An Immigrant On Immigration

Two recent events, that coincidentally occurred on the same day, set me to thinking.  Yes, I see you roll your eyes at the prospect, but bear with me, dear reader.

This past Tuesday was both my 56th anniversary on this planet, and the same day I received (at long last) my permanent residency in Indonesia.

In the Indonesian tradition, the personal celebrating a birthday is obliged to feed everyone, so I created a feast of rare and exotic delights: burritos with all the trimmings.  My family is finally coming to appreciate odoriferous and unusual spices called chilli powder and cumin.  Rather than being happy, I am rather upset since in the past I was able to have double portions, given that no one else would touch the stuff.  This last round, I was only able to salvage two burritos and was forced to drown my sorrows in chocolate cake.

I mention this only in passing to that the reader can appreciate that some things we take for granted in our everyday world can become rare gems when we are far removed from them.  It's also amusing when Asians assume that Westerners don't eat rice and stand agog when I bring out a steaming bowl of paella as part of my ethnic feast.

All that aside, it was the permanent residency that really had me thinking.  I've been here for 10 years now, and in that time, I've made 10 annual pilgrimages to the immigration office to renew my long-stay visa.  This onerous duty has cost me many hours and somewhere in the range of about $8,000 over the decade.

When I arrived here, there were no social service nets, no free dwellings, no food stamps.  I had only what I brought and could manage to acquire once in country.  I worked incredibly long hours building a network, establishing myself, and saving my money.  The result is that I now have a family, some property and a couple of growing businesses.  More, in fact, than I ever had in my native country.

Perhaps it was the motivation of having no safety net, perhaps it was a much lower cost of entry.  Whatever the reason, I can say with some pride that my wife and I earned everything we have, and it gives me some ownership in my adopted home.

When I look at the US and EU, with their horrific immigration problems, I scratch my head in amazement.  The policies applied toward immigrants are probably some of the most abusive and hurtful ever conceived, and will ultimately do far more harm than the well-intentioned but deeply misguided folks can possibly know.  These policies will also prove to be ultimately destructive to the societies that adopt them.

If you are a believer in social safety nets, then you are probably staring at the screen wondering what kind of heartless crank would write such a thing, but hang in there.

When I arrived in Indonesia, I had a single suitcase and $1,000.  That's it.  I knew four people here, and that helped a little, but not much.  I didn't know the language and the culture was about as foreign as anything I have ever encountered in my travels.

My first purchase was a translating dictionary and I immediately began learning the language.  Within three months, I could negotiate a meal and buy necessities at the local store.  Keep in mind that I was not in Jakarta or other big, cosmopolitan city.  I was in Balikpapan in Borneo where no one spoke English - at all.

I cam with several plans of attack to make money.  By the end of the first year, I had burned through all of them and was fully improvising as I went.  Within six months, I was able to rent a furnished apartment and pay my bills by literallly teaching English door-to-door for cash.  At the end of the first year, I hired a live-in maid to cook and clean while I worked 15-18 hours a day.

No welfare checks, no food stamps, no freebies.  Just wits and work.

When the Western countries import people, which is what they are truly doing, and hand them pretty much everything for free, what incentive is there to become productive?  What's worse, when the free ride ends, as all politically motivated programs do, these people will be cast aside, never having learned the language or culture, having no local support network and having no way to return to whence they came.  In effect, the current feel-good immigration policies are a huge humanitarian disaster waiting to happen.

Most of the thousands of immigrants were lured with hand-outs, much the way one might lure a wild dog or cat in an effort to tame them.  These people have been shoveled into ghettos where they are able to use their native language and are never forced to learn the lingua franca of their adopted lands.  Most of them have little or no contact with the local inhabitants and do not have jobs - nor do they need one - since everything is handed to them on a platter.

