No. of Recommendations: 6
For those looking to find a country more in line with their political/economic comfort, I can offer my personal experience with Canada. We moved to British Columbia in 2005 and political and healthcare beliefs were a big part of the equation. If anyone wants details on that send me a message. We found the immigration process to be slow and laborious, but very doable. There is a points system, and it is fairly easy to qualify if you have certain qualifications. In our case, those included advanced degrees, age not much over 50, a very small business of our own, and some limited skills in French. Actually we qualified without the French test, but were considering the middle level test if we needed it. Once over 55 it becomes more difficult.
We were accepted as landed immigrants after two years. We maintained a US address and for financial issues we simply neglected to tell our US brokerage our legal residence changed.
Personal issues prompted us to return to the US before we had enough residence time for a Canadian passport. In retrospect, we wish we had put in the time to obtain it.
I know there are financial ways of obtaining residency and citizenship, but I don't know the details.
It felt good to be part of Canada and to pay taxes to a country we were proud of. I feel there is also merit in staying and advocating for things one believes in. We find it to be a tough choice.
