Here’s how you can stay longer than a tourist. Learn how visas work so you can get one.

If you have a strong passport, you can probably go to a country and get a tourist visa on arrival. You might not even be aware you’ve been given the visa. You can stay for a short period, such as 1-3 months, but then you have to leave.

You can squeeze as much as possible out of the tourist visa by being a perma-tourist, or you can surrender yourself to paperwork and find a longer-term solution.

Become a perma-tourist

Make border runs

Most tourist visas require you to leave the country and stay out for a good chunk of time, such as months. But in some countries, you can leave the country when your tourist visa expires and then go right back in, getting a new visa.

However, the rules could change quickly. For example, if the country stops allowing border runs, you might have to quickly sell everything and leave.

Border runs don’t usually work in Europe. Not only do you have to leave the country for (probably) months, if the country is in the Schengen zone, you also have to stay out of that entire area if you’re not a citizen there.

Be a slowmad

If you’re willing to be a permanent nomad, you could put the target country on rotation with others. For example, if the country’s tourist visa is for 3 months and resets after you’ve been gone for 3 months, you could do this:

  • Live there for almost 3 months
  • Leave for a little more than 3 months so the tourist visa resets
  • Go back again for almost 3 months
  • Leave again
  • Repeat for eternity or until you’re tired of bouncing

Several countries let you buy or rent property without residency. You could buy or rent places in two countries, maybe one in the Schengen zone and one outside, and bounce between them. Pad your trips with short stays in a third place to avoid cutting things too close. In addition to avoiding visa paperwork, you might also avoid becoming a tax resident in either country, though you should research that closely, especially if you’ve bought property.

Get citizenship by descent

If a parent or possibly grandparent is from the country you want to live in, you might qualify for citizenship. This is called jus sanguinis.

It’s not a quick route, thanks to the genealogical proof required, but because you’ll have citizenship, you won’t have to deal with visa applications and renewals.

Wikipedia lists the rules of some countries. Some of the ones popular in the US are:

  • Mexico: If your parent is a Mexican citizen, you’re Mexican, even if you were born elsewhere. Mexican citizenship might also make it easier to get residency in Spain, though you should confirm that.
  • Italy: You can look back several generations. I’ve heard that the paperwork is intense and slow, but people have done it.
  • Poland: The law also applies to Polish Jews who emigrated to Israel after 1968.
  • Ireland: The child or grandchild of an Irish citizen could qualify.
  • Portugal: The child or grandchild of a citizen could qualify, as well as members of a Sephardic community with ties to Portugal.

Once you have citizenship in one EU country, you can live in any EU country without jumping through a lot of hoops.

Get a resident visa

If you don’t want be a perma-tourist and can’t get citizenship by descent, you’ll need a residence visa. Here are some typical visas.

  • Employment: You have a job that meets the requirements of the Immigration office. If you lose the job, you might lose the visa.
  • Entrepreneur: You create a business hiring X number of locals or making Y amount of money, or you invest Z into a local business.
  • Self-employed: You prove that you have a number of different clients (not working remotely for one employer) and reliably make X amount.
  • Highly skilled person: You have advanced professional or technical credentials that the government wants to attract to the country.
  • Retired or passive income: You receive at least X amount without working.
  • Investment or “golden visa”: You invest a large amount in a certain type of real estate or government bond.
  • Family member: You’re married to a local or in a relationship recognized by local authorities.
  • Volunteer: You’re officially signed up to work as a volunteer with a recognized institution in the country.
  • Digital nomad: You make X amount of income and are allowed to stay only a limited time, such as a year. Time as a digital nomad might not apply to permanent residency.
  • Student: You’re probably below a certain age and are enrolled in a recognized academic institution for a minimum number of hours. Your time as a student might not apply to permanent residency.

Typical visa requirements

The country wants to make sure you won’t need handouts, use lots of medical services, or commit crimes. So most visa applications ask for:

  • Proof that you have or are making a certain amount of money, often expressed as a multiple of the local income. The government might want to see bank statements from the last six months or an official notice from the provider of your pension.
  • Proof that you have private health insurance that covers you in the country
  • A criminal records check from your country of residence
  • Often, proof that you have somewhere to live in that country, such as a long-term lease or the deed to a home
  • Sometimes, proof that you have a local bank account with a certain amount in it
  • Possibly, an official report from a doctor saying you don’t have any serious communicable diseases, or a report saying that you’re in good health overall

Believe no one except your assigned consulate

When you’re researching visa requirements, don’t believe strangers on the internet. Don’t even believe an immigration lawyer. Find out which consulate you need to work with, and believe only what they say.

Your target country has at least one consulate in your current country or region. Contact them and ask which office you should use to submit a visa application. You might be assigned a consulate based on where you live, or you might be allowed to choose a consulate.

Paraguayan visa office, Buenos Aires
The Paraguayan consulate in Buenos Aires where I got my tourist visa

Get all your subsequent information from that office, even if they’re slow to respond. Call, email, be a pest.

You have to do this because different consulates of the same country can have different requirements for the same visa. They differ not only in interpreting grey areas but also give out different numbers. This has been true for all three countries for which I’ve gotten long-stay visas.

For example, the consulate in one city might say you have to have an income of X for a retirement visa, while the consulate in another city will say that the requirement is Y. One consulate might say you have to show a long-term lease for an apartment, while another will say you just need to note in which city you plan to live.

Don’t rely on what other immigrants say worked for them unless they recently went through the same consulate.