What happens to these people when the rug is pulled out from under them?  When the political tide turns and the will to completely support thousands of people is gone, and they are thousands of miles from anything they know, how will these people survive?  They have no local contacts, don't speak the language, have developed no skills, don't know how to pay bills and taxes, and are fully and completely unable to support themselves and their families?

Oh sure, a few enterprising individuals will adapt, even thrive, but they will be the exceptions.  The vast majority will have nothing to survive on and nothing to pay passage home again.  They will become either a new slave class, or more likely, a despised and forgotten mass of humanity left to rot.

Political will is a fickle thing and can change on a whim.  It is also completely without foresight, preferring instead to service instant gratification, rather than look far into the future of possible outcomes.  The ones who always suffer for this lack of vision are the pawns in the political games.

In an attempt to assuage some kind of guilt in the liberal mind, the policies have instead sentenced thousands to a life of misery, and very likely death.  It does no one any favors to hand them a free life, because at some point the one handing out the goodies will have a change of heart and resent the grasping hands of the recipient.

Take it from an immigrant - it is too late to fix the damage done, but it is not too late to stop the horror from growing.  It may seem in the short term that one is doing a great humanitarian service, but in the long term these policies will become a horror that takes decades or more to repair.  There is no benefit to any side in this horror.  The givers will eventually tire of giving, and the takers will have no means by which to survive when the tap runs dry.

Organic immigration - people like myself who choose to live elsewhere and are prepared mentally and physically to work for it - is a time-honored function of humanity.  It is a vital part of mixing and growing societies and civilizations.  The uprooting of masses to satisfy political whims, though, is a disaster in the making and will damage societies and civilizations, possibly beyond repair.

Now, if I remember correctly, there's still some chocolate cake buried at the bottom of the fridge.

Is That A Passport In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

The hysteria over Donald Trump's immigration orders is by far the most entertainment out of the US since last November.  The global reaction makes it even more entertaining.  It is very interesting to see the antics and finger-pointing worldwide.

We begin with Chuckie Schumer, New York senator and dual citizen with an Israeli passport, shedding crocodile tears, as if he truly cares about the plight of "refugees".  He is probably more terrified that Trump will ban dual citizens, forcing him to choose between his cushy life-long job on the backs of taxpayers and his beloved desert hell-hole that he obviously doesn't love enough to live there.

Next, we have the CEO of AirBnB volunteering other people's private property as free shelter for banned travellers.  Yes, it doesn't hurt to look good with false generosity when you have no liability, no loss and no ownership in the outcome.  In the spirit of his generous offer, I'd like to open his home for free to all "refugees" and people from the seven banned countries.  C'mon in!

Then there's China's official mouthpiece Xinhua pointing the finger at the Trump orders and gleefully featuring coverage of the protests at JFK airport.  Of course, there is no mention that China has some of the most strict immigration laws in Asia, enforces them ruthlessly and allows zero "refugees" inside their borders.  Oops, forgot about that part, did you?

The EU is jumping up and down hollering about the new US policies, with Hollande and others demanding that the European dictatorship get tough on Trump - or they would be jumping up and down except they might land on a "refugee" or two...hundred.  Sounds more like a case of passionately wanting someone else to share their misery.

Almost every single article I can find says that Trump banned Muslims, but when I read the Executive Order, it says all passport holders from seven countries in the Middle East know to harbor terrorists, regardless of political or religious backgrounds. Neither does the EO put a permanent ban on these countries...just three months.

Interestingly, Trump also ordered the Pentagon to come up with a plan in 30 days to defeat ISIS.  That would give him 60 days to effect the plan before the ban is lifted.  Hmmm...  He also said that he would not release details of the plan beforehand.  That makes sense, since FDR didn't hold a presser to announce that Allied forces would be landing at Normandy at dawn on the 6th or June, either.

To be fair, the seven banned countries are predominantly Islamic, though Indonesia was not included with a population about 79% Muslim.  So maybe the ban is political, not religious?  Banish the thought!

