People planning a move most often ask how to find a well-paying job in a new place, what to live on in a new country, and how to build a social life for themselves and their children.
Below, we not only answer the most pressing questions but also explain the process of changing your place of residence.
How do you choose a country to move to?
The choice of a future place of residence depends on the immigrant's financial means, professional skills, wishes, and requirements for society.
Today, the most financially accessible way to obtain a second citizenship is establishing a family relationship with native residents of the chosen country.
You can emigrate to another country through repatriation. It is easiest for those whose ancestors or relatives lived in and held citizenship of the chosen state. Today, this route can get you citizenship of Israel, Hungary, Greece, Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Latvia, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, and Poland. However, not all relatives of native citizens can count on obtaining official status.
For example, Spain only recognizes the relationship down to the grandchildren of emigrants.
In Lithuania, things are much simpler: here, great-grandchildren and further generations can qualify for citizenship by repatriation. All that's needed is documentary proof of the family relationship.
When choosing a country to live in, it's worth paying attention to criteria such as:
- cost of living (the Numbeo portal gives approximate indices for the most popular countries, calculated based on the cost of housing rentals, utilities, groceries, and education);
- quality of life (data on how satisfied local residents of a given country are with their lives can be found in the World Happiness Report);
- safety level (this index is calculated based on the Global Peace Index ranking, taking into account three main criteria: the level of public safety, the number of internal and external state conflicts, and the degree of militarization);
- speed of social integration (you can check integration prospects on the website of the international community InterNations).
Residence permit, permanent residence, citizenship - what's the difference?
A residence permit, permanent residence, and citizenship are the three main stages on the path to obtaining a passport of your chosen country. Each of these statuses is official - meaning it lets a foreigner use the benefits of the specific state and legally stay on its territory for a fairly long period of time.
Obtaining a residence permit is the first step on the path to citizenship, in the chain "residence permit - permanent residence - passport."
A residence permit card gives foreign nationals the ability to:
- run a business;
- buy movable and immovable property;
- get a driver's license and buy any vehicle;
- open an account at local banks;
- sign insurance contracts with local insurance providers;
- study at universities located in the chosen state.
By definition, a residence permit is a temporary status. This means its period of validity is limited to a specific timeframe. For example, a student residence permit is issued for one year, with the possibility of annual renewal.
If we're talking about a card granted in exchange for investment, in some cases official status is granted to the foreign national for 5 years. If, at the end of this period, the immigrant still owns the investment property, they gain the right to apply for permanent residence or citizenship.
Permanent residence status has no expiration date, but the card itself needs to be renewed every 5 years. In most cases, this status is granted to foreign nationals who have lived in the chosen country under a residence permit for 5-7 years.
Permanent residence holders have almost the same scope of rights as citizens. The main restriction is that they cannot vote in elections. Permanent residents also cannot hold positions in government agencies and representative offices.
Most often, it's more advantageous for foreigners to remain in permanent-residence status. This benefit stems from the fact that many countries do not recognize second citizenship, meaning that obtaining a new passport requires renouncing all previous ones. This is the law in Germany, Austria, and Spain.
The easiest way to obtain a passport is through investment programs. This involves buying real estate located in the chosen country, or making financial contributions to its economy (for example, opening deposits, buying securities, starting a business, and creating jobs for the local population).
Citizenship through naturalization is a complex process that takes at least 10 years in most European countries. However, some states offer an accelerated naturalization procedure. For example, you can become a full citizen of Argentina just 2 years after obtaining permanent residence and living continuously in the country.
How do you obtain official status?
Any Russian citizen can start a life in another country. However, for a person to be able to stay on the territory of a foreign state for more than three months in a row, official status is required.
The way to obtain permanent residency depends both on the immigration policy of the chosen country and on the personal circumstances of the individual applying for the passport.
