Emigrating to Other Countries – The Expat Lifestyle

We are getting emails from Americans who are contemplating leaving the USA and moving to Panama after the elections in November.  It happens after every major US election that there is an exodus, where the thought is that the country is going to ‘hell in a hand basket’.  Let’s share some experiences of emigrating. (Emigrate: To leave one’s own country in order to settle permanently in another.)  Let’s look at some other countries and provide some insights as to how you and others can follow suit, should you wish to. There are several ways to leave the U.S., including obtaining a retirement visa, securing a “golden visa” through investment, or becoming a digital nomad.  Each option comes with its own requirements and benefits, but all offer a viable path to living abroad without giving up U.S. citizenship.  How easy is it for Americans to move to another country?  You just might be looking for life-alternatives for 2025 and beyond.  What about leaving the United States and living somewhere else?  Some people obviously can’t do this because of personal limitations or obligations.  And some people will never consider anything like this.  Anyway, staying in America is a perfectly valid choice.  But so is leaving.  

Let’s join in on a conversation between two expats:  “What do you think about leaving the country?”  After thinking about it for about two seconds I said, “Okay. Let’s do it.”  When we told our friends, I suspect many thought: Uh, huh, right. They’re just blowing off steam — they’ll never go through with it.  But two months later, we’d sold our house, and after helping to settle things with our elderly parents, we finally left America.  Seven years later, we both agree that it was the smartest decision we’ve ever made. We love our new life. The physical separation from our home country also gave us a much-needed perspective. We both think we see things in America much more clearly now. As for the move itself, we also both agree it was easier than we expected. The hardest part was the mental leap.

Here are ways you too could leave America, especially if you’re retired or can work remotely.  And for what it’s worth, none of these options require you to give up your American citizenship.  Emigrate to another country on a long-term visa with a path toward permanent residency or citizenship.  This is how most Americans move to another country.  The most popular long-term visas are “retirement visas,” though you don’t necessarily have to be retired or even older to be granted one.  Retirement visas usually give you access to public services and put you on a pathway to permanent residency or even full citizenship.  Let’s take a look at Panama:  Panama is so eager to welcome American retirees that their visas give you substantial discounts on things like utilities, doctor’s visits, and even entertainment options like movie tickets, restaurants, and hotel rooms. The Pensionado Visa gives you all of the advantages and discounts of Panamanian retirees.  For more information, contact us at PanamaNewsroom@gmail.com

In Spain, for example, a retirement visa is called a “non-lucrative visa.” You must prove you have a certain minimum level of income and assets, and you also have to buy private health insurance for the first year — though this costs a fraction of what you might pay in the United States.  Then you’re allowed to stay in the country for a year, and you can renew the visa for two-year periods after that.  After five years, you can apply for permanent residency.

Thailand, meanwhile, offers several different retirement visas, and also something called an “elite visa” for anyone where, for a one-time fee ($17,400 USD for five years, more for longer stays), you’re allowed long-term residency, but also various perks like free doctors’ visits and limos to airports.  What’s the catch?  You can’t be too poor — although in most countries, you don’t have to be “rich” either.  To retire to Nicaragua, you only need to earn $600 a month, although in most countries, it will be more like $2000 to $3000.  Some retirement visas also have residency requirements. And if you spend more than 183 days or more in any country, you generally have to pay that country’s income taxes for the time you spend there.  Their tax-rates might be lower than in the U.S., but they could be higher too; inheritance taxes can be much higher in other countries too.  (That said, most countries do have tax treaties with the U.S., which means you’ll never have to pay “double” taxes: you’ll just pay the rate of the country where you’re spending most of your time.)  This option guarantees you’ll be dealing with a foreign bureaucracy, which can be difficult if you don’t know the culture or speak the language. You may have to pay for legal help, and there will also almost certainly be application fees.