Trump has done nothing but his job, which is to execute the law of the land in the most effective and fiscally-responsible way.  Granted, no one has done that in the US for decades, but hey, it's still the law, folks.

If the Middle East had a virulent outbreak of hemorrhagic fever, I'm sure Chuckie Schumer and the Walking Dead...er, Democrats would be falling all over themselves to ban travellers from those countries.  Point of order, Mr. Chuckie, politically-induced mental illness is just as dangerous.

Though I am wary as hell of Trump, I must admit that his orders are perfectly reasonable and legitimate.  Unlike Obama, he's even (so far) using the EOs for their intended purpose: enforce the law, not make it.  Being an immigrant myself and having to abide by the laws and regulations of my resident country, I fully support what Trump is doing.  Just because none of his predecessors have bothered to enforce the law does not remove him from his sworn duty as president.

The looks on the faces of my Islamic friends here is classic when they tell me Trump has banned Muslims, and I respond that Indonesians are free to travel to the US any time they want, as long as they have a valid visa and follow the process.  It really does not compute, so effective has the Corporate Media been in rewriting the narrative.

Oh, there's one more thing.  If Trump was really serious, he'd ban Saudi Arabia too.  I guess that's too much to ask.

A Run On The Border

In order to get a US B-1 visa, my wife had to pay a $135 non-refundable fee, stand in line for two hours outside the embassy, go through a one-hour interview, wait a day to learn if she'd been approved, then waited three more days to get her passport back with the visa stamp.  All of that was after she had assembled a pile of documents to prove who she was and that she was legally married to me.

I, on the other hand, have gone every year for the past nine to file a request to stay one more year in Indonesia.  It costs about $700/year, requires about two weeks worth of paperwork, then an appointment at the Immigration Office to get photographed and fingerprinted, then a wait of two weeks more to receive my resident card and passport with visa.  Every five years, I have to go out of the country - usually Singapore - and re-enter.  No particular reason given.  To get my wife as my sponsor - a sponsor is required until five years after getting Permanent Residency - I had to file an equally large pile of paperwork showing what a good boy am I.

Now ask me if I give a rat's ass about Mexico whining that they can't send their criminals and terminal medical cases to the US hassle-free.

Furthermore, being from Texas, I've spent most of my life seeing people run the border, die in the sparsely populated and arid parts of Texas, get hit by cars trying to dash across freeways, and live in hovels with 20 or 30 other indocumentos so they could wire a few bucks home once a week.

I even shot a news story about a couple of dozen people who literally roasted to death in a truck trailer.  The coyote - people smuggler - had taken their money (usually about $300 each), then ditched the trailer on a rural road, where the people suffocated or died of heat stroke.  I don't recall if the coyote was ever caught, but I will bet that it wasn't a high priority.

When NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement, was first conceived, one of the selling points was that building up Mexico's economy with American factories would keep folks at home.  Didn't work.  Instead, the numbers grew at a constant pace.

You see, Mexico is a shithole, to be polite about it.  The Spanish upper-class owns everything and has all the money.  The indigenous Indians are viewed as scum and an annoyance, and the country is happy to pawn as many off on the US as they can to avoid an all-out revolution at home.

To be fair, Texas and Mexico were once a single country, and the jobs that Mexicans take in the States were once shunned by locals because they were low-paying and menial: dishwashers, bar backs, gardeners, etc.

Then the economy cratered because the corporations found that they could save a lot of money hiring cheap labor elsewhere.  Even after shipping products back to the States and paying the almost non-existent tariffs, it was still more profitable than complying with all the regulations and union demands back home.

Enter Donald Trump.

Ever since the US economy started collapsing, Americans have been more and more desirous of those menial jobs that the Mexicans used to take.  Any income is better than none.

