[Reading level: C1 – Advanced]
Once a destination for immigrants, the United States is now witnessing a sharp rise in the number of people leaving, as many seek places that offer more attractive living costs and greater safety.
Michael Le Blanc, 56, once worked as a creative director at Adobe and Paramount in the U.S., but now chooses to work freelance in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. He and his family moved there after their 8-year-old son’s school in Los Angeles experienced two shooting threats.
His wife, Stephanie, now works as a real estate broker in Lisbon, with most of her clients being Americans who are flocking to the city.
“I didn’t expect there to be so many Americans around. I’m learning the language, but it’s really difficult,” he said while shopping at an American goods store in Lisbon.
In Lisbon, Americans are buying so many apartments that newcomers say they hear English more often than Portuguese. About 58% of foreign homebuyers in Portugal are Americans, and housing prices have doubled over the past five years in some areas.
Across most of the 27 countries in the European Union (EU), the number of Americans moving to live and work there has reached record levels and continues to rise. In Portugal, the number has increased by 500% since the Covid-19 pandemic and by 36% in 2024 alone.
Over the past 10 years, the number of American residents in Spain and the Netherlands has nearly doubled, while in the Czech Republic it has more than doubled. Last year, more Americans moved to Germany than Germans moved to the U.S. The same trend occurred in Ireland, which welcomed 10,000 Americans in 2025—twice the number recorded in 2024.
The number of Americans registering for Irish passports reached 31,825 in 2024 and was estimated to rise to 40,000 last year. The number of U.S. citizens applying for British citizenship also reached its highest level since records began in 2004, with about 6,600 applicants in the year ending March 2025.
Europe offers affordable healthcare services, walkable cities with sidewalk cafés and coworking spaces where English has often replaced local languages. Housing in many cities is still relatively affordable and plentiful. Schools are safer and often ranked higher than those in the U.S.
“You no longer have to face the prospect of your 5-year-old going to kindergarten and practicing drills for school shootings. Salaries are higher in the U.S., but the quality of life in Europe is better,” said Chris Ford, 41, who works for a real estate investment company in Dallas and also runs a youth baseball league in Berlin.
Many Americans living abroad say a variety of factors have pushed them to leave and seek life elsewhere. These include economic incentives and new lifestyles in other countries, as well as frustration with rising living costs, violent crime, or political turmoil in the U.S.
When Gallup surveyed Americans during the 2008 recession about how many wanted to leave the country, the figure was 10%. Last year, however, that number rose to 20%.
In 2025, the U.S. recorded negative net migration—meaning more people left the country than moved into it—with an estimated loss of about 150,000 people. Total immigration last year was about 2.6–2.7 million, down from a peak of nearly 6 million in 2023. Meanwhile, the U.S. carried out 675,000 deportations, and 2.2 million people chose to “self-deport” last year, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.
The last time more people left the U.S. than moved in was in 1935, when the destination many chose was the Soviet Union, according to historical statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has praised the wave of departures as evidence of its commitment to strengthening border control and immigration enforcement.
A White House spokesperson said the U.S. economy is outperforming other developed countries. The official added that the administration’s policies are deporting hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants while also attracting “countless ultra-wealthy foreigners” who are spending $1 million for a “Gold Card” to settle in the United States.
Some commentators have called the wave of American emigration the “Run from Donald,” suggesting it surged during President Trump’s second term. Others point out that the phenomenon had already been developing for years, driven by the rise of remote work, higher living costs, and a growing desire for overseas lifestyles—especially in Europe.
“This trend erodes the belief in American exceptionalism—the idea that ‘we have the best quality of life, we are the best country in the world, everyone wants to move here,’” said Caitlin Joyce, a researcher at Temple University.
At an online conference last month organized by the relocation support company Expatsi, nearly 400 Americans registered to learn how to move to Albania, a country in southeastern Europe. The country offers a special visa allowing U.S. citizens to live and work there, exempts foreign income from taxes for one year, and does not require complicated procedures.
“In the past, Americans who left were usually extremely adventurous and highly educated. Now they are ordinary people like me,” said Jen Barnett, the Alabama-born founder of Expatsi who moved to Yucatán, Mexico in 2024.
Kelly McCoy, originally from New York, once struggled to make ends meet on a salary of $80,000 until she moved to Albania in the summer of 2024 under a visa program for Americans. She often likes to recount how she was treated for a concussion and a broken arm at a hospital in Albania without paying any medical fees.
McCoy, 45, later moved to Romania and now works as a consultant helping other Americans leave the country. “In Albania, you can live comfortably on $1,000 a month,” she said, adding that she has helped 15 American clients move there.
In the city of Barcelona, Spain, Lia Mashaka also runs a business helping newly arrived Americans, from guiding them through visa applications to finding pediatricians. She said many people initially arrive thinking they will stay only one year, but later “I have never had a client choose to return to the U.S.”
In 2024, her husband Akida opened Barcelona High School, an American-style school, hoping it would make it easier for their son to return to the U.S. for college after graduation. However, the boy eventually chose IE University in Madrid, which now has roughly the same number of American students as Spanish students.
On a recent morning at Barcelona High School, 30 new families attended an orientation session. The school expects to enroll 600 students in September, up from 300 two years ago.
“Families used to mainly come from New York or California. But now we have people from Alaska, Utah, Texas, Colorado, and Kentucky,” said Amanda Slefo, the school’s director.
