Best Countries to immigrate to for webmasters

[vik_c]

I'm thinking, one should immigrate to a country with

(not in any particular order)

good infrastructure

scenic beauty

low cost of living

pleasant weather (no extreme climates)

low or average taxes

fast internet access

political stability (no dictators and preferably non-nuclear)

easy entry for immigrants

friendly people (no racism)

a stable currency

little or no red tape

business friendly atmosphere

access to free or low-cost healthcare

Any ideas?

[Rugles]

Doesn't Harry Callahan hang out in SF?

No, he is in nearby stunningly gorgeous Carmel.

[Jane_Doe]

For some good ideas on where to live the Home and Garden channel has shows where people shop for houses in different places, sometimes vacation or retirement homes in exotic locations in Central America and the Carribean. It is kind of interesting to see what kind of house you can get for the money.

Some of the homes in Florida look really intriguing for the price lately. It seems like you could get a big, new house with an indoor pool with a waterfall for a fraction of what the same house would cost in any of the major metro areas of California.

[incrediBILL]

It seems like you could get a big, new house with an indoor pool with a waterfall for a fraction of what the same house would cost in any of the major metro areas of California.

You also get mosquitoes, little lizards and palmetto bugs (flying roaches) everywhere plus hurricanes, sinkholes [dep.state.fl.us], spontaneous rain all the time followed by blistering humid heat, A/C bills, tons of tourists, timeshares, snowbirds (people) from Canada, and the hazardous driving conditions caused by little tufts of blue hair that can't see over the dashboard.

All reasons why they're giving away houses at rates way below California prices.

[vik_c]

It seems like you could get a big, new house with an indoor pool with a waterfall...

Houses may be cheap to buy but they're very expensive to maintain..property tax, cleaning, heating/cooling, repairs etc. If you're lucky, capital appreciation will make up for it but it's not a chance one should take as an immigrant, IMHO.

[Rugles]

snowbirds (people) from Canada

Who prop up the economy and without them there would be massive unemployment in Florida.

just sayin' ;-)

[vik_c]

Who prop up the economy and without them there would be massive unemployment in Florida.

Seriously, immigrants do help economies. There's a whole lobby in NZ wanting more liberal immigration because an average immigrant family spends something like NZD 200,000 getting settled. That's about US $150,000..

[zulu_dude]

Clearly I'm slightly biased as I'm a native, but South Africa (or almost any other Southern African country) could be worth looking at. Cape Town in particular is beautiful and has a mild, mediterranean climate.

The infrastructure isn't world-leading, but reliable, fast broadband is available in all the big cities. The political situation is very stable in an African kind of way and pretty much the only downside is the potential of crime in the larger urban areas.

Having said all that, I live in the UK as the potential for web-based business is currently much larger! This wouldn't be an issue if you have an established web-based business.

[vik_c]

The political situation is very stable in an African kind of way and pretty much the only downside is the potential of crime in the larger urban areas.

AFAIK, a lot of African countries like say Swaziland have a double digit rate of HIV infected population. Many other countries have poverty, illiteracy and high crime. I could be wrong. Is there any country in Africa that meets most of the criterion?

[zulu_dude]

Yes, there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS in most African countries. There is also poverty, illiteracy and high crime in certain areas. However, there are also parts of Africa that are more first world than many first world countries I've visited. It's difficult to generalise about any region of the world, but particularly about Africa as it's a land of such enormous contrasts. One would need to take each individual area on it's particular merits rather than looking at the country as a whole (apart from the political situation of course!).

In terms of the country most likely to meet all the criteria, I would say that would have to be Botswana. And, like South Africa, the language of administration is english. However, it's a little too sparsely populated and isolated for my liking!

[vik_c]

In terms of the country most likely to meet all the criteria, I would say that would have to be Botswana.

Botswana is next to only Swaziland in the HIV infection rate. It is a success story by African standards no doubt, but as a country to migrate to, it doesn't seem promising.

[graeme_p]

Former colleagues who went to Botswanna on work loved the the place, and preferred being sent there to London or New York. We all loathed Kenya.

[Jane_Doe]

Has anybody here lived in Belize? Yahoo had an article on it recently as an inexpensive early retirement place.

[finance.yahoo.com...]

[caribguy]

@jane - not personally, but I have one friend who is moving there between now and November, and another who is doing a reconnaissance trip atm. Costa Rica and Belize both seem to stand out positively in Central America.

[Mr Bo Jangles]

Hasn't South Africa still got really poor (slow) internet connection speed with the rest of the world?
I have to connect periodically with SMS gateway Clickatel, and the speeds woeful - and I heard that is the status generally with the country!

So, back to the first and only choice - Australia!

thank you - no more posts, case closed! *_*

[martinibuster]

the SF Bay Area in the US is by far, hands down, the best place to immigrate

It's great if you don't have children or they're grown and not an expense. It's expensive to raise kids here. I appreciate the diversity of cultural experiences and other recreational opportunities, but I think it's fair to be realistic and note that it's very expensive to live out here.

Re access to healthcare and low taxes, I may be wrong but I always thought that "access to free or low-cost healthcare" is in opposition to "low or average taxes." Someone has to pay for that health insurance, the money has to come from somewhere. It's either going to come from high taxes on income or sales or it's going to come out of your nose when paying health insurance premiums yourself.

In Canada it costs around $21 US Dollars for a six pack of beer. JUST a six pack. How is that webmaster friendly? LP

From wikipedia (FWIW):

A great bulk of the retail price of cigarettes and alcohol are excise taxes... Canada has some of the highest rates of taxes on cigarettes and alcohol in the world.