Use lawyers carefully

If you don’t speak the local language and the visa paperwork is daunting, get a well-recommended lawyer.

However, do your own research. Compare what the lawyer says with the information you got from your assigned consulate. I would have saved 3,000 euros if I had done that for one visa.

Your lawyer can’t know every detail of the different requirements at each consulate. Double-check on your own.

Also, choose a lawyer who has worked with people of your nationality and who charges one flat price for the visa. This shows that they know how much work is required and are confident that they can do it efficiently. Don’t agree to an hourly rate with no idea of how many hours might get billed.

It’s common to pay half up front and half when you’ve completed the final step, which is often when you’ve received your local ID card.

Types of paperwork

You probably can’t just photocopy your criminal records report or download a pension statement and turn it in for your visa. These things need to be stamped by officials and possibly translated. Some vocabulary you’ll need:

Apostille

An apostille is a form issued by a government for documents that were also issued by that government. The apostille says that the document is legitimate.

First, you get the original government document, such as your Social Security benefits letter showing how much you receive each month. Then, you send that document to another branch of the government to get an apostille.

In the US, you get a state or federal apostille depending on which level of government issued the document that you’re apostilling.

For example, for your Social Security benefits statement, you’ll need a federal apostille, because the feds are in charge of Social Security. The same goes for an FBI criminal records check: It’s a federal check, so you need a federal apostille.

For a business visa that depends on a business that you registered in, say, Texas, you might need to have your articles of incorporation apostilled by Texas. Or if your pension is paid by a state government, you’ll need that state’s apostille on your pension statement.

For US federal apostilles, I’ve been happy with the service of One Source Process.

Notary

You’ll probably be working with a notary in your target country, not in your own country. This person will, for example, confirm that the local lease that you’re going to include in your application is legitimate.

I have never needed a US notary for anything related to a visa, even for a complicated international business visa. Don’t waste your time getting your US documents notarized without first making sure that your visa or apostille service really requires it, which I doubt. There’s a lot of misinformation out there.

Sworn translator

You might have to provide translations of your documents. Often, these translations need to be done by a “sworn translator,” a person who has been recognized as trustworthy by the local government. A notary may also be involved.

Typical application procedure

I’ve gotten long-stay visas in three very different countries. Based on that experience, here are some generalizations.

The more annoying approach

How it might work in the more complicated countries:

  • You apply for a short-term “get me in the door” visa. You might be required to do this in your current country of residence. You submit documents proving that you aren’t a criminal and won’t be a drain on the country.
  • You get approved for that visa and go to the country.
  • Once you’re in the country, you apply again within a short time frame, possibly using the same documents. This time you’re applying for a “temporary residency” visa that will last for a year or two.
  • After a year or two, you renew your visa. For each renewal, you need to prove again that you won’t be a drain on the country.
  • After several renewals, often taking 5 years, you get a “permanent residency” visa. This one doesn’t require as much financial proof, possibly none. You might also gain the right to work, if you didn’t have it already.
  • You might need to renew elements of the “permanent” visa, such as renewing your ID card, but you no longer have to show financial documents.
  • After some years as a “permanent” resident, often 5, you can apply for citizenship, but you don’t have to. To get it, you might have to pass a test of linguistic, cultural, and historical knowledge, and you might be required to give up your current citizenship.

Simpler approaches

Many countries skip the “get me in the door” phase. Instead, you just apply for a temporary residence visa, renew it for several years, and then convert it to permanent.

Some countries will let you apply directly for permanent residency, if you meet higher standards for income or investment. That lets you skip the hassle of repeatedly renewing a temporary residency.

A few countries let you buy citizenship, called “citizenship by investment.” This and the golden visas are vulnerable to claims of corruption.

Where to apply

You might have to go “home”: Some countries let you apply for a residence visa while you’re in the country. Others require you to apply from your country of current residence.

So if you’ve enjoyed your two months in Country X and now want to stay, you might have to leave, possibly for  months, to get your visa.

Your country of current residence is where you legally live now. Don’t believe people who say that you have to apply from your country of citizenship if you haven’t set foot there for many years. Ask at your consulate.

For example, if you’re an Australian citizen, have legal residency in Germany, and want to move to Bulgaria, you can apply at a Bulgarian consulate in Germany. You don’t have to go to Australia.

How long will it take?

Give it several months: Your application might crawl from desk to desk at the Immigration office.

Other immigrants who had recent experience can help you estimate the timeline for your country.

How often can I leave the country?

Many visas have a physical presence requirement. You have to spend a minimum amount of time in the country each year. Often, it’s 183 days, which coincidentally happens to be when you become liable for income taxes.

If you don’t spend the minimum time, you might not be able to renew your visa or convert it to permanent residency.

Every time I renew a visa, I’m required to provide copies of the stamps in my passport. This is why.

Rules like this are harder to enforce within the Schengen zone, where passports are rarely stamped.

Citizenship

Here’s a common path to citizenship and a local passport:

  • 5 years on a temporary visa, then
  • 5 years on a permanent visa, then
  • Apply for citizenship and wait for it to be approved (the wait could be 2-3 years if you’re in a slow place like Spain).

Some countries shorten this, possibly by a lot. You might also be put on a faster track if you have ancestors from the country, or if you moved to it from a country that was part of its past empire.

Newbies to emigration can confuse permanent residency with citizenship. You can live in a country for decades as a permanent resident and never become a citizen. Also, if you do become a citizen, you might not have to relinquish your current citizenship. You might be able to have multiple citizenships and passports.


Image at the top of the page: Seoul, Korea