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I've also heard that Singapore is a fairly easy country to immigrate to as it is facing a population shortage due to the fact that the country has a low birthrate, so it actively encourages immigration. Singapore is a thoroughly modern advanced Western nation where English is one of the official languages.
I've entertained the idea of moving to both countries.
Singapore SOUNDS good.
EXCEPT you have to give up your previous citizenship to actually immigrate and become a citizen of Singapore.
Singapore is a great city, but it's only ONE city. When you have a U.S. passport and citizenship, you have 100s+ cities to choose from. Hard to completely give that up.
Before getting your hopes up of moving to a different country you need to thoroughly research visa requirements. The US has strict immigration laws for those wanting to do it legally, so why do Americans think they can just pick up and move to another country?
Ireland will give you an ancestry visa if you can prove grandparents came from there, but for the UK it must be a parent.
The US does not offer working holiday visas to other countries so young Americans can't go to other countries to work with one. Anyone of the right age from a country in the commonwealth can get one for the UK.
I married a UK citizen which is why I'm entitled to live in the UK.
Singapore is a great city, and no you are not required to gain Singaporean citizenship to live there. You also certainly don't have to give up your American citizenship to live in Singapore, thats an absurd proposition. If that were true, no Americans would choose to live in Singapore. The Singapore government will give you a permanent residents card if you would like to live there on a long term basis and have the skills required by a company in the country.
Its really a wonderful place to live. Completely safe & clean. The food is great and cheap (Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian/Indonesian food everywhere).
Singapore is one of the few countries in the world that actively recruits Westerners to come, do business, and live there. English is the main language in Singapore and everyone below the age of 40-50 is pretty much fluent in English. Many people have a strong Singaporean accent though, but you can get used to that after living there for a couple of weeks.
Another obvious choice for expats is Hong Kong. Similar situation as in Singapore, but its less Western and less people speak English in Hong Kong (only about 1/3 of the population is fluent in English in HK).
Dubai is another city that is really popular with expats at the moment. The Sheik who runs the place is trying to build up the country and is pouring money into everything at the moment. I'm not too familiar with the Arab world though, so someone else will have to chime in.
Before getting your hopes up of moving to a different country you need to thoroughly research visa requirements. The US has strict immigration laws for those wanting to do it legally, so why do Americans think they can just pick up and move to another country?
Ireland will give you an ancestry visa if you can prove grandparents came from there, but for the UK it must be a parent.
The US does not offer working holiday visas to other countries so young Americans can't go to other countries to work with one. Anyone of the right age from a country in the commonwealth can get one for the UK.
I married a UK citizen which is why I'm entitled to live in the UK.
You are correct for the most part and I was waiting until someone punctured the balloon.
However, I think you are incorrect with regards to working holidays. I have personally known people from the UK, Ireland and the Czeck Republic who have worked here legally for the summer.
I've just been reading up on that also (would like to be able to consider Scotland), and it does appear quite difficult. We are of Scottish and English descent, but it seems you cannot get an Ancestry Visa unless your Grandparents were nationals. I miss it by one stinking generation!
Does anything similar exist for Germany? I know my grandmother was born in Germany and left after the war with my grand father who was a GI.
How's that work? I'd imagine they probably don't do this since a LOT of people left Germany before and after WW2 and their population seems fairly stable.
There is a Right of Return for ethnic Germans who live in Russia, Romania and some other places, but not the US or Canada.
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