Emigrate via a “golden visa.”  Many countries offer “golden visas” which are different from, say, retirement visas in that they usually offer you (and your immediate family members) a faster path to permanent residency or citizenship, and they have only very minimal residency requirements — maybe just a few days a year.  In exchange for that, you’re required to make a large investment in the country.  Options often include buying property, investing in a local company or investment fund, or buying government bonds.  In Portugal, for example, you can get a golden visa by investing at least 500,000 euros (or about $540,000 USD) in certain local investment funds; until last year, you could also buy property, but the law has since been changed and this is no longer an option. Another possibility is to donate or invest $270,000 USD in an arts organization.  Lately, some folks have been satisfying this latter requirement by investing in Portuguese films.

In other countries, the cost can be as low as $100,000 (in St. Lucia) or as high as $1,830,000 (in New Zealand), and often you can still fulfill the investment requirement by buying property.  It’s fairly easy, at least if you’re fabulously wealthy, although there are currently backlogs in the most popular golden visa countries.  What’s the catch?  Well, these visas are expensive.  Also, the investment costs don’t include application and legal fees, and possibly real estate taxes, which can easily add another $25,000 to the total. That said, the bulk of the investment is in an investment: you may not get the return that you’d get in, say, the U.S. Stock Market, but the money or property is still yours.

Golden visas are also increasingly controversial in Europe: critics argue they’ve driven up the cost of real estate for locals. Spain is currently phasing out its golden visa program entirely, and Portugal is considering doing the same. Greece and Malta, two other popular options, are tightening their rules.  Of course, even with a golden visa, you’re still subject to local income taxes — although the lack of a residency requirement means you could avoid foreign taxes simply by not living in any one country for more than 182 days.  And if Americans also stay outside the U.S. for at least 330 days every year, they qualify for something called the Federal Earned Income Exemption, or FEIE, which means that in 2024, they’d owe no U.S. income taxes on income up to $126,500 (they are, of course, obligated to file a return, and they do still have to pay “payroll” taxes for Medicare and Social Security).  In other words, if you have a golden visa, but spend less than six months a year in no one country, it’s fairly easy to pay no income tax at all (up to a certain limit) anywhere in the world.

Become a digital nomad and travel to different countries on “tourist visas.”  Many folks left America, and since then, they have traveled the world, simply moving to a new country every few months.  Most countries allow Americans to stay for up to ninety days with no visa or with something often referred to as a “tourist visa” — and these visas are often issued on arrival, with little or no fee or application process.  Some countries allow even longer tourist visas: for example, in Mexico and the UK you can stay up to six months, and in the Republic of Georgia, you can stay as long as a year.  And some countries, like Mexico and Thailand, also allow tourists to make “visa runs,” exiting the country and then immediately returning, resetting the tourist visa (though some countries, including Thailand, are making this more difficult).

Many countries also offer longer visas that are almost as easy as tourist ones: the UK has something called a “standard visa,” which allows multiple visits of up to six months or longer. And more and more countries are offering “digital nomad visas” where, if you can prove a certain level of income, countries will allow you to stay for a year or more.  On tourist visas, you almost certainly pay no local income tax, and on most of these other visas, you pay no or only minimal tax as well.  Since digital nomads also qualify for the FEIE, this third option means even some non-rich folks can also owe no income tax anywhere in the world.  How easy is this?  Extremely easy, at least if you’re retired or work remotely. And unlike a golden or retirement visa, this requires no expensive legal fees. You barely have to concern yourself with foreign bureaucracies at all.  This option is also easily reversible: you’re not committed to anything, and you haven’t shelled out any money. If you leave America and decide it isn’t for you, you can easily return to the United States.

While many tourist or digital nomad visas are easily renewable, you do have to keep close track of your time; in many countries, overstaying your visa is a Very Big Deal and fines are levied if you overstay.  Unfortunately, that’s the case in most of Western Europe and even much of Central Europe.  This means you’ll probably be moving around a lot. And since you’re moving so much, your “temporary” housing costs will be higher than, say, renting an apartment for a year in a single spot. You also obviously can’t have much in the way of possessions.  On the other hand, your overall cost of living will probably still be far lower than back in America. And again, you probably don’t have to pay any income tax.  The Bottom Line:  If you meet certain conditions, it’s probably easier than you think.