Вместо ЕС или США переехал в Латинскую Америку. Почему?

SUMMARY

Vadim, a Russian online entrepreneur, explains in his video why he and his wife relocated from Serbia to Uruguay in 2023, prioritizing reliable citizenship while dismissing Asia, EU, USA, and other options for personal and geopolitical reasons.

STATEMENTS

• Relocating abroad depends on individual criteria like weather, family needs, job access, and city size, making universal judgments about countries unreliable.
• Obtaining a reliable passport without renouncing Russian citizenship is a top priority for Vadim and his wife, ruling out regions where citizenship is nearly impossible.
• Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia allow long-term stays as tourists but rarely grant citizenship without learning complex local languages, which Vadim is unwilling to do.
• The European Union is increasingly hostile to Russians through financial restrictions and policy changes, complicating life for those with Russia-linked work like Vadim's YouTube production.
• EU citizenship processes are becoming stricter, with retroactive rule changes in countries like Portugal extending residency requirements from 5 to 10 years.
• Vadim lived in the USA as a teenager and respects it but finds permanent life unappealing due to high costs, worldwide taxation, and the passport's potential geopolitical risks.
• The USA, along with Kyrgyzstan and one small African nation, imposes citizenship-based worldwide taxation, which could heavily impact Vadim's portable online income.
• English-speaking countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand offer language familiarity but lack accessible legal pathways for relocation and have high living expenses.
• Latin America treats Russians neutrally, without associations to recent events, and applies jus soli, granting automatic citizenship to children born there.
• Spanish, the dominant language in most Latin American countries except Brazil, is relatively easy to learn, especially for English and Russian speakers, and Vadim has long wanted to master it.

IDEAS

• No country is universally ideal or terrible for relocation; suitability hinges on personal priorities, avoiding black-and-white opinions in favor of nuanced evaluation.
• Citizenship via jus soli in Latin America provides a strategic "backup" passport for future children, free from parental origins and enabling global mobility without geopolitical baggage.
• Europe's appeal as a dream destination for some Russians crumbles under scrutiny for those with ongoing Russian business ties, revealing it as a high-risk zone amid sanctions.
• Worldwide taxation in the USA turns its powerful passport into a fiscal trap, taxing global income regardless of residence, which deters digital nomads like Vadim.
• Retroactive policy shifts in EU countries, such as Portugal's residency extension, betray immigrants who planned based on prior laws, eroding trust in stable migration paths.
• Latin America's neutrality toward Russia stems from geographic and cultural distance, leading locals to view relocation motives with genuine confusion rather than bias.
• Acquiring a passport from a small, neutral country minimizes long-term risks like sanctions or anti-American sentiment, prioritizing quiet security over superpower prestige.
• Personal unfamiliarity with Asia doesn't just dismiss it practically but culturally; Vadim sees it as irrelevant without prior exposure, highlighting the role of comfort zones in decisions.
• Learning Spanish in Latin America isn't a barrier but an opportunity, especially for Vadim, who associates it with border cultures from his Texas experience.
• High-cost destinations like Australia require strong justifications beyond language; without legal entry options, they become impractical for non-elite migrants.

INSIGHTS

• Relocation success demands aligning destinations with one's professional and personal ecosystem, as mismatched financial or cultural ties can amplify geopolitical vulnerabilities.
• Jus soli in Latin America transforms family planning into a citizenship strategy, offering offspring unencumbered global access in an era of nationality-based restrictions.
• Superpower passports like the USA's confer privileges but inherit imperial risks, making neutral nationalities from peaceful nations a wiser long-term hedge against global instability.
• Retroactive bureaucratic changes in developed regions expose migration as a gamble on policy continuity, favoring regions with predictable, non-adversarial immigration frameworks.
• Regional neutrality, as in Latin America, preserves immigrant dignity by decoupling identity from international conflicts, fostering integration through shared human curiosity over politics.
• Language acquisition in new homes should be viewed as empowerment, not obstacle; accessible tongues like Spanish democratize entry into vibrant, under-sanitized cultural spheres.

QUOTES

• "Хорош или плох для кого? Ведь вопрос-то всегда в том, подходит ли та или иная страна именно вам, по вашим критериям."
• "Всякие Таиланды, Вьетнамы, Индонезии и так далее. Это прекрасные, может быть, страны для длительного проживания, но на правах туриста. Нам это заведомо не подходит."
• "Европа последовательно осложняет жизнь россиянам на своей территории."
• "США - одна из трёх стран в мире, которая применяет всемирное налогообложение. Где бы ни жили её граждане, Америка хочет взять с них налоги."
• "Здесь, во-первых, к россиянам как к людям, к российским паспортам, к российским деньгам. Здесь отношение абсолютно спокойное, нейтральное."

HABITS

• Prioritizing portable online entrepreneurship to maintain income flexibility across borders without relying on local job markets.
• Evaluating relocation options through a strict citizenship-first lens, immediately disqualifying destinations without viable passport paths.
• Avoiding illegal schemes like forged documents for citizenship, emphasizing legal and ethical compliance to prevent severe consequences.
• Building decisions on personal cultural affinities, such as pursuing Spanish language immersion for long-desired linguistic and cultural enrichment.
• Regularly assessing geopolitical risks, such as sanctions or policy shifts, to ensure work tied to Russia remains viable in chosen locations.

