Are you really thinking about leaving the US? I did it. [View all]
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Emile (a host of the The DU Lounge forum).
It can be done, and in some cases pretty easily. Here's my story...
Disclaimer: I was close to retirement age, able to retire a bit early, and was able to meet the minimum financial requirements for obtaining residency in the country I came to. (Spain)
In 2016, the election was pretty emotionally distressing for my wife and I. We were dismayed that a moron like DJT could be elected. (We are a million times more dismayed today...) We envisioned the chaos that would eventually surround the idiot and criminal conman and decided to seriously pursue the idea of leaving the country. We have always been attracted to Spain and started to travel here and look around. In 2017, we purchased a small property here. (Foreigners can own property in Spain with no restrictions. We could also have rented long term, but we had an opportunity.) We applied for and received "Non Lucrative Residency Visas" (read "retired people" visa) from Spain. We are now residents of Spain and love being here. We still keep connected to the US, but spend the majority of our time here. So...it can be done, and watching the insanity from here is much less depressing that being up close.
Like other countries, Spain has a variety of visa types. The NLV visa does not permit one to work in Spain, and we are retired. However for those who may be able to work remotely, the Digital Nomad visa may be attractive. There are several requirements to obtain it, minimum financial requirements, length of time with current employer, time in vocation, etc. But they are not completly onerous, and if one meets the minimum requirements I understand that they are typically granted fairly easily. Student visas are also available.
A quick Google search will fill in the details.
If anyone has questions I'll be happy to try and answer them based on my personal experience.
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