Ask HN: Good countries for American expats

oh my, goes to show that statistics might have good numbers, but no meaning.

Macedonia? Georgia? My god, Georgia just had a war with Russia, is the second biggest target after the Ukraine/Krim.

Ethopia? WTF. If you want to live secure, have western healthcare, etc. 3rd world countries are some of the most expensive countries to live in. And Ehtopia is an authoritarian regime, which tends to blow violently once in a while.

I moved to Norway recently myself, but from New York City, where I am originally from. It is something I wanted to do for a long time, in part because my grandparents came from where I am now. All these points are true (cost, permit, etc.), but it is not a shock to me when living in Manhattan in terms of prices. There are some things that are quite expensive. My wife would compare food costs to buying stuff at Whole Foods.

Summertime in Norway is holiday time. People can take up to the whole month off. There is this thing called feriepenger where the government mandates that 10.5% of your salary is saved for vacation. It really stinks for the first year. :)

Shops close on Sundays (except gas station stores and Joker) and there is one government-ran store for wine/liquor/"strong beer". I just came here a few months ago, and I sort of miss having a nighttime. These are little things though. Of course though, YMMV.

I have been pursuing new job opportunties here. Most software development jobs tend to show up in Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen (three cities I am not in, I am in Southern Norway.) It is easiest to get a job in Oslo, particularly if you follow FINN.no when you try to find dev work. So, I'd probably suggest one of those three cities if you want to come here. (Haven't been to Stavanger, but Bergen is the prettiest, but seriously rainy).

Of course, YMMV anywhere. Just remember, despite what people write in the US media: Scandinavia is not a socialist paradise. :D

(EDIT: one other thing, I love banking here. Internet banking in the US still is sort of a novel idea. I had to pay by check for my rent; now I just do it through the bank site, along with other bills. There is a bunch of things I wish I saw in the US that I see here when it comes to banking.)

German expat in the UK reporting in.

> What has your experience been?

Mixed. Do your research first. It was difficult to get a bank account and rent a flat without references or fixed address (I stayed in a hostel the first few weeks).

I once got evicted from a flat (with 10 days notice) because of a legal loophole. The landlord was insolvent, bank repossessed, my tenancy agreement was declared void because landlord hadn't sought permission to let it out from the bank. As a tenant, you have no way of checking this upfront. Generally tenants are treated like shit and you need to be really wary. I was ignorant of any of this until it smacked me in the face - now I'm sufficiently up to date to give tenancy advise to the natives.

Compared to Germany, recycling here is barely known, which took some getting used to. You can't get a proper sausage in this country, but there's new exciting foods to compensate for it, and a wide variety of popular foreign dishes.

Other than that I like it, apart from the worrying rise of xenophobia, anti-EU sentiment and increasing internet censorship and monitoring. There's always Scotland though, after the breakup.

> What is your particular career? > Did you have to already have a job when you moved to that country?

I was offered a job as CTO, which was the opportunity to move I needed. If you do not have an offer letter in your pocket, it will be even more difficult to get a bank account and rent a flat (but search for "HSBC Passport").

> What were your moving expenses?

A flight for me, and a couple hundred euros to transport a few of my most important belongings. Do not bring more than this. Definitely don't bring furniture. Do not bring bed sheets or anything that is sized to fit certain items of furniture, it will not fit.

Then the price of a few weeks of temporary accommodation while I searched for a flat. I went cheap (£40 a night) because I wasn't sure how long it would be for, and ended up in a hostel where the shower didn't work reliably. Found a flat after two weeks.

> How much is your rent or did you buy?

Rent in the UK is obscenely high, and so is buying (especially in and around London), and one of the things I still struggle with is the generally poor quality of available housing (ancient heating, drafty single glazed windows, "period" buildings).

> Have you become fluent in the native language and was the language barrier difficult to overcome?

Yes. I spoke English before, or thought I did, but the language barrier was still immense. English has many variations (I ended up in a meeting with an Irishman and couldn't understand a thing) and there's a lot of slang in use. It took about a year before it got acceptable, and after 5 years I can cope with almost all of it, including Glaswegian and Scouse.

> What was the process like to become a permanent resident?

Depends on where you come from. After a few years of legal residency, you can apply for naturalization and do a test that every person born in the country fails (but you just study for it and then you'll pass). As EU resident, there's no huge advantage in becoming a citizen (well, you get to vote if you like).

> What's the cost of living compared to where you moved from? Has your quality of life improved or not? How and why?

Considerably higher cost of living, all due to the high rent (other factors about the same). I'm not sure about quality of life, but I can tell you it was the most important thing in my life and everyone should live in a different country for some time (actually live there, holidays don't count).

As American, please consider that you will be made fun of by some, you will need to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road and how to use a stick shift.

In general, be prepared to accept that things aren't like home and miss some food.

Even if you renounce your US citizenship you're still considered a US person for a few years, and still required to file. The most important thing to remember to do is file every year. The US is the only country in the World which requires it's non-resident citizens to file tax returns every year. Also, don't forget to do your FBAR, or face huge penalties like $10,000 fines.

I'm an American who has lived in The Netherlands since 2002. I engage a competent tax preparer every year and pay through the nose for him, you should expect to do the same. When I last lived in the USA my tax return was 2-4 pages. Now it's over 70 pages long and incredibly complex. It's just something you have to deal with if you live overseas.

nah bro. set up a foreign shell corp and have your employer pay your shell corp. defer taxes until there is a tax holiday. then still pay nothing!