Additionally, the Spanish Mexicans weren't going to spend any money on border stops leaving Mexico if they didn't have to.  Thus, entire populations of Central and South America started making their way up north to cross the non-existent border to the States.  That eventually included dozens of other countries outside the Americas, who would jump off the plane in Matamoros and cross on into Texas like they were running to the store for milk.

To all this, add the drug mafias reaping huge profits because the so-called War on Drugs had made prices so high in the States, and most recently Middle Easterners with less than honorable intentions once they had crossed the line.

Along comes Trump, who says he is going to shut down the so-called border, and Mexico starts wailing and gnashing its teeth - one because they are going to get stuck with all those indocumentos who didn't make it over the line, and two because the factories moving back home means the Spaniards are going to have to face a bunch of hungry, pissed-off Indians who are envying the rich folks' stuff.

The peso is cratering to all-time lows.  The Mexican government is desperately swinging at Trump (and missing).  Mexico is also faced with having to deport all those foreigners who didn't get across, don't have money or skills, and are also hungry and angry.  This is not to mention that many of the foreigners are criminals, terrorists and/or diseased.

If I were a Spanish Mexican, I would be changing my underwear every hour, and gathering from the stories, it sounds like they are.  Kind of a reverse Montezuma's Revenge.

To add insult to injury, many of the States have now legalized marijuana and prices have dropped, with cultivation at home.  No need for imports.  Guess what?  The once mighty drug mafias are hurting too, and they have lots of guns and wiseguys who are looking for new targets, like tourists,thus further damaging the Mexican economy.

Mexico has little or no negotiating power at the table.  The US wins politically at home, with increased jobs, rising middle class and enhanced security.  Mexico is in a lose-lose position, watching all the jobs leave and being stuck with the bill for all the riff-raff that they happily allowed in, thinking they could hustle is all off to the US.

I have no sympathy for the Spaniards.  For too long, they have literally shit all over the indigenous population figuring they had the US as a release valve.  They also did little or nothing about the drug mafias because they were reaping huge amounts of money in bribes and graft, none of which went to building up the country.

Mexico is the last unreformed European colony in the Americas, a process started in the US 250 years ago.  Even Mexico's tiny southern neighbor, Belize, has all but severed from the British throne.  Though not directly controlled by Madrid, the Spanish upper-class in Mexico has maintained itself in a vacuum propped up by the US over the centuries.

That chicken is about to roost.

You Will Be Assimilated

For centuries, the Dayak people of Borneo ate dirt when they got sick.  Not just any dirt, mind you, but a specific soil found near river banks.  It worked for many common ailments and infections.

In the 1950s, a group of researchers funded by Eli Lily came through.  They had heard about this practice and figured there was something worth looking into.  Ultimately, they discovered a substance called Vancomycin, produced by a microbe in the soil.  Vancomycin went on to become one of the most-used antibiotics in history, and joined a class of antibiotics that didn't cause allergic responses like the penicillin-type compounds.

Bottom line?  Immigration is not necessarily a bad thing.

In our daily lives, we become so accustomed to certain habits and practices, that we don't see the greater picture.  We eat dirt because it makes us feel better, but we don't put that in the context of the Universe at large.  Sometimes, it can benefit a great number of people to have a third party look at our habits and find the benefits and drawbacks of what we are doing.

It is very common for companies to hire outside "efficiency experts" and "consultants" to come in and take a look at the corporate culture.  In a closed group of people, certain bad habits get institutionalized, while certain good habits get overlooked, and which may be a valuable asset to the company.

A good consultant blends into the corporate culture, learns the relationships and practices of the operation, compares them to a database of outside best practices, and makes recommendations to improve the flow of information.

If done right, a good consultant can improve the efficiency and productivity of a company by pointing out detrimental rituals and highlighting beneficial practices.

In the same way, an immigrant can bring fresh life to a culture.  By assimilating into the extant culture and comparing it to their own, they can install new ways of looking at things and point out habits that are holding back the whole.

