Taxation and Renouncing Citizenship

From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies, history is riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn the stuff they don't want you to know uction of IieHarb radio Hello, Wlcome back to the show. My name is Matt. My name is Noel. They called me Ben and you can too We're joined as always with our super producer, Dylan, the Tennessee Pal Faggan. Most importantly, you are you. You are here for now and that makes this the stuff they don't want you to know. foollowing up on a previous episode regarding the passage of people, geopolitically, a thing we would call prisoner exchanges. We started working on this quite some time ago guysys, I think it's fair to say that at some point in life virtually every human being wherever they live, has fantasized about, you know, that Big move, you know, mayaybe I'll go to L.A. I'll go to Hollywood. I'll go to New York I'll go to Pakyepsi. I might go to Japan, et cetera, et cetera and so on. I think that's true for many and certainly for us. I think there are definitely people that might just not even think about it though too. But for the purposes of this episode hundred percent, it's definitely a thing that all of us have thought about and entnertained and and, you know, kind of, I guess, satiated in many ways by being able to travel Yeah, it's kind of a crazy thing. We all have that moment when we're younger and We have been learning whatever we've been learning from our parents or our guardians, whoever we're around, whatever institution maybe is controlling us. We're learning a lot of things. But there's a moment When you realize just how big the world is and how different places look in other parts of that world, right and how different people look and different customs and you just start to really understand how big this place is and you know, And then you maybe kind of ride that feeling for a little while until you become an adult and you have to pay bills and you're like, oh crap Maybe I don't want to live on the other side of the world. Maybe maybe this is it for me. Yeah ye Or maybe if you have the means, you realize that Earth is one big escape room. So if I'm Elon Musk, for instance, maybe I can become the world's First trillionaire. by selling the idea of a passage to Mars, it's so weird that especially in the United States guys, there's a cyclical and ways who say they're leaving this country for good Dag Nabit. and it usually occurs in step with economic instability, like the Great Depression. or in step with political headwinds. You know, a Democrat wins the wins the seat of commander in chief and there are a bunch of people who probablyro with H Dudgeon and theater are saying, Oh, now I'm gonna move away because these socialists are so bad. Well, yeah. And then there's also the version of it where, you know peopleople who are criticizing a government or a political situation they don't like are answered by their opposition with, well, if you hate it so much, why don't you just leave to answer that with, because this is my home. and I'd rather stick around and you know, try to aect change in as much as it humanly possible Like Margaret Cho said I choose to stay and fight You know, that's a dilemma a lot of people deal with. And statistically as we know mostost people, at least in the U. S who are fantasizing or ideating this kind of thing They don't end up making the leap. And of those who do relocate across international borders, a lot end up returning within Five to seven years past few years here in this great experiment may have altered this once predictable cycle This is it, folks. You asked us We're answering This is our episode on how leaving the United States works and get ready Full disclosure This is a cold shower And this is a cold open. This is an IiHart podcast. guuaranteed human This is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea. I'm going to be honest with you. I am online way more than I probably should be. And between me and everyone else at my house, we've got a zillion screens going on at any given moment. So when my internet slows down, it is a full crisis. That's why having fast, reliable internet that can keep up really matters and why you need optimum famously Fast Fiber Internet Optimum fiber blows flaky five G out of the water and keeps it cool with the fastest and most reliable speeds that don't slow when things heat up. 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I'll take it to the grave Listen to the Devil' Quar in the Bone Valley feed on the IiHark radio app. podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Jake Brennan, and on my podcast Disgraceeland. I tell the stories behind music's biggest names Like how the story of the Foo Fighters isn't just about music, it's about grief, shock, in the moment everything changed Imagine that. You're in the biggest band on the planet, as Dave Groll was in nineteen ninety four in Nirvana And the phone rings And you learn that your singer, your friend The reluctant voice of a generation H Ki. is death Listen to Disgraceeland on the IHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts Here are the facts. Okay. So the United States is a country of immigrants said now. hates immigration I It's strange to think about that and it should be acknowledged more