Are there any Americans living illegally in Europe, Mexico, or elsewhere?

[Deja Q]

Seems as valid a question as the opposite... :think:

[Why Syzygy]

1. Some in Canada....

waiting for hearings for citizenship. Some military who left to avoid further Ira*q deployment.

Good question though.

[Deja Q]

4. Thank you for saying Canada...

:blush: I keep forgetting the obvious. :silly:

[Paulo_s News]

2. That's a great question...

I'll do some Google searching on it. Does anyone have access to LexisNexis?

[Taxloss]

3. I have experience of American friends exhausting their visas

and struggling to stay, sometimes technically being "illegal". I can't say the police were breaking down their doors, but they were under great strain. But mostly they just wanted to extend their time in the UK, not naturalise. (One person I know has naturalised.)

[leveymg]

5. Believe it or not, there are some 10 million Americans living abroad

I'm sure a sizable percentage have overstayed their visas and put down unauthorized roots.

Born an Alien in the USA!

[Minnesota Libra]

6. If there are I'm sure they are very quiet about it for...............

....fear they would be arrested and deported or sent straight to jail for a good long time. I doubt any other country has the "we couldn't care less about borders or laws" practice this country has.

[tocqueville]

7. most of the illegal Americans are in Iraq nt

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

27. LOL - okay, not so much OUT LOUD but sort of snorted with agreement but

realized how sickening and true the little statment was

[patdem]

8. We are the GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE UNIVERSE DAMNIT

However, we got lotsa mericans too lazy to do some jobs (immigration) and we got lotsa mericans too dumb to do other jobs (Hb1 & Hb2 visas) AND we caint figer out how to keep people from slippin into our country..:silly:

[Deja Q]

9. And that is relevant, because...

:shrug:

I'm talking about living illegally; reversing the immigration question on its very heels. It is very fair to reverse the question.


But from what I can tell, you're talking about the corporate interests finding new ways to exploit non-Americans while destroying their own countrymen (though I cannot tell if you're mocking me, those supporting this "guest worker" joke, or why America is about to crumble). And you bet that won't make America look so great in the long run. America has no pride in itself anymore. It's pimping out to the cheapest hos.

The price of the penicillin will be a real bugger too.

[murray hill farm]

12. Well...where i lived in Mexico..

there were a good many americans living in mexico illegally..ones that u knew about, but they were folks who came in on tourists visas..and then just stayed and for the most part, they were the folks who just wanted to stay and continue the party..but did not have the money to take care of themselves...and were basically bums and druggies who would eventually be deported out...these were the ones you could see...and it was near cancun...so it did draw lots of tourists, etc. But there are more that u dont know about..although i knew of a dozen or so..ones who just did not follow through on fm3s to stay a year at a time or retrun to the usa for renewal of the 6 mos tourist visas. And there are many more, of course, but it is not something that one talks about if one is an illegal immigrant. In Mexico, one cannot work with out the FM3 work visa...and unions in mexico are very stong...so no one works with out the FM3 and the additional work visa..so, for the most part, illegal aliens in mexico are either retired folks who have an income...or folks with enough money so that they do not have to work. If one moved into mexico on a tourist visa and never left...did not try to work, did not get into any trouble at all with the law...or need to go to the law for any reason...and did not drive, but stayed put in one community, most likely they would never have any problem living out their lives there without any confrontation whatsoever. The only time i ever had to show my papers in mexico was when i would travel by car...and would have to stop for check points when i crossed a state line there...or when i came into the country.

[Jim Warren]

36. Never say never

If one moved into mexico on a tourist visa and never left...did not try to work, did not get into any trouble at all with the law...or need to go to the law for any reason...and did not drive, but stayed put in one community, most likely they would never have any problem living out their lives there without any confrontation whatsoever.

I wouldn't generalize like that. It's gonna depend on how big a fish THEY think you might be, if it's WORTH it to them to shake things up. Saying "did not get into any trouble at all with the law...or need to go to the law for any reason..." is kinda misleading because over-staying visa dates is itself trouble with the law.

[patdem]

14. I understood your question and I thought I was more clear than I

obviously was...other countries keep illegals out of their countries..yet we claim to be the BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD..but we only have a few itty bitty problems...thought the :silly smilie: gave a clue?

[freeplessinseattle]

20. how do you know there aren't illegal amer in other countries? n/t

[patdem]

34. Is there a government somewhere trying to figure out a way to get

illegal Americans out of their country? Or thinking of giving illegal Americans amnesty to stay? I am not aware of any, if there are, I would appreciate a link or two so I can view their problems.

[China_cat]

10. The Netherlands

has a fairly large proportion of illegal Americans.

[peace13]

11. We travel to Canada regularly

and follow Canadian laws to enter. Believe me if you are caught not checking in you will be fined and possibly lose your boat in the process. peace

[mcscajun]

13. I personally know of one woman working illegally in Ireland.

Not going to say where or what she's doing. But it's short-term for her, not a permanent situation.

[RagingInMiami]

16. Is it that bad

where if you say where and what she's doing, we're going to go over there and out her?

I waited tables in Dublin for 18 months, illegally, and I had a blast. I'm sure your friend is also having fun.

[mcscajun]

18. She's having a grand time as well...

I just don't want to give another's personal info to the world. :)

[RagingInMiami]

15. I lived illegally in Europe for two years eleven years ago

At one point, I even had something stamped in my passport that I needed to leave the country, Ireland, in 60 days. I stayed 18 months. With the exception of that Immigration Officer who stamped my passport, I never had a problem.

I even ended up getting a tax number and card, their version of a SS card, and was able to work. Before I left Europe back to the U.S., I received a small tax refund.