A good immigrant can also bring a new wave of enthusiasm and a fresh perspective that the locals have lost.  The immigrant's drive to fit in and create a new life can spark new fire under the local folks and start a wave of innovation and renewed joy.

When I moved to Indonesia, I brought two things from my Texas culture: my native gregariousness and Thanksgiving.  I did not force anything on anyone.  Instead, I dove in an learned the culture and language.  I assimilated with the extant culture and learned what motivates people and what they hold dear here.

My native personality allowed me to integrate easily with people.  I enjoyed their company and appreciated the things they taught me.  I even remember who and where I learned certain aspects of Indonesian culture and language.

As for Thanksgiving, I didn't tell people they had to follow my tradition.  Instead, I cooked my ethnic food and invited family and friends to join in the celebration.  Out of curiosity, they asked why we have this tradition, and when I explained the it, they gladly adopted the annual tradition - as long as I did al the cooking.  I modified it to include local cuisine and my wife came to enjoy the whole preparation and gathering aspects of it.

At the top of this page, I included a scan of a sign my grandfather gave to me.  It is a reminder of what my ancestors went through when they emigrated to America.  Not only have my ancestral people integrated into the American culture, they have made significant contributions to the culture.  Just witness the dozens of famous St. Patrick's Day parades and the traditional eating of cabbage and corned beef, not to mention new potatoes in butter with green onions.  And where would the world be without Guiness?

A good immigrant assimilates and adds to the local culture.  After a time, he may be able to demonstrate certain short-comings that could be improved, and may bring traditions that fit nicely into the new culture and both are enhanced by it.

The bad immigrant seeks to replace the extant culture.  Without assimilating or integrating, he seeks to destroy what is already there in favor of his home culture.  At best, this is a form of invasion, and at worst, it destroys something rare and valuable.  Witness the European colonization of North and South America.  In the end, the immigrants destroyed entire civilizations and replaced it with their own, for better or worse.

In the worst possible instance, large numbers of "refugees" are willingly or forcefully brought into a culture.  There is no good outcome here.  On the one hand, the invaders overcome and replace the extant culture, and in the worst case, are gathered into ghettos and relegated to second-class members of society.  In neither case is there something of value created.  All is destruction and corruption.

The Dayak did not benefit from their discovery, although it may never have reached the outside world without the invasion of Eli Lily.  On the one hand, a people did not know what they had and it took an outside party to bring it to wider attention.  On the other hand, the invader did not assimilate nor offer to enrich the host society for their native custom.  In both cases, the extant culture lost, and even more, the greater civilization might have received even more benefits, had the Dayak been properly compensated and their culture brought to wider attention.  As it is, they are simply being overrun and most of the world has no idea who they are.

There is nothing wrong with immigration if it is done correctly.  In the best case, it creates a synthesis of cultures that can benefit and enrich everyone.    Done wrong, though, immigration will destroy the host and corrupt the invader.  There is no good outcome.

Something to think about on this lovely winter day in the Southern Hemisphere.  There is a long-term benefit to good immigration, as long as those who participate follow the laws and culture of the host.  it is not the host who must change, but the immigrant.

Five Easy Pieces

With all the hooplah over illegal immigration into the US and EU -- especially with the overnight attacks in Paris and Trump's "humane" deportation plan -- it occurs to me that most Americans are probably ignorant of what it takes to legally enter the US.  As it happens, my wife is currently applying for a US tourist visa so we can visit family at Christmas, so I presumably have become an expert on the subject.

The US has a class of visas called "Non-Immigrant Visas," which include business travel (Class B1) and tourists (Class B2).  We want the B2 visa, so naturally we click over to the US Embassy website here in Jakarta, and after a little poking and prodding, we find the NIV (non-immigrant visa) page, and the fun begins.  It lists 5 steps to apply (notice I didn't use the word obtain) for an NIV.

