After recent U.S. presidential elections, a predictable spike of disgruntled Americans vow they will move to Canada, going so far as googling what it takes to move north or even hiring an immigration attorney to take the initial steps towards securing a visa. Andrew Henderson advises them to reconsider.
Henderson, known online as the Nomad Capitalist, says these Americans are lacking creativity. Sure, as another primarily English-speaking country that abuts the U.S., Canada seems like a comfortable backup plan—but it doesn't exactly have open borders. Though many Americans may like to think immigration laws and procedures don't apply to them, moving to Canada is not as simple as finding an apartment on Craigslist and jumping on the next plane—or train—to points north. Henderson would like people sincerely interested in moving abroad to look at some other options.
"Why go from one frying pan to the other?" Henderson tells Fortune. "Why are we going from one place to exactly the same place, when there's 252 different places we can choose?"
Henderson, who runs a popular YouTube channel and is a controversial figure in the Digital Nomad community, has for more than a decade helped high-net worth clients primarily from the U.S. gain dual citizenship or residencies in countries around the world. He advises them on international tax laws, visa-free travel, and more. He works with his own network of experts across the globe to provide the most up-to-date information on golden visa and passport opportunities, much of which, he says, can't be easily found elsewhere.
Americans, he says, often come to him interested in Australia, Canada, and England—familiar places for America's wealthiest, but not Henderson's favorite destinations. For one, taxes are often higher, while salaries are lower. Housing costs in London and Vancouver—the wealthy, used to their creature comforts, aren't likely to be interested in moving to smaller, less expensive towns—can top the already astronomical ones in the U.S.'s biggest cities. And without a job, a spouse who is a citizen, or a hefty sum to invest, Americans can't just up and move to these countries.
"Americans have this idea that they're kind of uniquely special. And in reality, it's the other way around," he says. "The American somehow thinks, 'Why don't they want my American money?' Yeah, they don't. There's a lot of people with money these days."
Henderson's country evaluations focus heavily on their tax regimes and cost of living—the lower, the better. Lately, for example, he has been enthusiastic about Oman, the Middle Eastern country at the base of the Arabian Peninsula. Sure, you give up living in a democracy and your freedom of speech is curtailed, but Henderson says it has other perks.
"Not everyone's going to go there," he says. But "for a family that wants safety and security and more conservative values, but very open minded, good weather, good taxes—that's a place that could be on the radar for half the price of Dubai."
If Oman feels a little too foreign, a more practical pick for many Americans, he says, could be Mexico. It's less expensive than Canada and it's typically easier to move to. (Americans have taken notice: They've been flocking to Mexico City over the past few years.)
Henderson, who renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2017, has helped clients move to around 33 countries, and he has collected data on around 100. He charges an initial planning fee of $28,000; clients will also pay all of the fees and make the investments necessary to secure the visas or citizenship in a new country. That can cost hundreds of thousands to even millions of dollars, depending on the country.
For most of his clients, moving somewhere new and renouncing their U.S. citizenship isn't the goal; instead, he primarily helps with residency and investor visas. And most of the people who swear they are going to move away from the U.S. because of politics—whether it be the election of Joe Biden or Donald Trump—don't follow through on it. It takes more than a new president to uproot one's entire life.
In most cases, Henderson's clients are instead self-made business people who want a Plan B or better ease of movement. Gaining a passport in a country that is part of the European Union, for example, means visa-free travel to any other member state.
But instead of sticking to well-known entities like France or Switzerland, Henderson encourages people growing tired of the U.S. and committed to the expat life to think outside the box. Where would life actually be different?
"I think the idea that every country is going to function like the U.S. is really stupid," he says. "The fundamental issue is people are looking at the wrong places to go because they somehow don't want to change."
Hiring a firm or immigration attorney to suss out different options can help; fees vary across the board. Henderson suggests those interested in living abroad pick a few places and commit to living between them for a year, at least initially. Test out the waters, have an adventure.
"My point of view, there's a geographical solution to every problem," he says. "I think it's a better life that we're selling people."