often if you are not a member of an indigenous first Peoples Native American group then you and your ancestors or you and your ancestors were immigrants at some point Right. I mean The whole idea of this nation, the entire methodology is founded by European exiles They didn't, you know, they didn't wake up in Massachusetts. No, a nation of immigrants. I mean, and a nation formed by protests and formed, you know, by being against those that would seek to control us, you know, from afar. And then of course, you've got places like New York City and Ellis Island and, you know, these mass immigrations and just the way it changed this country into what it is. and I hate the term kind of melting pot. It's one they taught in school, but I almost think it's a little weird. I don't know why it just bugs me a bit. but I guess it makes sense. Just the idea of so many cultures living and creating a kind of tapestry of experience that is so incredibly rich We have the best food in the world. It's right. That's right The thing I would just add today that guys is that we have an administration that has made it a political point to push The idea of the immigration bad And that is one of the major problems, right? It's a That's why it's that whole four years thing. The way the New Yorker puts it Aasa, Abrahamian She says, every four years, a group of Americans threatens to leave the country. These proclamations tend to take place in early November and involve Canada No mass exodus occurs However, this time around Americans seem to be acting on their desiire, spepeaking specifically about the time we're living in right now Because of how hard this political push from a single administration has been. And I was curious as to, you know, how many people a year roughly are you know, renouncing their citizenship because Ben, you pointed out recently in a news article, I believe on Strange News that the government or the State Department recently cut the renunciation fee from two thousand three hundred dollars roughly between twenty fourteen and twenty twenty three to only four hundred fifty bucks in twenty twenty four, which kind of makes sense, I guess, with the idea of let's get rid of as many people as possible. And only about two thousand to five thousand people do this every year. but in twenty twenty It was a record year where give or take six thousand seven hundred people did that. So I'd be curious to see how those trends continue now that the know, fee is a little cheaper. Yeah, and guys, I want to get back to what we're setting up earlier the fact that a country foundounded upon the idea of immigration is aggressively unethically hitting against The stuff the founding fathers said they wanted to happen. The idea of immigration versus immigration the Uncle Sam character into an ethical minefield. We have a long history of weaponizing immigration in the United States largely for ideological or racial purposes. And nowadays, we are in a new era of mass deportation, the current presidential administration campaigned on what they called immmigration reform and I'm using single fingers instead of double fingers for the air quote there. and they have taken wide ranging diplomatically put controversial steps accelerate immmigration or Iice monitoring to fast track detainment, apprehension and overall residency in ways that cause serious concerns. Now going back to what you were saying there, No, we have to look at the statistics within just the first one hundred days O this year of twenty twenty six. We're recording on june twenty third The United States has arrested over sixty six thousand individuals and removed more than sixty five thousand These are levels that had not been seen in recent years. the current administration And I don't apologize for getting political here. The current administration has openly pursued what it calls the largest mass deportation effort in all of United States history targeting an estimated ten million people. and just for comparison. just so you know we're not U spinning tails and no political party pays us here in twenty twenty five Over the entirety of that year, there were around two hundred seven thousand deportations. And that paled in comparison to the previous year in twenty twenty four under and don't get mad at us. This is a fact under the Biden administration There were more Depportations, there were two hundred seventy one thousand four hundred and eighty four that we know of. Ben, where do those numbers come from just so we have an understand. Is that official like administration numbers or is there a Thd party There's a good primer. you can check out folks, the globalstatistics dot comot slash deportation And it's horrified. that as a thing. You can also the issue is now that you will find people similar to our conversation regarding what constitutes an enemy combatant or a prisoner of war you will find various international and domestic institutions indeed disagreeing on what counts as a deportee or someone being deported. the current Potus The current presidential administration theirir stance is often going to imply that these people being detained and deported are criminals. But we do not have to look far to see cases of innocent people being captured. We're talking about children getting separated from their parents, people being sent