The best country for expats to relocate to has been named

[mushroomdave]

13 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, the list is about expats in general probably skewed towards working expats, not retired expats specifically. Retirement in Taiwan? No visa for that. Vietnam, also no visa for that. . 

Lived in Taiwan 22+ yrs just finished recently (my post above).  I had my permanent residency (APRC) and once you have that, you do not need to work and can stay as long as you put in 183 days/year.  Of course if you marry there, you got permanent residency (through marriage/different rules) too and can stay throughout.  But for me, back around 2006 I got my permanent residency/ APRC after working/paying my taxes and no time in between jobs on an ARC (Alien Resident Card which you get first day of work) for 7 yrs.  Today this is down to 5 years.  So for anyone to just walk in, you could would have to put in 5 years of work or marry to stay/retire.  There is even a new law on my permanent residency, that being when I left in May, I still retain my Permanent Residency for 5 years without even re-entering.  And if I re-enter, I am extended another 5 years and so on.  But again, like my post above......I never met a person there that retired.  Pays well....but too many people  / housing prices unreal / humidity index unreal!!  

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, mushroomdave said:

Lived in Taiwan 22+ yrs just finished recently (my post above).  I had my permanent residency (APRC) and once you have that, you do not need to work and can stay as long as you put in 183 days/year.  Of course if you marry there, you got permanent residency (through marriage/different rules) too and can stay throughout.  But for me, back around 2006 I got my permanent residency/ APRC after working/paying my taxes and no time in between jobs on an ARC (Alien Resident Card which you get first day of work) for 7 yrs.  Today this is down to 5 years.  So for anyone to just walk in, you could would have to put in 5 years of work or marry to stay/retire.  There is even a new law on my permanent residency, that being when I left in May, I still retain my Permanent Residency for 5 years without even re-entering.  And if I re-enter, I am extended another 5 years and so on.  But again, like my post above......I never met a person there that retired.  Pays well....but too many people  / housing prices unreal / humidity index unreal!!  

When I talk about retired expats, I'm talking about people that move to a country initially and specifically to retire. Most countries don't allow that. Taiwan is in the most category. Of course many countries have other paths like marriage and become a resident other ways, then retiring. 

[whaleboneman]

On 12/13/2021 at 10:10 PM, Mavideol said:

how does Mexico made the list?????? crime/mafia/drug lords, gangs fitghting eahcother, kidnapping, run grab robberies just to mention a few

Probably because it is one country where you likely won't outlast your savings.

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, whaleboneman said:

Probably because it is one country where you likely won't outlast your savings.

I wish more people believed that tripe because it would decrease expat housing demand in desirable places like Puerto Vallarta and San Miguel de Allende. To me the worst thing about Mexico now is that it has gotten too expensive and too many people moving from cities in the U.S. that think 1000 dollars a month rent is cheap. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by Jingthing

[Damrongsak]

29 years ago, I relocated from a foreign country (New Jersey, USA)  to central Virginia.  It was hard to adjust to people being friendly. ????  I liked my 3 1/2 years in Thailand (came back to U.S. in 1980).  I need to get back to visit but I don't think I'll pull up roots here.  We own a good house there that I've never been in, and nice relatives.  Is there a hassle-free visa good for 60-90 days so I could go back each year and spend money? 

[bendejo]

9 hours ago, World Traveller2 said:

Best strategy is to keep moving (living out of a suitcase) literally and 'romantically'. Tired of a place, people, cuisine, weather? Move on!!!

Did that for more than 10 years.  Mostly southern South America and SEA.  Move with visa expiry.  Argentina, Uruguay, and Malaysia were the easiest passport-wise: all three give you three months at the border, chop-chop and the imm. officer usually too bored to give your pp more than a cursory glance.  When it's done run for the border, spend a little time out and come back in.  If you decide to "do it right" by applying for a visa extension will require a lot of bs: show of funds, local references, waking up before dawn to get a place in line at the imm, office etc.  Also with cheap flights (pre-pandemic days) a visa run is an excuse for a week or two "vacation."

I really liked South Africa, but the crime puts it beyond consideration.  In the local newspapers you'll find articles about crimes that will contain phrases such as "acts committed are too grisly to describe in print."  Too bad.