Step 1: Pay
The first thing you are told to do is pay the visa application fee.  Scanning down the left-hand column, we find the link called "Fees."  Ooh, this is easy, we think.  Clicking on it gives us lots of information about non-refundability and lost or stolen visas, but -- and I challenge you to find it -- not one line giving the AMOUNT of the fee.  To get that, we googled "US NIV fees" to find a State Department page giving the fee amount as USD160.  If you poke around, it tells you that all fees must be paid in the local currency, even though they are all listed in dollars, so a second google session converts the fee to whatever coin of the realm you use.

Back to the Embassy page to find out which banks we can use.  If you follow the link from the Embassy page, you may note that the site is a .com, not a .gov site.  We choose CIMB for no particular reason, except maybe there is a branch relatively close to the house.  Though the site lists an option to pay by electronic transfer (a relatively new option), we opt for the physical payment in order to receive a hand-written receipt, just so there are no 'complications' leading to the non-refundable part of the deal.

Step 2: Complete the  Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application (DS-160)
At this point, if you are a foreigner with basic tourist English skills, you may want your lawyer and a certified translator at your side.

So, now we are ready to start the application form.  The site tells us that the form is online and provides a link.  Here we find a handy checklist of everything you will need to do to complete the DS-160, which is not a hopeful sign, as we were hoping we would be able to fill out the form with just the information in our heads, and maybe cheating to look at the passport number.

We gather all the necessary data and prepare for the Big Moment.  Back to the .gov site, where we select the "Tooltip Language - Indonesia, Jakarta" on the handy drop-down menu, which gives us another page, still in English, but now indicates at the top of the page that we are applying in Indonesia.  OK, so at least our point of origin is acknowledged, even if we don't speak English.  Scanning the page, we find links to Overviews, Guidelines and Information -- all in English -- and a handy tool to see if the online form will accept our photo, which has it's own set of Overviews, Guidelines and Information.

After multiple adjustments for file size, type, perspective, percentage, colors, and other fun stuff, it finally is happy with our photo.  Now we are ready to start the application, so Click on Start Application.

This takes you to a page written in the glorious dialect of Governese, wherein we find more of those Overviews, Guidelines and Information links, and a novella telling us how we should proceed.  I draw the reader's attention to the bottom, where you will find a drop down box containing a series of security challenge questions.  Fans of Monty Python will note the distinct similarities to the Pilgrim's Challenge when crossing the Bridge of Death.  I nearly shorted out my computer laughing to tears.  Naturally, we answered "European Swallow."

After several days starting, downloading, saving, accessing, and collecting data to enter into the form, we were finally ready for the Next Big Step (NBS).

Step 3: Scheduling Your Appointment
We now return to the .com site, after a week of frolicking on the .gov site.  WARNING: the link crashed our browser several times and required a reboot to get out of whatever mess they have made here, so caveat emptor.

Here we discover that every single person applying for a visa that is over 14 and under 80, must come down to the Embassy for a face-to-face interview.  A family of four with a couple of older teenagers could end up spending a week or two on this step.  Fortunately, we only need one visa, though.  

After reading about waivers and necessary supporting documents and procedures for changing appointments, we found the link at the bottom of the page to actually schedule the appointment and find out if we will be Group A or B.  It's at this stage that we learn that we must complete an online profile in order to proceed.  We must give a delivery address for the completed visa, a screen name, and various other information so that we can track our passport, and THEY can track us.  Note that we are still on the .com site, and not the .gov, meaning that none of the information we enter is protected and will probably be sold to advertisers, not to mention used against you in a court of law.

Steps 4 and 5: The Appointment
Finally, my wife was scheduled for her appointment.  She was in Group B, meaning her appointment time was 9a. on a Wednesday.

We arrived at the embassy at 7:30a, and got in the cattle chute outside the Wall.

