While Americans moving abroad trended upward in the last decade, it absolutely skyrocketed after the 2024 election. As you might guess, many considered English-speaking countries as their best destinations. Integration may be easier in a country where you speak the language, but does that make it easier to emigrate there?
Expatsi co-founder Jen Barnett recently spoke with the Washington Post about this post-election spike in 2024. They also address five English-speaking countries and the challenges in getting long-term residency in each.
Americans show a lot of interest in moving to our northern neighbor. They’ve got universal healthcare, a healthy quality of life, and primarily use English outside of Quebec. Pressure on its housing market and possible strain on healthcare systems led Canada to limit its target immigration levels.
The country recently expanded its citizenship by ancestry program to include anyone with Canadian ancestors, all the way to the country’s founding. If you don’t have any, finding a job sponsor offers your most likely path to living there long-term.
Much like the Great White North, the UK is looking primarily for workers in some narrow fields. To get a skilled work visa here, you need a job offer from a government-cleared employer and a decent minimum salary—about $50,000 USD. Citizenship by ancestry may apply if your grandparent was born in the kingdom, but you’ll still need an employment plan in order to stay here beyond six months. You can also get a visa if you recently graduated from one of the world’s top 50 universities.
Australia is an easier place to come if you’re younger. Its working holiday visa welcomes Americans aged 18-30 to stay here for a full year, which you can renew one time. Like the UK, skilled work visas require job sponsorship in specific skill shortages in the country. You also have to be younger than 50 in many cases. Well-funded expats can find long-term residency options if they have $3.5 million USD to invest in Australian ventures.
New Zealand has some similarities to Australia’s offerings here. They also have a working holiday visa for Americans ages 18-30, which grants up to 12 months on your stay. You’ll also have the opportunity for a skilled work visa under the country’s points-based system. Applicants should be under 55 years of age in order to qualify, though. Finally, you can invest your way to residency here with $3 million USD.
Our last country has a bit more leeway in its visa paths, The skilled work visa still exists, particularly in critical areas like agriculture and health services. You might also qualify for citizenship if a grandparent was born in Ireland. Not looking to work anymore? The Stamp 0 visa offers residency if you’ve got about $5,000 USD in monthly passive income, along with a couple hundred thousand dollars in savings. However, the Stamp 0 must be renewed annually and offers no path to citizenship.
Don’t fit any of these requirements? There’s dozens more countries out there that Expatsi helps Americans move to every year. Why not you? Join Jen for her weekly You Can Move Abroad webinar at 2p EST to start your journey.
