Actually, it is possible to gain residency in Ireland on the basis of a non-marital relationship. I think it has to be at least four years long and obviously the standard of proof is pretty high.
Umm, then how can you be half-Irish? I would assume you’re 100% American of Irish heritage.
Do any countries have an ‘immigrant exchange’ program? It would be cool if you could arrange to be a citizen of another country if you could find someone in that country who wanted to be a citizen in yours and had a similar employment skill set or level.
If he’s anything like me, he probably means it like this:
My great-grandfather was born in Italy. He was therefore “full blooded” Italian. He immigrated to the US as a child, but went back to Italy as a adult to find a wife. Therefore, my grandfather had two ‘full blooded’ Italian parents, making him “full blooded”. However, he married a non-Italian, making my father ‘half’ Italian and me “one quarter” Italian, even though neither of us have ever been anything but American citizens.
I can see how it is kind of a silly exercise, but it has its uses. For me, being one quarter Italian means 2 of my 8 great-grandparents were Italian. It is just shorthand.
Like swapping your days off at work???
Personally I find the whole immigration thing sort of silly… I mean, basically the only option for a normal person to immigrate to most countries (when I say normal… not a MA or PHD holder) is to do so illegally. What benefit does a immigration policy have for a country in which the only way to become apart of it requires you to break a law?
I mean I understand that because of financial variations between different countries (ie- Mexico, and America) it would make sense as everyone might want to move to the wealthier nation… but in the case of the U.K. and the U.S.??? All the Brits aren’t going to get up and move to the U.S., and likewise, our socialistic hating base here in America- I doubt, are going anywhere. Now a few of us who find the other country more appealing might make the move, but I don’t think it would have enough effect to cause financial or societal rifts in either case.
Furthermore, we’re not talking about citizenship, we’re simply talking about living and working???
In a way, I feel imprisioned by our own country. Atleast in the EU you can move around. NAFTA has failed to provide a similiar opprotunity for the “average” American.
I don’t think so. Plenty of people legally emigrate even without having a graduate degree. How easy it is depends on their new country’s immigration policy and where they come from. And plenty of people actually move to a country to study and remain once they have their degree.
This is a really interesting thread. After researching my family history (due to adoption), I’ve found out I’m half English on my fathers side and my mother was half Irish, half Scottish. However after talking to her I’ve found out my grandfather was born in Boston USA but moved back to Ireland when he was 3. His parents moved out there from Eire before he was born and some of his siblings stayed there when my great grandparents moved back.
One of my friends say I can class myself as quarter Irish, another says quarter American Irish due to his being born there. To settle the argument LOL what do you all think please?
Thanks for the information. I’ll look into it.
NAFTA was about free trade; it’s even in the title. It’s not about free immigration and naturalization. And you can certainly move around: the U.S., Canadian and Mexican borders are still among the most open in the world.
Sort of like a permanent student exchange program. Just switch places. No net immigration change!
Plenty of 3rd world nations that would welcome you with open arms.
The EU was originally about free trade too, hence its own previous title, the European Economic Community. It didn’t become the “European Union” until 1993. Free movement of workers was part of the EEC because it was considered an essential component of free trade.
Well, for Canadians and Americans anyway.
DrDeth which third world countries do you think would welcome a US citizen with open arms? If anything most of them have even stricter requirements than developed countries do (as is evident from, for example, the fact that US citizens require visas even to visit a lot of these places, which isn’t true for the very large majority of developed countries).
In the context of U.K. immigration, I disagree. School (college) due to exchange rates, etc. is, let’s be honest, financially out of reach for the “majority” of middle-class Americans.
I agree if you’re financially prosperous, immigration is much easier… if not simple. In fact one could invest in a business for around £250,000 and walk right in…
…but we’re talking about the average individual who makes $25,000, may have a 2 year degree, and a few years experience and isn’t willing to take a loan of $150,000 for a semester of college.
…about the only way to do it, is to do it similarly to how America’s illegal immigrants do it. Go there on a visitor visa, overstay, and work under the table or on fake papers till you can apply for a ILR in about 10 years…
You could do it the way I did - work for a multi-national company and get a transfer from the US to the UK. The UK branch still had to apply for a work permit for me but that was mostly a form-filling exercise to keep the Home Office happy.
I’ve looked into it with the last 2 fortune500 international companies I worked for, and when I approached HR about merely getting a list of positions available in our U.K. subsidiaries, they did the RCA dog head cock, and said we will get back to you.
A few weeks later HR emails me and says… “there’s a position in China.”
China? Because that’s close to the U.K.
She then went on to explain our company in the U.S. has no idea what our U.K. version is, and that no one ever transfers out of country…
…basically it’s a lot of B.S. where I subsequently beat my forehead against my cubicle wall till I cry tears of blood.
One of my superiors once asked me: “Why would you want to work in the U.K… with all the Communism and such?” then proceeded to tell me it was too close to Iraq for his comfort level.
This of course made me want to exit this country even more, though I realize stupidity is a worldwide phenomenon…
Yeah. If it’s any consolation, nearly a decade outside the US has made me understand that people in other countries are just as stupid in their own ways.