It's almost like the entire country is this no drama zone.
The cost of living and taxes are a bit higher than the US
but you get to see a doctor and a pharmacist
without going into debt.
Canada offers more than 60 immigration programs
to choose from including one called Express Entry Program
meant to attract skilled workers
the country might be short on.
Other ways of becoming a Canuck include,
having a job in Canada,
having a sponsored letter from a family member
or 125,000 Canadian dollars invested in a Canadian company.
You can also start or buy a business.
They're very strict when it comes to the rules
about their immigration.
Including, you have to live there three out of five years
to even apply for citizenship.
You will be required to show
that you can meet your tax filing obligations
and prove that you speak English.
They'll also make you take a test
showing that you understand the rights
and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen.
And they have no problem with you keeping dual citizenship.
(guitar playing softly)
All right, that's today's video.
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Hope you got some information out of it.
Yeah, this one was just a bunch of information
that people have been asking for.
So I hope this helps some of you
if this is something you're thinking about.
But yeah, all right, everybody have a great day.
Be nice to each other.
(guitar playing softly )