Source: https://vnexpress.net/lan-song-nguoi-my-roi-que-huong-tim-mien-dat-hua-moi-5044177.html
WORD BANK:
destination /ˌdes.təˈneɪ.ʃən/ [B1] (n): điểm đến
immigrant /ˈɪm.ə.ɡrənt/ [B1] (n): người nhập cư
witness sth /ˈwɪt.nəs/ [B2] (v): chứng kiến điều gì
freelance /ˈfriː.læns/ [B2] (adj): làm tự do
real estate /ˌriː.əl ɪˈsteɪt/ (n): bất động sản
broker /ˈbroʊ.kɚ/ (n): người môi giới
client /ˈklaɪ.ənt/ [B1] (n): khách hàng
flock to somewhere /flɑːk/ (v): đổ xô đến đâu
newcomer /ˈnuːˌkʌm.ɚ/ (n): người mới đến
pandemic /pænˈdem.ɪk/ [B2] (n): đại dịch
register for sth /ˈredʒ.ɪ.stɚ/ [B1] (v): đăng ký cho cái gì
walkable /ˈwɔː.kə.bəl/ (adj): có thể đi bộ được
relatively /ˈrel.ə.tɪv.li/ [B2] (adv): tương đối
plentiful /ˈplen.t̬ə.fəl/ (adj): dồi dào
prospect /ˈprɑː.spekt/ [B2] (n): triển vọng
drill /drɪl/ (n): cuộc diễn tập
seek sth /siːk/ [B2] (v): tìm kiếm điều gì
frustration /frʌˈstreɪ.ʃən/ [B2] (n): sự thất vọng
turmoil /ˈtɝː.mɔɪl/ (n): sự hỗn loạn
recession /rɪˈseʃ.ən/ [B2] (n): suy thoái kinh tế
net migration /net maɪˈɡreɪ.ʃən/ (n): di cư ròng
immigration /ˌɪm.əˈɡreɪ.ʃən/ [B1] (n): sự nhập cư
peak /piːk/ [B2] (n): đỉnh điểm
deportation /ˌdiː.pɔːrˈteɪ.ʃən/ (n): sự trục xuất
self-deport /ˌself dɪˈpɔːrt/ (v): tự rời khỏi (một quốc gia)
census /ˈsen.səs/ (n): cuộc điều tra dân số
bureau /ˈbjʊr.oʊ/ (n): cơ quan
praise sth /preɪz/ [B2] (v): ca ngợi điều gì
the wave of sth (n): làn sóng của cái gì
departure /dɪˈpɑːr.tʃɚ/ [B2] (n): sự rời đi
commitment /kəˈmɪt.mənt/ [B2] (n): sự cam kết
border control /ˈbɔːr.dɚ kənˈtroʊl/ (n): kiểm soát biên giới
spokesperson /ˈspoʊksˌpɝː.sən/ (n): người phát ngôn
outperform /ˌaʊt.pɚˈfɔːrm/ (v): vượt trội hơn
ultra-wealthy /ˌʌl.trə ˈwel.θi/ (adj): siêu giàu
settle in /ˈset.əl ɪn/ (v): ổn định cuộc sống
surge /sɝːdʒ/ (n): sự tăng vọt
term /tɝːm/ (n): nhiệm kỳ
phenomenon /fəˈnɑː.mə.nɑːn/ [C1] (n): hiện tượng
remote work /rɪˈmoʊt wɝːk/ (n): làm việc từ xa
desire for sth /dɪˈzaɪɚ/ [B2] (n): mong muốn điều gì
erode sth /ɪˈroʊd/ [C1] (v): làm xói mòn
exceptionalism /ɪkˈsep.ʃə.nə.lɪ.zəm/ (n): chủ nghĩa ngoại lệ
exempt sth /ɪɡˈzempt/ [C1] (v): miễn trừ
complicated /ˈkɑːm.plə.keɪ.t̬ɪd/ [B1] (adj): phức tạp
procedure /prəˈsiː.dʒɚ/ [B2] (n): thủ tục
adventurous /ədˈven.tʃɚ.əs/ (adj): thích phiêu lưu
ordinary /ˈɔːr.dən.er.i/ [B1] (adj): bình thường
struggle to do sth /ˈstrʌɡ.əl/ [B2] (v): chật vật để làm gì
make ends meet /meɪk endz miːt/ (v): kiếm đủ sống
recount /rɪˈkaʊnt/ (v): kể lại
treat /triːt/ [B1] (v): điều trị
concussion /kənˈkʌʃ.ən/ (n): chấn động não
consultant /kənˈsʌl.tənt/ [B2] (n): chuyên gia tư vấn
guide sb through sth /ˈɡaɪd/ (v): hướng dẫn ai vượt qua điều gì
pediatrician /ˌpiː.di.əˈtrɪʃ.ən/ (n): bác sĩ nhi khoa
initially /ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.li/ [B2] (adv): ban đầu
roughly /ˈrʌf.li/ [B2] (adv): khoảng chừng
orientation /ˌɔːr.i.enˈteɪ.ʃən/ (n): buổi định hướng
session /ˈseʃ.ən/ [B2] (n): buổi học / phiên
enroll /ɪnˈroʊl/ (v): tiếp nhận học viên, học sinh
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