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Like citizenship, there are many pathways to a residence permit to have the right to live there.
For many people, getting a residency permit is much faster, easier, and more achievable. It requires generally fewer bureaucratic hoops to jump through, less verification, a shorter time, and a much smaller volume of paperwork.
A residency permit is sometimes called a “visa,” but this isn’t always an accurate description.
A visa is often required for you to enter a country for any reason. For example, Australians need a visa just to transit through an airport in Chile. Similarly, every nation on Earth needs some kind of visa just to transit through a U.S. airport, even if they’re not fully entering the country.
A residency permit is a kind of visa, but one that allows you to live in that country for a certain period of time. This will vary considerably depending on the visa/permit, the country, and may even vary depending on the passport you personally hold already.
The two most common kinds of residency permits are temporary and permanent. As you’d expect from the names, a temporary residency permit has a limited time you’re allowed to live in that country (for example, one year) and a permanent residency permit allows you to effectively remain indefinitely, providing you maintain certain criteria (like actually living there, and not committing a crime).
If you’re confused, the simple distinction is this: while residency permits and visas sometimes have interchangeable names, a visa only lets you enter the country for travel, business, or other activities. A residency permit gives you the right to actually live in that country, and access its services like banking, medical care, long-term rentals, etc.
With that out of the way, here are some of the most common paths you could consider to getting a residency permit.
For the Job Seekers: If you have a job offer from a company abroad, you can get a work visa. Your employer sponsors you, making it easier to move. Examples include the H-1B visa in the U.S. and the Skilled Worker visa in the UK.
For the Scholars: Planning to study abroad? Student visas let you live in another country while attending school. Think about the U.S., Canada, or Germany, which offer great education systems and post-graduation work options.
For Family Ties: If you have family members who are citizens or permanent residents, many countries allow you to join them. The U.S. Family-Based Immigrant Visa and Canada’s Family Class Sponsorship are good examples.
For the Remote Workers: Remote work is huge now, and countries like Estonia, Croatia, Iceland, Bahamas, Georgia, Norway, Barbados and many more offer digital nomad visas so you can operate your location independent from paradise or somewhere new.