First term a lot of people considered leaving but frankly it didn’t feel like this.

Mods: I am unsure if this question goes against rule 2 or not. I mean to ask this as the general situation but of course it is political. The wording of the rule makes it unclear if politics are allowed or not…

Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.

  • Che Banana@beehaw.org
    11·
    6 days ago

    The time to leave if you’re able to was in his first term.

    We got out, no regrets, and we’re not going back.

    • curious_dolphin@slrpnk.netEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      Any surprises you wish you knew about beforehand that you’d care to share? Any bullshit around financial stuff, filing taxes while abroad, etc?

      • Che Banana@beehaw.org
        5·
        5 days ago

        Banks in the US really don’t want to give you your money. Keep a US phone # (I think Google phone has one which doesn’t kill you in charges) so you can contact them (when and if you transfer money).

        You should take a trip first to set up some groundwork, find a trusted lawyer (we have two, one is our accountant, who’s also a lawyer, and another who is our immigration lawyer). They will go over all your paperwork for housing rentals, they should know people who can get your health insurance set up -you probably will need private health care +repatriation insurance until you are a permanent resident. Cost is around €50/per person per month, paid monthly (for us).

        Downsize as much as possible, do not put ‘artwork’ on you customs for for import as they will hold up the works. )paperwork, personal clothing, household goods, etc. vague and mundane.

        Your first year RENT a place in a town you choose, you will know in that year if that’s where you want to be or not. Our experience was we got a place for summer (3months) then checked out all the towns along the coast and kept coming back to where we settled, so we found a place for a year there, then COVID… then found the place we are in the process of buying.

        Walkable city, good infrastructure to travel by bus/train, 2 airports 1hr away in opposite directions. We don’t drive anymore & bike everywhere, and live 500M from the Mediterranean Sea.

        So yeah… being by the water is absolutely worth any issues we encountered.

        • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
          2·
          5 days ago

          Ballpark of how much your process cost? I’m seeing two lawyers and now I’m wondering how much convenience I can afford. Nothing wrong with convenience either, I’m just poor.

          • Che Banana@beehaw.org
            3·
            5 days ago

            I would say about 20k for the whole move…that’s just a ballpark, and that includes 1 year fam of 4 living without income (rent, etc) because for the first year you cannot make an income on the local economy. I actually needed this year because I was so burned out.

            If you can work at home there are nomad visas for the taking… Ireland has a very good program but housing is expensive (there are some work/housing available).

            This also wasn’t our first foray out of the US, I left when I was 18, came back for school, etc and then out again with a good offer where I met my partner. Moved back and when we tried to leave again the recession hit and had to hunker down until the timing was right.

            Once you are out of the US your money goes further…IMO it has 'more value’s than in the US.