Getting tired of the US and all its drama? Not looking forward to living under a Biden presidency? Can’t stomach the idea of a Trump second term? Hey, why not just move to a different country? Easy, right?
Let’s put aside for a moment the fact that COVID19 has essentially killed off international travel and that the prospect of actually moving abroad is on hold for the time being, at least in the short to medium term. There’s a poignant reflection on that new reality in the Guardian from August 3, in an article that I feel deeply, with all the privilege that it implies. (1)
Because I myself moved abroad. In fact I’ve done so more than once. First from the UK to France, a couple of times, and then, to the US. The moves to France were long-term but temporary, never more than a year at at time. But the move to the US was, unbeknownst to me at the time, permanent.
Twice when I spent long periods in France, I had a reason to do so —namely, a job contract in hand. The last time, however, I didn’t, and I just dropped anchor and landed a teaching assistant gig after a couple of weeks. That was the magic of membership in the European Union, and one reason why Brexit is so utterly, infuriatingly stupid — I had the right to move to France and just look for work, and live there permanently if I could wrangle it. I never managed to stay longer than those initial contracts, however, because they were nonrenewable, and while I could look for other jobs, I didn’t have savings or other resources to stay a while and be unemployed while I looked. See, even with something like an EU passport, you need resources to move abroad. Pretty substantial resources.
Without EU membership, Brits go back to being treated like every other nationality trying to move to the European Union. And those countries act like many other countries across the world — they’re easy to visit as a tourist, and relatively easy to study in for a while, but they’re not easy to immigrate to.
But I got my US green card (and later citizenship) the easy way.
I married an American.
No, seriously. That’s the easy way.
To immigrate to the US, you need to fall into one of several categories. Do you have a close family member to sponsor you? A spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling? Not a cousin, btw, that’s not gonna work. And when same-sex marriage was illegal here but legal in other countries, you couldn’t sponsor your same-sex spouse. Do you have a job offer from an employer who is willing to pony up the cash and other resources to sponsor your H1B visa and then your green card? When I was job hunting after grad school, there were colleges that specified they would not hire anyone who needed sponsoring for a visa — and these jobs were in language departments, where a substantial number of candidates would likely come from abroad. Are you an asylum seeker, a refugee, or a victim of trafficking, abuse, or other crimes? Theoretically you can move here, but we know what’s happened to those categories in the last four years. Do you work for NATO or an international broadcaster? Are you an Iraqi or Afghan translator who worked with the US military? Were you born on US soil to a foreign diplomat? Are you a Lautenberg parolee? What, none of the above? And what does any of the above matter now, if you’re from one of the “Muslim ban” countries? (2)
See, there actually is no easy way to immigrate to the United States.
Many people presume that if you come here, even if you come here without documentation, you can simply “get in line” for a green card and then citizenship. That’s simply not true — you need to have a designated pathway, as outlined above. Actually, it’s almost not true. There is one pathway which allows you to apply for a green card after a certain amount of time in the country, but only if you’ve been here since before 1972 — i.e. almost four decades of continuous residence. You also need to be able to PROVE that you entered the country before 1972 (uh, documentation?) and your continual presence since that date. Can you prove anything going back four decades other than your birth? For some, notably older, black, not born in a hospital — even proving the fact of one’s birth can be a challenge. (3)
Another myth of immigration is that if you marry an American, you are automatically granted citizenship. Also not true. If you are lucky enough to fall into one of the categories above, all that does is grant you the right to apply for residency (i.e. the green card) and later citizenship. I had to have my green card for at least three years before I could apply for citizenship. You can be denied either for many reasons. The processes are long, expensive, there are limits on your freedom of movement while you’re undergoing them. Even as a white, well-educated person who’s good at bureaucracy, speaks English as her native language, and has the kind of accent that gets amazing service, the immigration system was byzantine and terrifying. One wrong step, one missed appointment, and the whole thing can fall apart or you go back to the beginning of the process (and believe me, I have stories of coming close). You have to prove a lot about your life, including sufficient finances, health (hello syphilis test), moral character, criminal record. The citizenship application asks you a ton of questions like whether you were ever a member of the Nazi party or have weapons training. Behind on your taxes? Good luck.
I tell you all this about the American system because most industrialized nations (the ones most people want to move to when they say they want to leave here) have similar systems, with similar restrictions, or at least variations on the same themes. Immigration and visa rules are often reciprocal between countries. You can’t just rock up to the Canadian border and announce that you’re moving in. Canada, for example, basically refuses immigration to people with disabilities. (4) You get extra credit if you speak French. But you still need a reason to move there — a family member, a job, etc. Of course my husband and I have thought about moving to the UK. But I could only sponsor my husband’s immigration if we had UK earnings over a certain amount. Would I move and leave him here while I looked for work? How long might that take? Would I look for work before we even tried to move? In this job climate? So even though we’re married it might be quite hard for us to move there together.
People who come here now without documentation literally have no legal way to stay. They do not automatically get into line for citizenship — presence here grants nothing. That’s what Obama was trying to help with the Dreamers. And marrying an American won’t necessarily solve that problem because the act of entering the country without documentation can result in a green card application being denied. Of course there are ways to come here temporarily — as a tourist, on business, with a student or short-term work visa — and some people choose to overstay their allotted time. That’s illegal too, and you are subject to deportation, at which point you will have a very hard time getting back into the country legally. Fun fact, though, about 44% of people here unlawfully are tourist and business overstays. That would be your only option too if you didn’t have a more substantial reason to move to your country of choice. (5)
So no, you can’t just stick a pin in a map and move to whatever country you feel like. I know a lot of that talk is rhetorical — an expression of frustration with a country seemingly out of control. But I hear it more and more frequently, and let’s face it, New Zealand has looked mighty tempting recently. I just wish people would realize that wielding an American passport doesn’t open those doors for you, COVID or not.
I think many people can agree that the US needs work. And the work is here, the work is now, the work is urgent. The work needs us to be here and engage fully with it, if we believe in anything at all about America and democracy.
And in any case, you’re not going to cede this crazy, brilliant, mess of a country to the other side, are you?
(2) https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-through-registry
(4) https://howwegettonext.com/crossing-the-border-while-disabled-e19fa81cd91d
(5) https://www.niskanencenter.org/do-guest-workers-overstay-not-often/
