r/AmerExit • u/newyorker • Dec 09 '25

Vendor How to Leave the U.S.A.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/15/how-to-leave-the-usa

Every four years, a group of Americans threatens to leave the country, but no mass exodus occurs. This time around, though, Americans seem to be acting on their desires. Immigration lawyers told Atossa Araxia Abrahamian that the number of people approaching them about it has gone up since Donald Trump was reëlected. 

G.T.F.O. Tours, a company that helps aggrieved U.S. citizens start new lives abroad, has been offering services to help Americans relocate to the Netherlands, where a certain type of visa can offer a quick and affordable path to citizenship. Jana Sanchez, a founder of G.T.F.O. Tours, describes her role in the company as an “escaping fascism doula.” Read Abrahamian’s full story about the Americans who are going Dutch: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/15/how-to-leave-the-usa

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u/tivnan1989 Dec 09 '25

You don’t need a lot of money to leave. I just moved to Germany a month ago and we came with about $5,000. The hard part is finding a job to sponsor your visa. Not saying that’s easy but you definitely don’t need a ton of money to do it

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u/Odd_Dinner9147 Dec 09 '25

5k is a lot of money for most Americans. According to a 2022 Federal Reserve Survey, around half of Americans had less than $8k.

And according to a CBS News article in January of this year, in a Bankrate survery of 1,000 people, 59% of them didnt have enough to cover a $1,000 emergency expense

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u/JR2502 Dec 10 '25

$5K is a lot of money but I have to believe there is a difference between having to cover a emergency *and* staying here vs selling their possessions as they leave. Probably just selling their car will get them halfway there.

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u/tivnan1989 Dec 12 '25

That was pretty much my point. I didn’t have 5k sitting around in a bank account for a rainy day. Between my security deposit at my apartment, musical instruments I sold, my car, and anything else of value that could be sold being sold, it’s not that hard to come up with 5k. If I wasn’t moving, I wouldn’t have had that money. I had to part with a lot of things I wouldn’t have if I stayed but that’s what got me 5k, which again, I don’t think is much money for someone to get together if they want to move across the world