A few other tips... Albania is a lower income country that offers 12 months to USA citizens, no questions asked, I think as a gift for USAs help. In fact when you go to the airport its simply a swipe of the passport, i dont even have to speak to a real person. I was there for multiple stays, about 4 months each.

There's a few other countries that allow an easy 12 months, for the USA passport. Mexico is 1, Portugal is another good one that has a digital nomad visa, for residency, but i think you need to stay inside the country. Montenegro is another, but the same thing, I think you need to stay inside Montenegro in order to get permanent residency, which im not into.

Matty9999 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 3:51 pm A few other tips... Albania is a lower income country that offers 12 months to USA citizens, no questions asked, I think as a gift for USAs help. In fact when you go to the airport its simply a swipe of the passport, i dont even have to speak to a real person. I was there for multiple stays, about 4 months each.

There's a few other countries that allow an easy 12 months, for the USA passport. Mexico is 1, Portugal is another good one that has a digital nomad visa, for residency, but i think you need to stay inside the country. Montenegro is another, but the same thing, I think you need to stay inside Montenegro in order to get permanent residency, which im not into.

How did you like Albania in terms of cost, friendliness, housing, climate, and infrastructure?

Matty9999 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 3:51 pm A few other tips... Albania is a lower income country that offers 12 months to USA citizens, no questions asked, I think as a gift for USAs help. In fact when you go to the airport its simply a swipe of the passport, i dont even have to speak to a real person. I was there for multiple stays, about 4 months each.

There's a few other countries that allow an easy 12 months, for the USA passport. Mexico is 1, Portugal is another good one that has a digital nomad visa, for residency, but i think you need to stay inside the country. Montenegro is another, but the same thing, I think you need to stay inside Montenegro in order to get permanent residency, which im not into.

Out of curiosity, how is Mexico an easy 12-month visa for USA passports?

stevenjb wrote: ↑Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:01 am From what I have read, Albania is on the list to become part of the EU. That would limit stays to 90-days out of 180-days. Mexico's residency permit is crazy expensive - applied in a U.S. Mexican consulate, around $3,000/month income required. Portugal, residency permit income requirements are reasonable, but then world-wde income is subject to tax, and housing is expensive. Georgia might be an option for their 1-year Visa, however I have heard that rents are high. Thinking about Colombia, world-wide income is taxed up to 39% after 183-days of stay. Choices, choices.

Yes. I inquired about the situation for Mexico. They are very invasive about your finances, too invasive. And the max you can stay there is 180 days at a time without a visa, and attempting to do it back-to-back is not advisable.

yongchi wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 5:08 pm

Matty9999 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 3:51 pm A few other tips... Albania is a lower income country that offers 12 months to USA citizens, no questions asked, I think as a gift for USAs help. In fact when you go to the airport its simply a swipe of the passport, i dont even have to speak to a real person. I was there for multiple stays, about 4 months each.

There's a few other countries that allow an easy 12 months, for the USA passport. Mexico is 1, Portugal is another good one that has a digital nomad visa, for residency, but i think you need to stay inside the country. Montenegro is another, but the same thing, I think you need to stay inside Montenegro in order to get permanent residency, which im not into.

How did you like Albania in terms of cost, friendliness, housing, climate, and infrastructure?

Greetings! Loved it, but it was a touch on the boring side as compared to the social life and liveliness of some place like say for example, Barcelona, London, Bangkok, etc. Tirana is a town of several hundred thousand. The people are totally nice. It was nice to hang around there for awhile.

The good points... my budget is low, but its a nice place to live in Europe even with a low budget, however its not as low as Thailand or Cambodia. Crime is low, and the people are really nice and laid back. I would describe it as a quaint place, most of the Balkans states are similar in this respect.

I also stayed in Montenegro and Serbia, as well as Greece and Bulgaria and Romania. Romania and Bulgaria both felt a little bigger and better developed, whereas Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro are less developed and not within the SChegen Zone for 90 days stays for Americans.

Weather is great if you like a more temperate climate. As compared to the USA probably similar to say some place like South Carolina. A nice break from the heat of asia.

The only negative about Albania is that its kind of conservative socially and the shopping opportunities are limited, but its a great stopping off point from the rest of western Europe.

If you go along the coast in the winter you can get really cheap deals for apartments, I tried this in Montenegro but not Albania.

Kenr wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 6:14 pm

Matty9999 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 3:51 pm A few other tips... Albania is a lower income country that offers 12 months to USA citizens, no questions asked, I think as a gift for USAs help. In fact when you go to the airport its simply a swipe of the passport, i dont even have to speak to a real person. I was there for multiple stays, about 4 months each.

There's a few other countries that allow an easy 12 months, for the USA passport. Mexico is 1, Portugal is another good one that has a digital nomad visa, for residency, but i think you need to stay inside the country. Montenegro is another, but the same thing, I think you need to stay inside Montenegro in order to get permanent residency, which im not into.

Out of curiosity, how is Mexico an easy 12-month visa for USA passports?

TBH not sure, never tried, i know its 6 months free, but last year i heard someone said they were selling 1 year stays for $400 no questions asked. This was some type of special deal at some place somewhere in some Mexican immigration office.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sat Sep 02, 2023 5:19 pm
I was curious as well and found this
Cost of living in Albania is, on average, 4.3% higher than in Thailand.
Rent in Albania is, on average, 27.0% lower than in Thailand.

Greetings, my experience, in Tirana - I was only able to find a student room, for example a small guesthouse type of place, in the range of $350 to $450 usd month to month, whereas in Bangkok, theres plenty of choices at this price range offering much more amenities. I tend to focus on month to month rentals versus leases so these might be a bit more pricey.

I could have tried other cities in Albania but these get much smaller and with less to do there. So yea, Albania is more pricey, but its nice to be in Europe if thats where you want to be for awhile. Street food is also cheaper in Asia vs the Balkans, but you can find reestaruerants in the Balkan that offer decent sandiwches for $2 to $3, plenty of these (