to countries with languages that they don't speak. peopleeople who are even legal residents or indeed citizens are getting caught up in this mass movement They're getting pushed out of the system, which means for our purposes tonight, terrifiedly enough One of the most common ways to leave these United States is to be deported. the largest group of people leaving the U. S or doing so against their will. It doesn't get brought up in a lot of conversations about expats Immigration with an E It is crucial we answer that one at top. we have to address it. We do. And I'm also I'm curious as to like, I mean, obviously the Trump administration has made quite the show of all of this, you know, you know, closing the open borders that were the Biden administration was responsible for allegedly. and, you know this whole campaign of mass deportation, but you're saying that the Biden administration actually had Bigger numbers In twenty twenty four, under the Biden administration, more people were deported than in twenty twenty five. So I mean, the Trump administration would be in its you know, the duration of the remainder of the term hoping to exceed that number, I imagine. Right? Yes. But it also just goes to show the trend. It is, but it also just goes to show that is the big show really Does it really make that big of a difference? Yeah, especially when we have something like three hundred twenty four million people in this country. when we're talking about leaving the United States. To be clear, folks, we're you asked and we're responding. When we're talking about leaving the United States, a lot of these conversations focus not on deportation, but on the idea of leaving voluntarily So you're snagging that new passport, you know, you're marrying that spouse from a foreign country who is very appealing and definitely puts up with a lot of paperwork orre you getting a job to sponsor your residency and so on? We've got to look at the stats Like you were saying no, back in twenty twenty five, something very Interesting, if not disturbing occurred More people left the U. S then moved to the U. S That is a trend that we haven't seen since back in nineteen thirty five, amid the Great Depression So Estimates are suggesting now that at least a hundred eighty thousand or so U. S. citizens relocated overseas in their mind permanently over twenty twenty five, the true number is probably higher. Yeah thenen I found that on a A place called Global Citizen Solutions. But canult confir Yeah, and that's this is a thing I'm finding at least I found in my research and I don't know if you found it too There are a ton of consultancies of organizations that are not associated with the government necessarily or like directly that aren't even a full statistics house or anything like that or analytics house They seem to have some kind of reason exist and some way to make profit when it comes to helping people get out of countries and move to other countries. And I was just wondering because that's where I found those statistics as well, but I couldn't back them up anywhere. And I was trying to figure out, are these Are some of these groups trying to get people to move out of countries for a reason that we just don't understand or maybe I don't understand Yeah, that's an interesting question, off course. peopleople who are going to sell you a car. are going to people who are trying to sell you a car are going to tell you a lot about how awesome a car is And we we've got what are they selling They're making a commission on consultancy fees So if someone successfully does one of the plan A versions where someone moves in by investing two hundred fifty thousand dollars in St. Kitts. They get a cut of that. That's what we think likeike is that's what we're imagining Does doesn't matter why I think that's true U It's how consultancy works. Yeah. the u those fees go atop the fourth easiest way to leave the United States, which is going to be residency via investment which we definitely have to get to have You guys thought about moving outside of the United States? I've got a go plan for sure. you know, if things get a certain level of awful. Yes I keep it to myself for now, but definitely. Hell no, baby, I'm going down with this ship. No I to dream about it last night. What the hell? It's crazy. No, yes. It's not unusual people to feel this way. likeike we talked about there's this cyclical wax and wane and rise and full of interest in leaving your home ground and lighting out for the territories, as Mark Twain would say Exts are predicting or I guess the tea leaves they're reading lead them to say that is a rise in people attempting to leave the United States on a permanent basis It's due to a mix of economic pressure and lifestyle changes. you know, rising housing costs, everyday expenses, food health care since we still don't have developed country healthcare. That drives people the US to go to places like Portugal, Thailand, or Indonesia. For sure. I did just want to like give the US a maybe potentially a little att of boy. Did y' allall hear about this bipartisan affordable housing effort that's waiting for I believe Senate approval. I we go through. Are they scrapping all the data centers and putting in housing? Well, it's maybe, we are seeing some folks withdrawing some of these data centers