Now, I've been in most of the embassies for major countries here in Jakarta.  I had meetings at the Russian and Chinese consulates, been to several functions at the Italian, German, Austrian, and Fujian consulates.  I've been in the Phillipines, Singapore and Australian consulates.  For the most part, the security is minimally invasive and the embassies look like stately manners or large houses.

The US embassy looks like a high-security prison.  There is a 12-foot high security opaque security fence lined with cameras around the compound.  The entrance looks like a hardened bunker with 3-inch thick glass, steel doors and angles concrete walls to deflect blast waves.  Getting into the compound is rather like trying to board a plane in the US: strip to your skivvies, no electronic devices allowed, etc.  Once through, you are herded across the basketball and tennis courts in a cordoned walkway to another hardened bunker near the center of the compound.

I wasn't allowing inside (my own embassy!).  My wife was herded in with a group of people and I would be called if needed.  About an hour and a half later, she emerged, having been approved for her B-1 tourist visa.  For all the trouble, it was at least good for 5 years with multiple in-out privileges.  Within two days, her passport arrived at the house with a big, officious decal all over one page, that had her photo and details neatly emblazoned on it.

The interview consisted mostly of checking to make sure my wife wasn't going to stay in the US, at least not on the "cheap" visa.  She was asked about her reasons for going there, what my plans were (would I stay or would I go?) and double-checking the details on the application form.  While her approval seems rather smooth and easy, she reports that a number of people before and around her were not approved, and I could tell outside who had gotten theirs and who had not by the looks on faces.

An example of things that can keep you from getting a visa is a blank passport.  If your passport is new and never used before, that is one sure way to get denied.  Fortunately, my wife had done some travelling over the past few years and had stamps from 9 different countries.  Other friends of mine have not been so lucky when applying to bring their spouses to the States.  Some have spent upward of $500 trying to get tourist visas and most were denied for this reason.

In any event, this should be enough to show that the current visa system is not easy and by no means convenient.  There is a "vetting" process in place, and when followed and enforced, it seems quite sufficient to screen out most undesirables.

The problem with the current immigration system is that it is not enforced at the actual borders (not the soft airport borders) and there are far too many 'exceptions' being made for 'refugees' and other unknowns with most likely loose documentation who haven't gone through the above process.

One would think that it is a no-brainer to simply enforce the current system evenly across all access points to the nation's interior.  For God's sake, the embassy entrance is better protected than the 1,000-mile Texas border.  I know, I've been there.  I've walked across the Rio Grande in some places multiple times and even straddled the imaginary line known as the 'border'.

Every other country on Earth, outside the US and Europe, seems to have no problem controlling their borders, with less complex and intimidating systems than are currently in place in the US.  I know.  I have spent eight years strictly adhering to the Indonesian laws.  I pay $800/year to stay here, complete with annual check-ins, fingerprinting, photographing and signing.  And Indonesia has a much more complex border than anything the US has to deal with.

Just enforce the current law.  Problem solved.

Escaping A Run-Away Train

So, you've decided that now is the time to leave Merica and see how the rest of the world lives.

It's not enough to want it, you have to figure out how to do it. You need income and usually a sponsor to get work visas in other countries. Most countries are not as tolerant of illegal workers as Merica has been for many years now. Some countries actively recruit workers with specialized skills, while others make it almost impossible to enter the workforce. If you are at retirement age and have the where-with-all, there are some countries that have special visas just for you.

This article is intended to be the opener for a series that will detail what I know and have learned of Asian opportunities. Some of the resources provided will help with other regions, as well. All of this is intended to be a guide, but by no means a definitive source. You will have to perform due diligence. Immigrations laws change constantly and I have enough work just keeping up with Indonesia. You must do your own research, too. There is a relatively large community of ex-pats worldwide, many of whom write blogs and sites to help others make the jump.

My advice will, of necessity, be focused on Indonesia, since that is where I have chosen to live and because I have nearly three years experience getting around here. Where possible, I will provide more general information and links to other sites with more resources than I have.