 

 

[brianthainess]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:51 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

If you would want to "relocate", would you really look for the "best" location? Or would you think i.e. about Cambodia or Lao (just examples) and then try to find out more about those places?

I.e. Norway can be top of the best whatever list and I would never think about moving to such a cold country. Also just an example. 

Agree having spoken about this with Wifey in the past, that if I got refused an extension for whatever reason, and being on a basic pension, I would go live in Cambodia (easier visa) or Lao, "Me not want live Cambodia dirty to mut'' she would however live in Lao, which I also prefer, better for her same'ish  language , and close to Issan & siblings, direct rail links to BKK where her kids live.

[RafPinto]

On 12/14/2021 at 5:32 PM, ballpoint said:

It always gets me that a bunch of people who made the decision to move to Thailand based on a few short term vacations here, and now regret that decision and want to move elsewhere, are willing to choose their next location based on what a bunch of strangers on a website tell them.  What could possibly go wrong?

What you mean with "short time"?????

[traveller101]

On 12/14/2021 at 12:07 PM, Meat Pie 47 said:

You know nothing about NZ or Australia I live in OZ on a pension (since I lost every thing in the land of lies) I don't have property I pay rent and I live quiet well

Are you kidding me?

You live off A$967.50 a fortnight - the median weekly rent is A$471;

leaving you with more or less nothing to feed yourself.

BTW - I live in Australia.

 

[Hanuman2547]

I guess it all depends upon what is best for your situation.  An expat can be a "retired" person, a "working businessman", a "digital nomad", "off shore oil worker", or some other combination.  This make a top ten list look very confusing based on what the potential expat needs and what their lifestyle is.  

I still can't see how Mexico made number 2.  There is just too much crime and corruption there.  

[World Traveller2]

24 minutes ago, traveller101 said:

Are you kidding me?

You live off A$967.50 a fortnight - the median weekly rent is A$471;

leaving you with more or less nothing to feed yourself.

BTW - I live in Australia.

 

Very well done.

 

About half of the reason I do not spend my winters in Canada is the cost of housing. Nothing to do with exotic travel.  I refuse to spend 75+% of my meager pension income on private accommodation, 40-60% of same on shared accommodation. For the same price I can live in hotels in S.E. Asia, which is more fun and zero maintenance. Add fuel surcharges in prairie winters and sojourning in poorer warm countries is a no-brainer.

 

My choice comes down to sleeping in a guesthouse and eating out versus sleeping in a hotel room and cooking discreetly (safely and cleanly too). Budget is the same either way. Sure, I could rent by the month. But you know what I have discovered based on three decades on the road for much of the year? Unlike developed countries, *it*s cheaper to live as a tourist than as an expat*. Plus a lot simpler. And in Singapore, regarding eating, bizarrely it's cheaper to eat in food courts than buying groceries and cooking at home.  In Canada I would go broke eating in restaurants.

 

Food, transportation etc - all these secondary expenses can be solved with good organization and planning - foodbanks in BC, discounted produce at Superstore in AB, etc. Subsidized bus passes in both places.

 

Rent is the killer

 

But another thing about Canada...

 

Intercity transportation sucks. Unlike in Europe and East Asia (due to too much land space) in Canada it is very expensive to go from city A to city B. So you stay put. In fact I refer to my six months every year back 'home' as my prison sentence, the price I pay for being a traveller since age 35

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by World Traveller2

[KhunLA]

8 minutes ago, Hanuman2547 said:

 An expat can be a "retired" person, a "working businessman", a "digital nomad", "off shore oil worker", or some other combination. 

If people that reply, actually read the article linked in OP, since referring to 'employment' a few times, then the article seems to be targeted toward working people who simply want to relocate and continue to work.

 

Nothing to do with 'best place to retire', which case a different top 10 would show up.  The whole article lacks info and comes off as nothing but 'click bait'.  As do must.  IMHO

[Road Warrior]

Thailand dont want retire ex pats that's why visa are hard  acquire !!  Thailand loss for the economy, which they need ????

[Hummin]

6 minutes ago, Road Warrior said:

Thailand dont want retire ex pats that's why visa are hard  acquire !!  Thailand loss for the economy, which they need ????