though. It does seem well, at least the Iice detention center, that's not the same as a data center, which was a win. Right, Matt, wasn't that right there in your own backyard, the one that they Oh ye to not do We're gonna talk about social circle in the failed attempt at a detention center there.. But just really quickly, I'm referring to this thing called the twenty first century Road to Housing Act, HR six hundred six forty four, which is in some way addressing the national affordability crisis and the ability of giant developers and corporations to outbid regular people. And this would be an effort to more affordable housing. So I don't know much about it beyond that, but it does seem potentially good. But all these other countries to y'all's point So far ahead So so farhead and everywh. And and we appreciate that update, Noel and we've got to keep an eye on those sorts of development in particular. we do know that a big part of why there are more people moving from the United States to different countries Part of it is due to remote work. You know, it's pretty common for your hopefully favorite podcast host to travel around the world and take our remote recording kits with us, we do that on a temporary basis usually for a week or two other Americans are going to relocate and keep their U. S. based careers going strong. It's a whole complicated hustle. We'll get into, but these folks believe it is worth it. This complication is worth it because if you live in a country with a lower cost of living And you have a US salary still That goes much, much further down the line. you know, you can live broke in Boston Two roommates. or you can live rich as a king in Southeast Asia. So a lot of or Latin America, I should say, shout out to Belese. A lot of this goes into it. Well the big problem with that scenario though is you if you're maintaining citizenship. pay taxes twice, right? Unless the country has u, you know, a special arrangement with the U. S. And I know we're going to get into it in a moment. just I think it's important to point out here. Yeah, and beyond the economics, most importantly, and I hope this is important for all of us. I hope I'm not speaking out of school One of the most important things we have to realize is that a great many people who are seeking to emigrate from the United States are doing so not for self interested financial reasons at all. It's because they're threatened by new laws and policies, especially hot button issues like abortion or LGTBQI rights, which are under threat. So from their perspective which I hope everybody listening can understand from their perspective They have to move becausecause they have to preserve the physical safety of themselves, their families, and their loved ones And let's not diminish that. That is the kind of thing that makes families move. Yeah, no diminishing here I don't think. one thing we should also point out is that people are generally waking up to how corrupt things are. It does seem that way to at least a degree. There's only so much you can ask someone to ignore, you know their eyes behold, and it does seem like Hopefully getting past some of that We're just seeing that the folks that are supposed to be in charge in this country and many other countries are ones that just take bribes and make money for themselves and their friends and enrich the people around them. while taking advantage of everybody else people who can't take losses on a company to get out of taxes. They have to just pay taxes on their income And they have to have an income so they can pay rent and buy food and support families You know, we I think humanity is just seeing, oh wait, the USA, the United States of America is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to all out corruption Yeah, I mean, the fact that like a lot of these millionaires and billionaires and now trillionaires don't even have to pay themselves an income because they can just leverage their stock holdings into borrowing money for whatever they want and then never actually have to pay taxes on the holdings because they haven't actually sold anything Hm Euro We're talking about the people who are choosy Whatever their demographic mix or socioeconomic position is, they're choosing to leave the United States, perhaps because they desire to do so because they feel they must Unless you are very wealthy The people choosing to relocate are always going to have an uphill battle ahead. You know, the one thing that is for sure The one sacrosinct axiom here is that money makes it easier always. And if you are planning to leave First off, it was great to hang out with you and let us know if we can sleep on your couch. but if you can afford it definitely should look into hiring a legal expert or a consultancy firm, that's our T' for later to help you through all the paperwork because it differs widely. countountry via country. The biggest question here is How does Levy The United States actually works. We have good news Bad news And the answers may surprise you. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was gonna live I was Terrified There was no inside those eyes scared the hell out of me That was your first murder kase. Yesah It's fair to say this was the bigg case your career? Yes, sir. Rappe and murder a chg twelve year old childallenge. bad as he gets. I would think so Evil, wake up one that saw the murder take place by Cet and de Pippo. Anthony DPippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unphazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grave Listen to the Dvil'sQarry on the I Heart radio. or wherever you get your podcasts And to hear the Devil's quuarry ad free with exclusive content Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts I'm Jake Frenan and on my podcast Disgrace Lland I tell the stories behind music's biggest names, the moments that shape them. and changed music history forever Like how the story of the Foo Fighters and Dave Groll isn't just about music Imagine that You're in the biggest band on the planet, as Dave Groll was in nineteen ninety four in Nirvana. And the phone rings, and you learn that your singer, your friend, the reluctant voice of a generation, Kurt Cobain. is dead This is a story of fame, pressure, friendship, and the weight of fulfilling your destiny. Learn more about the moment everything changed Disgraceland is part of the exactly right network. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday, bonus episodes Thursday, and rewinds on Sunday on the IHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts The Declaration which is full of these beautifully rendered, you know sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals does also have this darker history to it Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution Why is it important that Americans know about it Well, if we don't understand The full context in which our nation was founded We won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself I'm Rebecca Nagl, Gohin, Taadon, Jelea Yetli, Ga, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big cheese fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the IiHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Mgish Sa Tet and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever. for all of us I learn about some rad science. I can make a brain for you. And then we can test what draw is the best for your brain. as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. makeake you look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skylland Drive How to Live Forever on the iHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts Here's where it gets crazy. Guys, we're talking with some of our more cynical a fellow conspiracy realist who pointed out The four main quote unquote, easiest pathways. to leaving the US, which we'll get to But I think A lot of u a lot of the assumptions to be broken down and here's where it gets crazy, which is first off dececades post World War I. US. citizens, we all had this degree of assumed entitlement I'm from the United States. Everyone speaks English. I can go where I wish and where I will But that's not quite true because countries love American money and investment but loving American Immigration is a whole different bag of badgers. Like you guys have moved before It's stressful to move from one Domiced to the next, even in the same city, right? Oh, it's awful. They say it's almost as bad as losing a loved one or going through a divorce or something like that. like moving in terms of its stress on the body and the psyche. Yeah, I remember Noel when you were moving, Matt and I came through sure too to help you with a move. I love helping people move but it does like I could see the stress because moving becomes a second job Immediately. you got to find your new place pack all your stuff, when you never have enough time. You always have to get out by a certain deadline and try as you might to get everything ready, the cleaning and all of that, the transferring of the stuff, getting into the new place, whatever it might be. There's never it never feels like there's enough time Right. It's always the time that defeats us. It's the true finite resource And then if we imagine moving outside of the United States moving from one country to the next. These complications, the only exacerbate. Now you've got to pay another government for all sorts of things. You got to pay a consultancy agency we're gonna get to. You gott to spend hours sorting stuff out with embassies and agencies. You might have to marry that lady you've been dating or that person And unless you're very, very wealthy You're going to also have to wait a long time legally move to a different country. For example, even in evenven in Canada If you are if you're the average Johnny blue jeans or u Jane blue jeans in the U.S you're going to have to wait Six months to one hundred and twenty months to move to Canada The waiting line is long Oh, it's also gonna to cost shit Thousands of dollars minimum. Yeah, I know we're gonna get to it, but it's not like it's I mean leaving the country is its own thing. And then there's what is it going to take for another country to welcome me or me and my family with open arms? And of course, that varies widely from country to country. Yeah, that's a great point. H here we'll give it to you. We'll give you the cynical answer Nobody be mad at us. or if you are mad at us, please hit up our complaint department, Jonathan Strickland at iheartradio. com the four most cynical easiest ways to leave the United States are the following One be deported Be rich Three be related to someone