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How do you manage to stay long-term on a foreign country, immigration-wise?



Depending on your nationality, a lot of countries have flexible tourist visas. For example, Americans can visit Armenia for 6 months, Albania for 12 months, Georgia for 12 months, India for 6 months at a time (up to 10 years), and so on.

In Europe, you also have many countries outside of the Schengen area, meaning that you can do three months in one then hop to another. E.g. spend 3 months in Berlin, then 3 months in Kyiv, then 3 months in Paris, then three months in Belgrade.


I would be careful getting in and out of Schengen. That would probably work a couple of time. But immigration can refuse it without causes, too.


Maybe in the future post-COVID it will be more strict, but my experience has been that it isn’t.


Not being strict makes it harder. You can sometimes get in and out without the proper proof that you actually left (your passport isn't always stamped when you cross the border). Then when you do finally get someone asking questions you can't prove the dates and they won't let you in.


Just make sure you get the right Visa. I have a work Visa for India, but I'm allowed to got to India for work reasons, I'd need a different Visa to be a tourist. Sometimes countries get funny about that.


As long as you don't need to look for employment locally, it's relatively easy and inexpensive to get a long-term (12 months plus) visa. I enquired with immigration lawyers in three different EU countries where this was possible, and ended up obtaining a three-year visa in a fourth country. I would estimate this cost about 500 EUR.

If you have a lot of money (hundreds of thousands up to millions), you can effectively buy residency in most countries around the world.

Other countries allow border-running to renew your visa, some countries issue longer visa's on arrival, etc, etc.

Mostly, this all depends on your financial means, which country you choose to spend a longer time in, your levels of determination, and the skill of the immigration lawyer you choose.


Talk to other expats who have already stayed long-term in your country of interest. Anybody who has been there for enough time will know their way around the immigration & visa system and people are usually very happy to share what they know.


It can be a huge hassle if you are independently employed, even in a country with lax visa requirements.




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