Thailand hard to get/obtain visa is nonsense and not true, can be for those who can not meet the requirements, but thats true for every country. 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Hummin

[JustAnotherHun]

9 minutes ago, Road Warrior said:

Thailand dont want retire ex pats that's why visa are hard  acquire !!  Thailand loss for the economy, which they need ????

Long stay in Thailand is hard to aquire if you're 50+? That's laughable. The requirements are low. Meet them and everything's easy.

 

They don't want low budget retirees here. OK, maybe, as many other countries do.

And you really believe the inpact to the country's economy provided by retirees is big? Get real.

[Jingthing]

13 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Long stay in Thailand is hard to aquire if you're 50+? That's laughable. The requirements are low. Meet them and everything's easy.

 

They don't want low budget retirees here. OK, maybe, as many other countries do.

And you really believe the inpact to the country's economy provided by retirees is big? Get real.

I wouldn't call the requirements low. More like moderate. Numerous desirable countries like Portugal and Ecuador are much lower. I don't have a complaint about the financial requirements here particularly because there is a bank method. The primary flaw here is the lack of a path to permanent residence from retirement status.

[World Traveller2]

Then vs. now.

 

Know of any countries that have become more liberal (open) in their long-stay immigration policies? The trend over the past 20 years is clearly stricter rather than looser. I am not here to debate the reasons (I can think of numerous, including sound ones) or efficacy of such rules, but simply the changed reality.

 

Where is the *new* loosey-goosey destination in Asia or even the world?

 

"Welcome everyone. Put your feet up, and stay for a while"

 

I know of only one - India! Cheap, excellent medical, fabulous food, great train system, English spoken, ten-year visas for citizens of some countries (6 month max stay per year - perfect for me). Downsides are congested population in urban centres, noise, 'communal violence' (potentially anyway),  poor sense of environmental cleanliness, and a new local lingo every 100 km.

 

The worst downside is either a sleazy or a costly P4P scene.

 

But a vegetarian, cultural and historical bonanza. People who read more than comic books too.

Edited December 17, 2021 by World Traveller2

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Hanuman2547 said:

I guess it all depends upon what is best for your situation.  An expat can be a "retired" person, a "working businessman", a "digital nomad", "off shore oil worker", or some other combination.  This make a top ten list look very confusing based on what the potential expat needs and what their lifestyle is.  

I still can't see how Mexico made number 2.  There is just too much crime and corruption there.  

For working and business expats Mexico City is one of the most fabulous and cosmopolitan big cities in the world also offering easy connections to the US and Canada. Just live in the best neighborhoods there are use common sense.

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

For working and business expats Mexico City is one of the most fabulous and cosmopolitan big cities in the world also offering easy connections to the US and Canada. Just live in the best neighborhoods there are use common sense.

Great city.  One of my best holidays was spent there, and I'm not a big city fan.  Amazing place.

[World Traveller2]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Great city.  One of my best holidays was spent there, and I'm not a big city fan.  Amazing place.

And I hear that their big museum is on par with London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Taipei. Though Istanbul and provincial city museums in total have got to be better.

Edited December 17, 2021 by World Traveller2

[NoshowJones]

On 12/14/2021 at 6:48 PM, connda said:

30 or 40 years ago, those of us who came to SE Asian had a high tolerance to risk.
Those of you who have arrived in the last 5 or 10 year probably don't.  What is "safer" than a government who takes control of the county via a coup?  The heavy-hand provides safety, right?  They keep the commoners in their place.  So the foreigners who prefer "safety" over adventure will gravitate toward the 'heavy-hand.' 

I'm not knocking anyone's choice, I'm just pointing out the obvious.  The demographic who gravitates toward New Normal Thailand is not the demographic who will feel comfortable in Mexico or Columbia.  In fact, they prefer to stay in places like Australia, New Zealand, or Canada - "safe" places where the government exerts total control and can provide the citizenry with a patina of safety at the expense of individuality.  Just submit and safety is yours!

Personally, if staying in Thailand becomes a bureaucratic nightmare, I'll head for Mexico. But that's just me.
"But it's not "safe!""

Exactly.

I would doubt very much if there is a safer country in the world here in Thailand, though only if you take road safety out of the equation.

You can walk almost anywhere in any city here without fear of being attacked, provided you are sober and mind your own business.