either through ancestry or marriage And then of course, four. die. I don't think we I don't think we have to spend a much too much time on dying. Well, there the other possibities you could get hired Oh, yeah, we're doing the most the cynical easiest four and you're absolutely right, Matt that that's the best path for, you know, our average American and we've talked about deportation earlier in other episodes. Obviously dying is kind of a u Dead end So What if we what if we talk about What if we talk about those other two before we get to the average American What if we talk about gaining residency through Ancestry or marriage. Have you guys ever thought about having a you know, thought about taking it to the next level to get residency in u You know, uh, Inert country here. Sure. I mean, sadly I was born in another country, but I was not born to natives of that country. So I got nothing going for me in that department. But it is the kind of thing where people can even find that out about themselves later in life, right? Where they have like a distant relative or something that had citizenship and if they do the homework and fill out paperwork, it is possible to make that into a path for citizenship for that person? Yeah, one hundred percent because what you're talking about there is this idea of residency by ancestry or citizenship by descent. So the off course every country doesn't offer that either. No. Yeah, no, no, no, right. So we have we have something called right of soil in the United States which certain political factions hate and they're wrong and they're being dicks about it. The idea of the United States is in part that if you are born here, you automatically By virtue of geography become a U. S. citizen. Other countries don't play the same game. A lot of countries have something called J Sanguin or rightite of blood which means kindind of like what you were saying. L it used to be you, if you're a child you are you have a God given right to your father's nationality. And then later it got extended to your mother's nationality. and then even further, it got extended to your ancestry in general. So if like your dear old grandad is from Dublin You can apply for Irish residency It's limited. It only goes back so far. And those both of those terms, Ben, I can't help but think about nativist kind of lines of thought. The idea, the notion of blood and soil are literally combining those two concepts. and that is a big part of the rhetoric around white nationalism, this idea of being a native N of su Yeah, ye. and we we kind of skipped over it, but it bears mentioning We have to address it. if you live in the United States, regardless of your personal affiliations probably familiar with the stereotype of the so called green card marriage And that's that's this argument that A lot of people from other countries, developing countries, specifically will marry a U. S. citizen not for love but for the legal perks of gaining citizenship in the United States We're happy to report that is a That is a BS story up there with the story of Reagan's welfare queens, right? It's a common misconception Maring someomeone will and It will give you residency in a lot of countries, but it won't automatically give you citizenship. You still have to have the naturalization process that can take years and years and years. Now, if you're if you're an ancestor That's interesting, especially with Canada's new policy. I think that is a good line to kind of put in the sand there the difference between citizenship and residency And I do feel like in some of these times where it feels to some folks like an emergency, we have to get out of here. I have to get out of here Residency would be plenty, right? You don't have to just become a citizen of another place. That's not maybe the end goal. The immediate goal at least is Eescape for one reason or another and establish yourself in a different country on soil far away from the place that you're running from um, which, you know, is the case often for refugees, right in any country, especially that are war torn. Asylum seeking, right? Mhm or, you know, literally like running A for sure And we we know the idea of Ancestry residency it's it's very common in a lot of countries especially those who practice what we mentioned before, right of blood. Canada interestnterestingly enough passed a similar policy that says, hey, you United States residents who are About forty eight percent of the people who want to live here. If you got a granddad in Quebec Go for it. You know what I mean? Tell us if you can speak French So this is a pretty cool thing, especially if you are able to pull residency via ancestry in any EU country. So the European Union is a lot like the U S in that you know, if you live in say Utah or New Hampshire. You can move. to Oklahoma or to Georgia or to California. because it's all considered part of the same place. So if you get your old granddad posthumously proved that you can live in Ireland And you decide you'd rather live in Germany then bully for you It is all perfectly legal. It's still going to take some time And I know we we've talked about this in the past. This is one of the ones that mystifies us the most The next Easiest. of our four cynical options is of course To be wealthy, to be rich Guys, how much money do we