[weeks]

The article on moving to Belize Jane Doe pointed to got 4,304 comments. Whew, that's a lot of comments. Maybe some ideas there, eh?

Anyway, this writer suggests considering Panama, France, Uruguay, Belize, Mexico, Croatia or Malaysia.
[money.usnews.com...]

[vik_c]

I may be wrong but I always thought that "access to free or low-cost healthcare" is in opposition to "low or average taxes."

You do have a point there. Yet, if Canada taxes booze and tobacco but provides an inexpensive healthcare system, it probably makes teetotalers happy. Besides I'm not looking for everything in that list, just most of it!

The article on moving to Belize Jane Doe pointed to got 4,304 comments

Belize has a population of barely 350,000. Isn't that too little? Consider retirees and kids and what are you left with? How resourceful can it be when you're looking for any products and services? You'll have to import most of what you need.

[Rugles]

In Canada it costs around $21 US Dollars for a six pack of beer. JUST a six pack.

Flat out false. Maybe in a bar but not at a retailer for take home. I have no idea where you got that info.

Right now, I pay $30 for a case of 24 Labatt Blue. The normal price of premuim beer (like a Molson or Labatts) is $38.50 for a 24. This price includes the bottle deposit of $2.40 which you get back.

Now I am talking about Ontario, in Quebec its a little cheaper, in some other Provinces in might be a dollar or two higher.

But never in my life (and I am a long time Canadian beer drinker) have I paid $21 for a 6 pack. Clearly if you buy from a bar, you are paying a premium for not thinking ahead and getting it from a beer store.

[vik_c]

Rugles, maybe you could do a post on living in small-town Canada. That has always seemed attractive.

[wheel]

Rugles, maybe you could do a post on living in small-town Canada. That has always seemed attractive.

It's Canada. Think Michigan, with health care.

[Fiver]

In Canada it costs around $21 US Dollars for a six pack of beer. JUST a six pack.

Or 7$ CND if you're in Quebec.

I'm always on mental recon for places to settle, but I'm not going to make any real progress unless I learn Spanish I fear - Spain itself is nice, but not cheap enough - I hear very good things about Uruguay (have yet to visit, soon!). Sigh... godda put the Michael Thomas tapes back into rotation...

A beach is a definite requirement in my books. Primary requirement even.

[vik_c]

Or 7$ CND if you're in Quebec.

Do people in Quebec drink beer? I thought it was one of the coldest places in Canada.

Spain itself is nice, but not cheap enough

Spain has a lot of red tape apparently.

A couple of days ago I read something about Finland that made it out to be the 'Best Country In The World'. You need to know Finnish though, to live anywhere other than Helsinki. It's also rather expensive.

[onepointone]

Free health care doesn't mean squat, if it sucks.

Also, I'd probably drink beer if I lived at the north pole, heeee.

[wyweb]

I'd probably drink beer if I lived at the north pole, heeee.

Myself. Problem would be availability and access.

I've heard some of Santa's elves can get the good stuff so I'd probably go to them.

[Rugles]

Do people in Quebec drink beer? I thought it was one of the coldest places in Canada.

Yes, No and Yes. Quebec is bigger than most countries and goes all the way up to the Artic circle. But the southern part where Montreal is located would not be any colder than Maine or Minneapolis. Certainly Aberta and the prairie Provinces have a harsher winter than Montreal.

I don't live in a small town, I live in a small city. About an hour from Toronto ... which is massive, the 4th largest Metropolitan area in North America, close to 7 million.

I have always had excellent health care, by the way. Its first world healthcare. It aint perfect but its really good and extremely popular.

[edited by: lawman at 9:20 pm (utc) on Aug 23, 2010]

[wheel]

Also, I'd probably drink beer if I lived at the north pole, heeee.

The southernmost point of Canada is further south than the most northern point of California. You can stand in Canada and actually be further south than someone in California.

Where people tend to live in Canada isn't exactly the north pole :).

[vik_c]

That's useful information Rugles. I thought all of Quebec was sub-zero during winters. I've always been curious about how people deal with extreme cold climate. I understand that there's heating everywhere and there are occasional troubles like water pipes freezing etc that can be dealt with but what happens when there is a power outage or a hurricane? Is there a contingency plan in place usually?

[Jane_Doe]

I've always been curious about how people deal with extreme cold climate.

I dealt with it by moving some place warm as soon as I finished college.

We had a back up generator for power outages. But my family wasn't exactly the be prepared type so I don't remember the generator ever actually working when it was needed. When it was really cold and the power went out we would stay in bed with blankets upon blankets piled on top and read books (at night by flashlight.) If the roads were clear and the power outage wasn't too extensive sometimes we could go a friend or relative's house to warm up.

[topr8]

>>but what happens when there is a power outage or a hurricane?

i think you'll find there are very few hurricanes in colder climates, as they 'evolve' due to pressure conditions in the tropics

[wheel]

I've always been curious about how people deal with extreme cold climate.

I grew up in a relatively cold climate, no heat in my bedroom at all. Frost on the walls and you could see your breath when you got up in the morning.

Not much to deal with, you just live it. I remember the mad dash to get into clothes that were stiff from the cold, and that doing so wasn't overly pleasant. But life carries on. No different than dealing with extreme heat and humidity and the issues that come with that (can't sleep, sweating, etc).

Conversely I can remember snow being piled up as high as the barn roof and spending a good part of a winter mining and tunnelling through it. How many youngsters have a 2-3 story high snow fort?