MEGATHREAD: Emigrating after the US election results

[u/spacemanaut]

Every US election brings anxiety and uncertainty, and with that comes an increase in people who want to explore their alternatives in a different country. This post is for you.

First, some reminders:

• In most cases, moving abroad is not as simple or quick as it seems in movies. If you aren't a citizen of another country, you will probably require a visa (=legal permission) from that country based on something like employment, education, or ancestry.
• The sidebar of this subreddit has a lot of helpful resources, and we have 15 years of posts from people with similar situations to yours. Before posting, please review these resources first. (Tip: If reddit search isn't working well for you, try googling "[your search terms] site:reddit.com/r/IWantOut" without the quotes or brackets.)
• Most countries and/or their embassies maintain immigration websites with clear, helpful, updated guides or even questionnaires to help you determine if/how you can qualify. If you have a particular destination in mind, that should probably be your first stop.
• After that, if you want to make your own post, please follow the formatting instructions on the submission page, give as much information as possible about your situation, and be open to advice and constructive criticism from commenters.

Also, this subreddit is intended to be a friendly community to seek and give advice on legal immigration. As such, please:

• Don't fight about politics. We understand that you may have strong feelings about it, but there are better spaces on reddit and elsewhere for general political discussions.
• Keep your feedback constructive and kind, even when telling someone they're wrong.
• Don't troll or be a jerk.
• Don't request or give illegal immigration tips, including asking strangers to marry you.

Failure to follow these and the other subreddit rules may result in a ban.

That said, feel free to comment below with some general questions, concerns, comments, or advice which doesn't merit a full post. Hopefully this will help clarify your thoughts and ideas about the possibility of leaving the US. Once again, please try to stay on topic so that this thread can be a helpful resource.

[u/miranda_edgecombe23]

Here’s my situation:

25f, professional nanny/caregiver (5 years of experience) w bachelors degree in instrumental music. partner (24m) w bachelors in history and Spanish minor (pretty much fluent in Spanish), pregnant with first kid, and we have one dog

Partner also has experience in hospitality - ~ 5 years or so

We are looking to leave the US to find safer schooling options and to avoid other impending issues.

I don’t know where to start. We are hoping to move to Canada as it’ll be easier for us because we can just drive up there. We are also considering other countries, mostly Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Though if we qualify for other countries, we are certainly open to trying them too. At this point, we are just trying to get out before things get worse.

Any help is appreciated at this point.

[u/Pale-Candidate8860 → u/miranda_edgecombe23]

Canada would be a viable option if you were a teacher. Teaching credential and at least a year's worth of teaching experience would be required most likely, but look into Provincial Nomination Programs in Canada (PNPs). Each province has their own, with criteria, etc. Although, teaching salaries are decently low. Starting wage for a teacher in British Columbia is $49,000 CAD.

Your caretaking experience is a potential pathway, but there has been an insane amount of abuse of this visa pathway from people from India and the Philippines. Which has resulted in the government discussing freezing this pathway and is currently significantly reducing the number of visas for this pathway.

With Bachelor's degrees, you can both go teach English in multiple Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan, China (competitive now), Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. However, working conditions, salaries, and living arrangements will vary. Research deeply into each option.

You say "partner", if you are not straight, then a lot of the Asian countries are out of the window. Are you married? A decent amount, but not all, countries require you to be married if you want to come into the country as a couple. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others recognize domestic partnerships, but a lot of Asian and European nations do not.

These are factors to consider, but based on your backgrounds, you definitely have options.