[meganmonkey]

17. None.

Not a single one.
:)

[Cleita]

19. One of my roomates went to England on vacation, got a job

and stayed a year before she got caught and the English deported her. Of course it happens. There are lots of European illegals here in the USA to but no one
is making a big deal about them.

[JI7]

21. i don't think it's difficult for Americans to get to other countries

i'm sure there are ones who are illegal in that they overstayed . but they most likely didn't enter illegally as it's not difficult for Americans to get in legally.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

23. "It's not difficult for Americans to get in legally".

Most of the Mexican "illegals" did and do the same thing....as do most of the Irish, Polish, and the rest of European illegals in this country.

They enter the US on a tourist visa and overstay their 60-90 days, whatever US Immigration stamped on their "entry cards",

Many of the "illegal" Mexicans didn't walk across the Rio Grande or the Sonoran Desert to get here, they bought or were sent an airplane ticket and arrived at ORD, JFK, DFW, LAX and SFO legally as tourists.

[havocmom]

22. Dunno, but there are a couple living illegally at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

And a couple living illegally at Number One Observatory Circle

[iangb]

24. According to Australian Immigration Stats......

....there are about 5,000 US 'illegals' in Aus. (They make up about 10% of all visa 'overstayers')

[magellan]

25. Of course there are

And when they're discovered they're given a choice: deportation or jail.

[tenshi816]

26. I overstayed my original visa in Britain

by about six months before I got my permanent (legal) residency. I got a lecture from the Home Office about it but that's all, and it didn't prevent me from attaining legal status. I can't say I'd recommend the illegal route though.

There's one kind of student visa whereby recent university graduates can go to the UK and live and work legally for a couple of years. I'm sure there are some of those who stay on after that time runs out, particularly if they have a job they're happy doing. Speaking from my experience back in the day, many UK employers aren't aware of the restrictions on American workers so they'll hire them without checking whether they're illegal or not. I worked for a law firm (how's that for irony) while I was still on my tourist visa, paid taxes and even got a tax refund.

I met a young man working at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cardiff, Wales last year who had gone to Wales after graduating from high school in California a few years earlier, fallen in love with the place and taken his job to support himself. He was kind of in limbo because he knew if he left the UK, he couldn't get back in because of overstaying his welcome, but at the time he was content with the situation.

[wickerwoman]

28. Many in China.

Getting your visa renewed is a hassle especially if you only work part-time. Most companies won't sponsor visas for part-time workers even though you could easily make a comfortable living working only 10-15 hours a week. I'd be part-time except for my visa. I'm legal but I know (literally) dozens of people who aren't.

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

29. Clearing throat .... ummmm people go to China ILLEGALLY to work for slave

wages? Please explain .....

[wickerwoman]

30. Hardly slave wages.

When you adjust for cost of living, I make 5 or 6 times in China what I did in the U.S.

You may consider them slave wages, but when your rent, food, clothes, etc and 1/8 - 1/10 what they cost in the U.S. you actually come out ahead.

Like I said, I could make a very comfortable living wage in Shanghai working only 10 or 15 hours a week. The only reason I work 25 hours a week is to hold on to my visa.

[sandnsea]

31. What do you do? n/t

[wickerwoman]

37. Teaching, private tutoring

and some copy-editing.

Freelancing, I make $30-50 an hour. My rent (for 70 square meters in the city center) is only $250 a month. I could eat every meal in a restaurant for $5-10 a day. Cooking for myself, food is only $1-2 a day. I save 60-70% of my salary without even trying.

Slave wages, my ass.

[NewJeffCT]

33. My mother-in-law lives very comfortably

On her $900/year pension in China from her job as a chemical engineer... and, she is in one of the major cities (Nanjing). Her husband still works part-time because he is an expert in his field & the government won't let him officially retire yet. But, I can't imagine he is getting more than $2,000/year. (Chinese will tell you their salary if asked, it's not a big secret like it is here in the US)

They had a week long vacation to Thailand earlier this year, and I think are going to Australia fairly soon as well. They both have their own cell phones, a computer and a home theater system in their apartment.

You can buy a DVD of the latest Hollywood movies for 40 cents to $1 (and these are not the crappy copies you'd buy in Chinatown in NYC or Los Angeles)... you can take a dozen friends out to dinner at a top restaurant for under $100... take a cab ride to just about any place in the city for 75 cents to $2... etc. If you want your child to be involved in getting musical lessons, you can do that at a fraction of the cost you can here.

My wife has a friend that worked with a Chinese guy that had a green card here in the US. He was making $200,000/year and had a prestigious research job at a top company here in the US... however, he recently accepted a job in Shanghai for $80,000/year doing basically the same thing for a Chinese company. He is making out better in the long run because of the cost of living differences.

Similarly, my wife's old boss (American citizen, born in France and raised in Canada) just relocated his whole family (wife & 4 kids) from Massachusetts to Shanghai for a lower level job (albeit, at the same pay level he had before in Mass.)

While China is far from perfect and needs to make many improvements, the people there generally take the long-term view of things, instead of the instant gratification that we need here. They have moved a good 300 million or so out of poverty over the last 25 years, and I'm guessing they will move a similar number out over the next 25. Can we say the US is headed the same way when it comes to poverty?

[rman]

32. I don't think the opposite is a question people have asked.

So neither question is very relevant really.

A question that is relevant is "why?":
Why do people migrate illegally?

The answer to that question is also the answer to the question why not many Americans migrate illegally, especially to Mexico.

The answer is so obvious i don't think i need to provide it.

[Cleita]

35. Thank you for the voice of sanity in this. n/t

[Solly Mack]

38. Yes - 3 came across my husband's desk just last night (Germany)

He's already ahead this year for new cases of Americans living illegally in Germany.(from the usual average) In fact, it's such a problem, there's a German based American Task Force just for Americans living illegally in Germany.

It happens.