In Glasgow I was chased by four Eastern Europeans just for walking in the street after dark.

In Memphis Tennessee both me and a girlfriend was chased by about a dozen black guys while standing at a bus stop waiting for a bus to Graceland, and we had to run into the bus station for safety.

[Jingthing]

18 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Great city.  One of my best holidays was spent there, and I'm not a big city fan.  Amazing place.

Indeed.

It's amazing.

But I feel it's a bit too much for most RETIRED expats.

No doubt there are downsides of Mexico like everywhere else particularly many specific locations there. But I feel dismissing it entirely because of crime reflects ignorance.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Jingthing

[KhunLA]

21 minutes ago, World Traveller2 said:

And I hear that their big museum is on par with London, Paris, St. Petersburg and Taipei. Though Istanbul and provincial city museums in total have got to be better.

One of the things I liked, and lacking in Thailand.  I do miss some of the 'finer' things USA had to offer in abundance.

[Hummin]

8 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I would doubt very much if there is a safer country in the world here in Thailand, though only if you take road safety out of the equation.

You can walk almost anywhere in any city here without fear of being attacked, provided you are sober and mind your own .

Oman is beautiful, clean, easy life, nice beaches, good food and safe for expats. Downside is alcohol prices and social life connected to alcohol, but it exists. As far my experience goes nice and welcoming people.

 

Anyway not for me, I enjoy the freedom in Thailand even during Covid. 

[World Traveller2]

11 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Oman is beautiful, clean, easy life, nice beaches, good food and safe for expats. Downside is alcohol prices and social life connected to alcohol, but it exists. As far my experience goes nice and welcoming people.

 

Anyway not for me, I enjoy the freedom in Thailand even during Covid. 

I know only four things about Oman...

 

1. Third division in Islam (not Sunni, not Shia) very dfferent from South Asian Shia, which has been influenced by the bigger religious millieu

 

2. Some wonderful smelly things (frankincense, oud?)

 

3. Not on great terms with some of it's neighbours in the Gulf. Scratch that, isn't that Qatar?

 

4. Sultanate once stretched to Zanzibar (no doubt, slave traders)

 

Are its women as attractive as Yemenis - who have given Israel both the singer Ofra Hazra (sp?) and some of Tel Aviv's finest prostitutes?

Edited December 17, 2021 by World Traveller2

[SW Happy]

On 12/14/2021 at 1:10 PM, Mavideol said:

how does Mexico made the list?????? crime/mafia/drug lords, gangs fitghting eahcother, kidnapping, run grab robberies just to mention a few

Depends wether you want a bit of action or a quiet life. ????

[World Traveller2]

32 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Oman is beautiful, clean, easy life, nice beaches, good food and safe for expats. Downside is alcohol prices and social life connected to alcohol, but it exists. As far my experience goes nice and welcoming people.

 

Anyway not for me, I enjoy the freedom in Thailand even during Covid. 

Oman vs. Dubai? Any experience or that of trusted colleagues? Dubai impressed me. The only thing strange was 98% of the visible population and who I dealt with as a tourist, was from Bangladesh and Philippines. Not a problem, I like the people in/from both places.  Is Oman also expat-central, as in 'everyone' from the waiter to the engineer is a foreigner?

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, World Traveller2 said:

Oman vs. Dubai? Any experience or that of trusted colleagues? Dubai impressed me. The only thing strange was 98% of the visible population and who I dealt with as a tourist, was from Bangladesh and Philippines. Not a problem, I like the people in/from both places.  Is Oman also expat-central, as in 'everyone' from the waiter to the engineer is a foreigner?

I have a pal who works in Oman.

Apparently when your job ends you are required to leave the country fairly quickly.

[Old Croc]

Mexico.

 

From the article:

"The second best country for expats was Mexico.

- the country was at the bottom when it came to safety and security,"

 

Mexico arrests 'gang members' over Australian surfers murders - BBC News

 

Pass !

[World Traveller2]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I have a pal who works in Oman.

Apparently when your job ends you are required to leave the country fairly quickly.

As maybe foreign workers in Dubai are too. I am ignorant on this subject. No, I meant is the working pooulation almost entirely non-Omani.

Edited December 17, 2021 by World Traveller2