After moving all around the USA I feel it’s time to jump the pond and try something new. I have done some research into demographics like English speaking, gay friendly, etc. The list I have come up with of possible options are: South Africa, England, Wales, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland & Australia in no particular order. Re: difficulty gaining citizenship as a US citizen, should I remove any from said list? Thanks in advance for input ~
What are your job qualifications and experience? That’s the best way to get into many countries.
Did you know that England, Scotland, and Wales (and yeah, Northern Ireland) are one block, where immigration administration is concerned? There aren’t three or four different setups and rules.
Have you considered Malta? English is an official language there and has one of the most advanced lgbtq+ legislations in EU.
There’s a lot to untangle here but I think there are two key questions you’ll need to answer
- are you looking to move permanently or is the goal just to experience somewhere different?
- do you expect to continue working in your current (or a related) profession?
Depending on how you answer you can broaden or greatly shrink your options. If you just want to experience the world, then you don’t need to worry about citizenship. There are some young professional visas out there. Along with some countries that let you stay for quite some time on a tourist visa (i.e. eurozone). An English speaking country will be by far the easiest to adjust to and navigate.
If you plan on continuing your work in your profession, things might be a bit more complicated. You’ll have to ensure that your education is recognized in the country you’re hoping to live in and how you could go about getting a work visa
Good luck with the research
I’m assuming you can’t get citizenship by descent, so if the goal is second citizenship in an English speaking country these are your options:
Canada: 3-5+ yrs Naturalization Australia: 5+ yrs Naturalization New Zealand: 5+ yrs Naturalization Malta: 4+ yrs Naturalization; 5+ yrs by Marriage (you don’t need to be in the country); 5+yrs Investment 1,450,000 Ireland: 5+ yrs Naturalization; 3+ years Marriage UK: 5+ years Naturalization Belize: 5+ yrs Naturalization South Africa: 5+ years Naturalization; unclear by Marriage
Out of the options above, Canada, New Zealand are the easiest via Naturalization Belize and Australia are second for Naturalization. Malta is the easiest by Marriage. Ireland is the easiest by Descent. South Africa is the least feasible.
Everywhere is different, however, most countries require you to establish Permanent Residency before applying for citizenship. You can even have several Permanent Residence’s (PR) at once if you wanted to shop around. Each country has specific terms for keeping your PR.
Why citizenship though? What’s your goal? Live and work in other countries? Country to escape to if things go bad? Would you be happy with just PR without a path to citizenship?
Whatever you decide, the next step would be looking into your visa options.
Looks like you need to go through the difficulty of finding an employer.
I find it odd that you’re dying to exit the U.S. but you are only wanting to go to any other Anglo country. Why?
You can stay in the UK on a tourist visa for up to 6 months…I’d start there and see how you like it!