Published on 12, July, 2020
For a while now, in pursuit of improving a better lifespan, compared to the quality of life I’ve experienced here in the UK as an autistic, disabled, neurodivergent and trans woman (pronouns are she/her), though my trans identity is very stealth/passible, I’ve been considering immigration.
Since a lot of recent and similar things I’ve encountered the whole time living in the UK, having been born in Scotland, it has been this way as long as I can remember, and statements by Starmer, Sunak and the likes have made it clear that it’s time to move on, but where?
My personal interests, that fully consume my world include anything “Western”; Horses, Cattle, Cowboys, etc, as well as my music and performance career.
I may have connections within the Nashville community, through the church I attend online, but the substance in the area is pretty patchy, and knowing that there are areas where services are better than others, a lil help could help!
I’d also consider Canada, but knowing that it’s part of the commonwealth, I’d be scared if it functioned as bad as this place does!
Would it be worth considering reaching out to the UN?
How about climate and language considerations?
It sounds like you are only considering English speaking countries which limits your options significantly, really just to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
For the cattle / cowboys side I think Australia is unlikely to offer a trans friendly environment based on the numerous Australians I have worked with (they have all stated the environment outside of some areas in some cities is not trans friendly at all.
The West coast of the USA would seem to fit most of what you ask, probably the North West unless you like lots of desert life. Oregon springs to mind.
Canada is mostly much colder for large parts of the year, hence the climate question. It seems a more progressive environment generally but seems to be going through a bit of a cost of living crisis at the momentm more so than the USA.
The impressions I have of Nashville would suit the cowboy and churches checkboxes, but being trans is that community is quite possible an issue with the political polarisation on the go at the moment. As a Brit and an immigrant you will attract a lot of attention and if you are unmasked as trans then I would expect life to get difficult in such a conservative environment.
I would recommend doing a lot of research on the cost of living too as the healthcare system in the US is very expensive as is the property market at the moment (buy and rental) and it show little sign of recovering anytime soon.
AlexandriaAdamsonMusic said:Would it be worth considering reaching out to the UN?
I don't know if they would be interested in helping to be honest - The main function of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security, not help with emigration from the UK.
For the US you also would need a green card to live and work there which is not that straightforward. There is a thorough description of the requirements here:
https://www.usa.gov/immigration-and-citizenship
I think Australia, New Zealand and Canada are also likely to have barriers to entry so I would look up their requirements too if they are on your radar.
Lastly have you looked at the costs of the actual move? You will need to plan things like:
Closing off any utility accounts / bank accounts etc in the UK
The voyage out to the country (probably with multiple suitcases initially)
How to ship your other personal effects (it took a few months for my stuff to reach Brazil where I moved to for example)
Where to stay when you arrive (think locating a place, deposits, advance rent and of course making sure they accept immigrants).
How to get a working US bank account and cards to pay the daily bills. You will need cash to deposit to get this up and running.
How will you get about when you are there? You will need a car if you are working on a ranch for example which needs a driving license, insurance and car tax.
Do you have a fallback plan? It is not unknown for thinks to go badly and you need to leave so you need to have enough cash somewhere safe to get you back to a safe place and to keep you going for a few months until you can get income going.
I think when I planned this out 2 years ago I estimated I needed £20k to cover the above plus a £5k emergency fund and that is before you work out how to cover the bills day to day once you arrive - some income will be needed.
Quite a lot there to consider but that should help you work out if it is still desirable. Personally I would not worry too much about the political changes as I've seen this many times through life and they never quite manage to put their more radical plans into operation as they can't find funding or support for them.
In your shoes I would be researching locations, arranging holidays there and building my skills and bank balance in order to make it happen when you are ready, not when the political climate makes you feel uncertain.