FACTS

• Latin America is the world's only nuclear-free continent, contributing to its relative peace with no major border conflicts in over a century.
• The USA applies citizenship-based worldwide taxation, one of only three countries doing so, alongside Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan.
• Most Latin American countries follow jus soli, granting automatic citizenship to anyone born on their soil, unlike jus sanguinis in places like Serbia.
• EU nations like Portugal recently extended citizenship residency requirements from 5 to 10 years, applying retroactively to existing residents.
• Spanish is spoken in all Latin American countries except Brazil, where Portuguese dominates, and is considered simpler for English or Russian speakers to learn.

REFERENCES

• Telegram channel: Vadim from Uruguay (posts on why not Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay).
• Previous YouTube video on leaving Serbia.
• Vadim's other large YouTube channel focused on production work tied to Russia.

HOW TO APPLY

• Define your non-negotiable criteria first, such as citizenship accessibility and work compatibility, to filter out unsuitable regions immediately.
• Research geopolitical neutrality: Assess how your nationality and income sources are viewed in potential destinations to avoid financial barriers.
• Evaluate language requirements realistically; choose regions where the local tongue aligns with your skills or learning interests for smoother integration.
• Investigate jus soli benefits if planning a family, calculating how birthright citizenship could secure future mobility without parental complications.
• Scrutinize taxation policies: Prioritize countries without worldwide income levies to preserve earnings from remote work, consulting tax experts early.
• Test personal fit through prior exposure: Draw from past visits or stays to gauge cultural comfort, dismissing unfamiliar regions without hesitation.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Choose relocation destinations by personal criteria like neutral geopolitics and easy citizenship, favoring Latin America's stability over Europe's risks.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Seek neutral regions like Latin America to escape nationality-based biases, ensuring seamless financial and social integration.
• Adopt a citizenship-first strategy, using jus soli for family planning to create low-risk passports immune to origin conflicts.
• Avoid superpower passports amid global tensions; opt for small, peaceful nations to minimize future sanctions or reputational hazards.
• Learn practical languages like Spanish proactively, turning relocation into a cultural opportunity rather than a barrier.
• Steer clear of retroactive policy traps in places like the EU by monitoring immigration laws and favoring stable legal frameworks.

MEMO

In the autumn of 2023, Vadim and his wife traded the familiar streets of Serbia for the sun-drenched shores of Uruguay, a move that might seem whimsical to outsiders but was the culmination of meticulous deliberation. As a Russian online entrepreneur specializing in YouTube production, Vadim's journey wasn't driven by wanderlust alone but by a quest for stability in an unstable world. "No country is good or bad for everyone," he emphasizes in his video, underscoring that relocation hinges on individual needs— from job viability to family planning. For them, the pursuit of a reliable second citizenship, without forsaking their Russian one, became the north star guiding them away from Asia's tourist visas and Europe's tightening borders.

Asia, with its alluring beaches and bustling markets, quickly fell off the list. Places like Thailand or Vietnam offer idyllic long-term stays, but citizenship remains elusive, often requiring mastery of intricate local languages that Vadim deemed unnecessary for global life. "We're not ready to learn such complex tongues," he says, reflecting a broader truth for many: cultural proximity matters as much as logistics. Europe, once romanticized by some Russians, presented even steeper hurdles. Sanctions have poisoned financial flows from Russia, clashing directly with Vadim's work tied to his homeland. Recent policy overhauls—from Sweden's stricter rules to Portugal's retroactive 10-year residency mandate—signal a chilling trend. "People move based on old laws, only to have the goalposts shifted," Vadim notes, a betrayal that eroded any allure of the continent's cultured facade.

The United States, where Vadim spent a formative year in high school, evoked respect but no longing for permanence. Its passport's visa-free perks are overshadowed by worldwide taxation, a rare policy shared only with Eritrea and Kyrgyzstan, that would devour his portable income. Moreover, America's global footprint invites risks—from anti-U.S. sentiments abroad to the uncertainty of its hegemony enduring decades. English-speaking havens like Canada or Australia tempted with linguistic ease, yet high costs and elusive talent visas made them impractical. "Without legal grounds, it's just a dream," Vadim observes, redirecting focus southward.

Latin America emerged as the pragmatic choice, a vast region treating Russians with indifferent warmth. Here, current events fade into irrelevance; locals puzzle over why anyone would leave home rather than harbor grudges. The jus soli principle—birthright citizenship—offers a profound edge: Children born in countries like Uruguay gain instant passports, untainted by parental nationality, in a nuclear-free continent free of border wars for generations. Spanish, straightforward for polyglots, sealed the appeal; Vadim, who once immersed in Tex-Mex culture, saw it as destiny. Uruguay, he hints, ticked every box—though details await his next dispatch.

As Vadim settles into this unexpected home, his story challenges the exodus narratives dominating headlines. In a world of fractured alliances, his path illuminates a quieter wisdom: Seek not the spotlight of superpowers, but the shade of neutrality, where personal flourishing can take root undisturbed. For digital nomads eyeing escape, Uruguay whispers possibility—not as paradise, but as a measured sanctuary.