What's the best way for a non-STEM guy to emigrate out of the US?

FWIW, the top three countries I’d like to move to are Malta, New Zealand, & Australia, though I wouldn’t be averse to Sweden, Germany, or Spain (even though the economy in that last country is ostensibly in the toilet right now). I have lots of extended family in Germany and Switzerland, if that helps at all.

Basically, I’m just curious what the best way would be for a non-STEM guy such as myself to emigrate - legally - to any of those aforementioned countries. Now, I can’t do anything until I finish college with my degree in PR, so that puts me at about three-four years in the future when I’ll be in my mid-20s.

I know that this board is populated by a bunch of US expats so any advice would be appreciated. I also know from firsthand experience that it isn’t impossible for non-math/science folks to leave the US and settle in other countries; I know a girl who studied abroad in Italy and ended up becoming an Italian citizen after getting a friggin’ degree in art history.

If anyone knows, I do wish they’d tell me. I’ve been the lead candidate on three separate positions outside of the US (this was before my recent problems, I should stress to anyone who’s read my threads) and could not secure a visa for any of them, despite there being a deep shortage of people in my field in that country. The problem was that despite the shortage the government of the country has not acknowledged this shortage, and so the organization ends up having to take a significantly lesser-qualified candidate. Even hiring an immigration lawyer from that country didn’t help at all, other than making my wallet lighter.

I should add that I have worked in this country before and hold an advanced degree from the same country. In looking on message boards devoted to immigration I find that several other people ran into exactly the same problem. I’m not quite sure what else I could do to emigrate and I’m starting to believe that it is actually impossible to emigrate away from the US.

Out of curiosity, are you trying to ask how you can emigrate to those countries quickly?

Because as far as I know, those countries have normal processes for immigration. Just apply and wait. Is there something stopping you from doing that? Eventually you’ll get to the head of the line right?

Because, as my immigration attorney pointed out, you need to prove you can support yourself while you’re in your new country. But in order to support yourself, you’re probably going to need a job. And in order to get that job, you’re going to need a visa.

As it is the country I want to go to recently made noises about cutting “net immigration” to 30,000 or so. Cut out the people who get work visas and you’re probably looking at 5,000 or fewer “regular” immigrants a year. Nearly a million people applied through the “regular channels” last year. How would you like standing in that line?

Are you getting a degree in Public Relations, or are you studying at a Puerto Rican university?

Can they sponsor you? I believe that a lot of countries restrict relative sponsorships to spouses, parents, and children, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a country out there where you can sponsor Aunt Suzie or First Cousin Al.

One obvious way is to marry a citizen <3. This is a big way that people immigrate to the US, since numerical caps on visa issuance are much less restrictive for spousal visas than other immigration visa types. I’ve heard that USCIS gets rather nosey during spousal visa interviews, because so many people feign a relationship in order to get into the country, or even bribe ($$$) a citizen to “marry” them on paper with no intent to actually try to be a real family. Supposedly USCIS will ask you questions about which side of the bed your spouse sleeps on or whether or not they snore.

If you have lots of relatives in Germany and Switzerland, check to see if you qualify for citizenship by descent with either of those countries. I don’t know about those two in particular, but some European countries (Ireland is a notable example) will grant you citizenship if you had a grandparent born over there.

Or, marry a citizen from the country you want to move to.

I’m no immigration expert, but the impression I have is that for most countries you can’t just apply and wait: typically you have to have a job that is willing to sponsor you, or rack up so many points based on your age, income level, occupation, etc.

People always complain that the US immigration system is so horrible, but we have the awesome green card lottery system, which really is just a system where you put in your application and see if you get lucky. You don’t have to be a doctor or software engineer to qualify, and you don’t already have to be making six figures and have a job sponsor you. I wish other countries had programs in place that were that cool.

Have you looked at whether or not you might qualify for ancestral citizenship? For example, the Republic of Ireland is very liberal in handing out full Irish citizenship to descendants of the Irish diaspora. Apparently a lot of Americans get this because it lets them move to any EU country visa free. I know someone who tried and failed to get ancestry based German citizenship - their problem was that their ancestors had left Germany before the unification of the German states in the 1800’s, and thus were never “German” citizens at all.

What does non-STEM mean?:confused:

To move to Australia on a permanent basis you’d essentially have to marry an Australian, or be offered a job here which no Australian could do.

I wondered that too, until 5 seconds on Google answered it for me.

FYI, for Ireland it’s only up to the grandparent level. If it was your great-grandparents who were the last Irish born you don’t qualify. And no, your parent (i.e. the grandchild of the Irish immigrants, and thus eligible) cannot get citizenship and pass it on to you, unless he/she does it before you were born.

People who don’t work in science, engineering, technology or math/physics. Medical professionals are also in demand in foreign countries too.

As a STEM educated person if the OP finds out let me know. I can’t figure out how to emigrate either. I’ve looked into Australia and Canada and don’t think I have enough points unless I have a job lined up.

I think I understand the point others have raised. There’s essentially no procedure to emigrating out of the US. You just buy a plane ticket and fly out of the country.

The restrictions you’re dealing with are immigration procedures set up by the countries you want to go to. So there’s no single “best way” - each country is going to have its own immigration laws.

IIRC, New Zealand will let you immigrate if you invest $1.2M or so into local economy over 3 years. There are a few other requirements but those are easy.

http://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/new-zealand-visa/visas-to-invest/investor-visa

There basically aren’t numerical limits on permanent residence by marriage to a US citizen. On the other hand, if you were applying as an adult sibling of a US citizen from the Philippines your application would be in limbo unless it was filed before April 1990 (http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_6168.html).

I suspect the tough questions only come out if they find you specifically to be suspicious. I remember my wife and I having a short and friendly interview. In fact I think they skipped it altogether for the two year follow up.

Marriage doesn’t necessarily grant you automatic residency, depending on the country. The UK, as an example, has tough new rules on spouses gaining residency. It’s not a shoe-in.

Are there many countries where you could “apply and wait” and have any chance to eventually receive an immigration visa, even though you don’t have a work lined up, or a spouse already a citizen, etc… I understand it’s possible in the USA, not sure it is in many other places. Either you fulfill such or such condition and have a good shot at immigrating soon, or you won’t ever be considered.

If you’re looking to get to Australia you’re kind of stuffed with a new degree in public relations. Your best options without STEM qualifications are probably:

  • requalify as a nurse, miner or teacher (in that order) and agree to spend at least a couple of years in the bush before starting life in one of the big cities;

  • have earned $1.125 million through business or investing activities and be prepared to buy $750K worth of government bonds for a couple of years;

  • get a job here that the company sponsors you for, but for which they’ll need to make the case that there’s no-one here who can actually do the job. This will probably be an indefinite but not permanent visa, so start looking to transition to another category;

  • marry or enter into a domestic partnership with a local and take your chances on a family reunion visa; or

  • undertake a uni degree out here and apply for permanent residency after living here for a few years.

Otherwise your chances are slim for permanent migration.

Here’s the New Zealand Immigration site’s skilled migrantpage.

You need 100 points minimum to have a shot. Luckily for you a university degree and being in your 20s get you 70 points right off the bat. HAve a play around on the calculator to see what else you could do to get those points up. Get a job offer and you’d be up to 120. This year anyone over 140 points is being accepted automatically.

So finish your degree, start applying for jobs and you should be okay.

Just had another play with the points indicator. A job offer outside Auckland and a Masters or Doctorate gets a twenty something up to 150.

Easy!