I will state this again...YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. MILAGE AND RESULTS WILL VARY. Moving overseas is not easy, especially with families and it takes planning and careful study. It is not, however, impossible.

With all that said, what is the first step? Easy! Remember what Yoda told Luke? "You must unlearn all that you have learned." Merica is not the greatest country on Earth, nor the most free, nor does it have the best of everything. The voice in your hear that keeps telling you that is a script that was implanted back in elementary school and reinforced by daily propaganda from the boob toob. You also need a sense of adventure and a willingness to take the Leap of Faith, because even with ample preparation there is always an element of risk in every choice. I jumped with one carry-on bag and one checked bag and a thousand bucks in my pocket. It now takes a truck to move everything I have after less than three years. So don't worry about what you leave behind, only about what you will do when you land.

Which means you will need a plan. Not just any plan, but one with several layers of back-up. I am on Plan G right now, so don't stop with Plan B or C. Think of at least three things you can do for a living and begin by applying for jobs in those areas. Target about three or four different countries that you want to live in. Sure, you can jump first, but why deal with more variables than you have to, right?

And don't forget the Traveler's Commandment: Figure out how much stuff you need and how much money you need. Double the money and divide the stuff in half. It works pretty darned well, in my experience.

I have traveled quite comfortably for three weeks in Europe with a camera bag and a carry-on. You can always do laundry, so minimal clothing is required. Some items that are indispensable are a towel, a can/bottle opener and a knife. You can always buy clothes as you go, so just enough for the expected weather and one good interview/work outfit will get you started. In other words, think small. You can also have things shipped over after you get settled.

But the big question remains: How do I get going?

Glad you asked. For starters, there is a very good book called,"Reinvent Yourself Overseas" by Scott McDonagh. A great website to go with the book is Escape Artist. I have personally used and benefitted from both resources. Between the two, you will find scads of links, articles, books, and official information on living and working overseas.

You will also want to visit the official government sites of your target countries. I have linked the Indonesian site on the sidebar of this blog. This will give you the latest official information concerning immigration laws and other laws affecting foreigners. For instance, in Indonesia in the past couple of years, they have changed the laws to allow foreigners to own apartments and houses, but they cannot own the land under them. Foreigners can also wholly-own some types of businesses, but the taxes and fees are onerous. If you have trusted friends in-country, you are better off going that route, if you want to start a business. Depending on the type of business, you may find that your destination country has certain benefits and supports, if it provides needed skills and jobs.

An absolute necessity is to thoroughly research the culture of your chosen countries, including rituals, beliefs, practices, and manners. The old maxim of "when in Rome, do as the Romans," applies in all cases. One mistake Mericans tend to make quite often is expecting everyone to accept and act like they do. This is called the Ugly American Syndrome. Symptoms include expecting everyone to speak English, only eating McDonald's and KFC, being oblivious to local manners, and trying to enforce Political Correctness on other cultures. Thirty years ago, when the dollar was king and everyone wanted to be Merican, you might have gotten away with it, but now it can be downright dangerous to your health.

Keeping a low profile is always advisable. Don't advertise that you are Merican and certainly don't rub people's faces in it. Learn the local language, don't go around telling everyone how you do it at home and don't try to convert everyone to Mericanism. After all, if it was that great, you wouldn't want to escape now, would you? Slow and easy does it. You can celebrate Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, just do it quietly in your home. I even go so far as to avoid places where foreigners gather, since those places are prime targets for more radical elements. You get a lot more respect and protection by mixing in with locals and spending your time down at the neighborhood watering hole. The more you show appreciation for your host country, the more backup you will have should problems arise.

In this part, I have talked about some generalities and best practices. In future updates, I will go into actual jobs and skills that you can use to break out, including one you were born into that is quite salable anywhere in the world. All you need is a little certification and a whole set of opportunities open up. I'll also go into some of the complexities involved in visas and work papers. Stay tuned!