have? Between us, we gonna pool our resources and do Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. How much I'm not going to say. But you know there are certain countries I know, for example, like New Zealand where it does require making a sizable contribution to the coffers of that country, and that's how you get in the door. There's several different ways, right? You can get like you can be a digital nomad, you can be have a passive income and they'll let you in as long as they know you're making money Or you could as your guys are saying, you can just invest a crap ton of money into and that the crap ton varies widely between countries. It does. for a long time. The well, hang on, let me take it back and put it this way To your point, Noel This is why we hear about billionaires relocating to Buenos Ares, Argentina or to Auckland, New Zealand, seemingly overnight pay to place citizenship. It is residency or citizenship by investment. You will hear it called the golden passport or the golden visa. The thing is a government will invite foreign money in often through real estate or through development projects And if you give them enough money Uh, they will let you live there U like Italy, Italy will make you Italian two hundred fifty thousand euros, one time payment to live there for several years. Also the most affordable one for many years was Paraguay. And we're certainly or at least Trump was trying to do that over here with the Trump gold card. And I think that was to the tune of a million bucks. And I think they only Flipped like one or two And there was a big show made of him giving one to Niki Minaj, of course, but I think it was quite a flop in terms of yeah, what it was intended to do, which was of course generate, you know, revenue. It's a real pickle because It makes sense if we exercise empathy for the countries involved, it makes sense that you would want an income stream from very wealthy individuals. But it also makes sense if we are to exercise empathy for everybody who is not the leaders of those nations It's super controversial to put it plainly. This is very attractive to well heeled criminals This is very attractive to corrupt officials who might take their little vigorish or page flick off the top. These programs generate tons of cash But also They've got you they've got me run to the laundry like there's something smelly on me. This is how people clean money especially if they're freeholds or what are they called free ports Yeah Yeah, we got a whole up cool episode about that we did recently. So the last thing about these Golden visas, these golden passports, which always remind me of I think remind all of us of what's his name Charlie? What's Charlie's last name? bucket? Charlie Bucket, That's right. Yeah, yeah, Charlie in the chocolate factory, you cannot open a candy bar and get an automatic golden visa unless maybe your dad's a Russian oligarch The thing is This is still controversial that to the point that you will hear one country or another swearing to international press that they are going to tighten their investor citizenship regulations. ussually right after another corruption case gets exposed and here's the thing. when they say they're tightening those regulations, They mean They're going to charge people more So no more two hundred fifty thousand euros. Now it'll be three hundred ten thousand euros, et cetera, et cetera. Maybe they'll do some background checks, but I think the question on the mind for all of us now is Having learned all this We're saying, Hey, Ben, Matt, Noel, Tennessee I live in the U. S. I'm not rich. I haven't married a foreign national don't have ancestry in one of those countries that would let me in. So I'm an average American What do I do if I need to find a way out. We'll tell you after a word from our sponsors In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going live I was Terrified There was no hing inside those eyes Turn black. scared the hell out of me That was your first murder kase. Yes ye. It's fair to say this was the biggestase your career? Yes, sir. Rape and murder of a chg twelve year old childenge. bad as he gets. I would think so Eeople wake up. that saw the murder take place by Creet and dePippo. Anthony DPippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfphazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grave Listen to the Dvil's quuarry on the I Heart radio or wherever you get your podcasts o hear the Devil's quuarry add free with exclusive content Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts I'm Jake Bren and on my podcast Disgraceeland. I tell the stories behind music's biggest names, the moments that shape them aued them and changed music history forever Like how the story of the Foo Fighters and Dave Groll isn't just about music Imagine that. You're in the biggest band on the planet, as Dave Groll was in nineteen ninety four in Nirvana. and the phone rings, and you learn that your singer, your friend. The reluctant voice of a generation, Kurt Cobain. is dead This is a story of fame, pressure, friendship, and the weight of fulfilling your destiny Learn more about the moment everything changed Disgracand is part of the exactly right network. