The media myth that Americans can just move abroad for a better life – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking

The pop media loves writing stories based on a simple outline:

• America is awful because <insert your reasons here>
• This <person / couple / family> moved to country X and now lives a wonderful life.

They literally write the same story every week, just change the names of the individuals. These have become a media staple – see the link above for numerous examples.

As I documented at the link above, the media routinely ignore or leave out critical details – usually regarding permanent residency visas in other countries. For most Americans, it is tough to get a residency visa or become a citizen of another country.

Thus, when your read these media fluff content mill filler stories, you’ll discover:

• A very large percent of those who “moved” do not actually have residency visas. Instead, they literally commute back and forth to the U.S., when their 90- or 180-day stay limit is reached and they must leave country X.
• Another huge percent have immigration privilege – one or both individuals (couples) already had foreign citizenship by birth, right of descent, or by marriage. This detail is typically glossed over in the stories or omitted.

The effect is these weekly media myth stories are fake news click bait – getting you to read their story and imagining yourself moving to another country. But – for most American’s moving to another country ranges from difficult to impossible. Unless you have “immigration privilege” (another example here).