Today, official status can be obtained through one of the following routes:
- by birth or by origin ("right of blood");
- by birth on the territory of the country ("right of soil");
- marrying a citizen of the country;
- through naturalization (by living on the territory of the state for a set period of time);
- through participation in investment programs, which involve contributing funds to the economy of the foreign state.
How do you make sure the country is right for you?
Getting a visa is an important, but not the primary, step in preparing to move. Before taking such a step, it's necessary to understand whether the mindset, social, legal, and political order of life of the population of the country chosen for permanent residence meets your requirements.
MIRBEZVIZ specialists recommend assessing, before you move, how well life in the chosen state matches your expectations.
We recommend renting an apartment in a neighborhood you like in order to study the city's infrastructure. Walk the nearby streets and find out whether there are schools, kindergartens, and hospitals close by.
People sensitive to weather changes are advised to visit their preferred country in different seasons. Only this way can you understand whether the local climate suits you.
Special attention should also be paid to analyzing the level of safety. For example, Portugal ranks 6th among the safest countries. However, citizens of this country have to spend enormous sums heating their homes. That's because Portugal has no centralized heating system, so maintaining a private house on the ocean coast can cost several thousand euros a year.
What documents are needed for immigration?
Moving abroad permanently starts with obtaining a visa. The contents of the document package needed to get an entry permit depend on the visa category and on what the immigrant plans to do in the future.
Before moving, it's recommended to prepare the following documents:
- a passport (whose validity should extend at least 6 months beyond the visa's expiration);
- a criminal record certificate;
- a birth certificate (in some cases needed for a residence permit application);
- a marriage certificate;
- children's birth certificates;
- medical and vaccination records;
- a university diploma.
If you're moving with children, we recommend bringing a report card from their Russian school showing their average grade.
Note that all listed documents must be translated into the language of the country you plan to move to. The translation must be apostilled - a stamp that certifies the document's authenticity and confirms it was issued in accordance with the laws of the country that issued it.
How do you assess the cost of living?
To move to another country, you need to confirm sources of official income. No state will grant official status to a foreigner without a permanent income (exceptions today are certain categories of refugees).
For a residence permit application to be approved, a financially independent foreigner's income should be twice the subsistence minimum set by the government of the specific state.
That said, you shouldn't rely solely on the subsistence minimum figure. For a comfortable life in a foreign country, you also need to assess your day-to-day and household expenses (the cost of groceries, clothing, utilities, mobile service, taxes, etc.).
Think through your sources of income
If a person is moving at an employer's invitation, they won't have financial issues. But what should people who decided to change their place of residence spontaneously do?
Today, many states offer foreigners integration courses, during which you can not only learn the language but also get to know the culture and nuances of the local population's mindset.
Before moving, we recommend reviewing the foreign state's legal rules regarding the ability to run a business. For example, in Switzerland it's not easy for a foreigner to land a well-paid position, even if they speak one of the country's official languages fluently.
It's also worth noting that in some states, residence-permit status is not grounds for signing employment contracts with local employers. In such situations, it's important to remember that living permanently abroad doesn't strip a citizen of the right to remotely run a business project in their home country.
Assess the quality and availability of healthcare
There are various ways to move abroad. But before moving abroad to live and work, many Russians try to assess in advance the availability of medical services provided by private and public healthcare institutions. This is a particularly relevant question for immigrants with young children.
When deciding to move, it's necessary to clarify:
- the cost of insurance and the list of medical services it covers;
- which hospitals are located near your registered address;
- the procedure for receiving medical care (for example, in Germany, to see a specialist you first need to visit a family doctor, and only a few weeks later will the patient get the chance to see a narrow-specialty doctor).
Special attention should also be paid to the quality of medical care. Today, the top 10 countries with high-quality healthcare include the United Kingdom, Denmark, and France.
Find out what taxes you'll need to pay
Moving to another country grants a foreigner not only rights. This process also comes with a certain set of obligations, the main one being paying taxes.
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