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday, bonus episodes Thursday, and rewinds on Sunday on the IHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts The Declaration which is full of these beautifully rendered sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals does also have this darker history to it Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution Why is it important that Americans know about it Well, if we don't understand The full context in which our nation was founded We won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself I'm Rebecca Nagl, Gohin Taadon, Gelekcaa Yetli, gay laa, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big chef fans? Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be. How we got to this present moment Listen to First America on the IiHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Mungisha Tet and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever. for all of us I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you And then we can test what drraw is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain. Here ares some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble I'd say probably start bone smashing. doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know Listen to Skyline Drive How to Live Forever on the iHart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts And we've returned. So we're not rich. We haven't married a fign national We don't have the nepotistic connection of citizenship via ancestry. So what are we to do ry Yeah, or go to school, maybe. I think a lot of grad students during dissertations. Yeah. So as we as we were saying, a lot of people get residency through scholarship, right? Various countries will say, you can come here to study And if you are a good kid, depending on your language proficiency and your area of study and whether you get a job offer upon graduation then you're good to go or you could have Like you were saying earlier, Matt, you could have a job. that sponsors you One of the most famous examples of those would be teaching English, particularly in Asian countries. Do you guys know anybody who taught English abroad? Yeah, I met three awesome guys in Qatar who came from London or rather the UK and now teach English there in Qatar to kids of billionaires. And's really they have a very cool life. It seems very interesting. That's a pretty good way to go, right? We also know multi national corporations will sponsor people if, you know, we need our man in Hong Kong or what have you. The issue is that Your legal residency is contingent upon that job and the approval of your employers until a certain amount of time passes. All There's another thing You mentioned Matt that really stood out, which is trying for refugee status Oh my gosh, you guys know how much other countries hate it when U. S. nationals apply for refugee status or for political asylum? Well, we certainly don't like it. It seems like at least that's part of a big you know, fiery rhetoric around all this anti immigration stuff is that I don't know, man, it was even like, it feels like the term asylum was being misused and that the president was talking about people coming from insane asylums. when he was actually referring to asylum seekers Although that's never even fully been cleared up as to the intent there. but yeah, no, it certainly seems like A lot of folks wouldn't care for it, but it's become a big part of the rhetoric of this administration for sure. Yeah, the U. S. doesn't outwardly seem like a country that is dangerous enough to run from. Right the The world doesn't perceive the United States as a country run by a regime that would hunt down people Although, I would argue that we have seen some of that change Yeah, you know you should be warned if you live in the United States M of the countries you probably want to move to are not going to vibe with the idea of you being someone seeking asylum or seeking refugee status because their policies by and large are prioritizing people who are in active war zones inactive state collapse. or in imminent physical danger because of if they don't escape their home country due to ideology ethnicity or sexual identity, they will be murdered. So it's u It's performative to a lot of those countries do hear an Americans say, I don't like the President So I want refugee status. and then they're looking at all these other people ' being mowed down in the streets, right of a collapsing nation And they were say, why you Good news, kind of There are places on the planet that will accept you applying for political asylum They are places like Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. And I think Didn't we have a story recently on strange newews about a guy who moved to Russia as a political asylum u applicant Yeah I don'tite remember the details of it, but I know that Russia was kind of making that easy, if I'm not mistaken Almost as like a F you to the United States. Yeah as a political has a political move and As we recall from that strange news program Things did not end up super well. We've also got to mention U the the issue is if you don't have a lot of money, you can spend a lot of time. You can find the top three countries you're thinking of. research them obsessively, contact their embassies, save as much money as you can, be ready to wait for a long time and be aware that these other countries prioritize