Every country has their requirements, and to a greater extent they enforce them. However, some countries make it downright impossible for a foreigner to become a resident or a citizen, while others make it exceedingly easy.

For instance, if you wanted to become a permanent resident or a citizen to the Dominican Republic, all you would have to do is get there (via sea or air), go through the motions, submit the paperwork and pay the taxes.

You would start by buying a US$10 tourist card, as a permit to enter the country, which will be approved unless you are obviously wanted by Interpol.

This will give you 60 days, during which you can apply for your provisional resident visa. For the resident visa you will need to provide, aside from the usual forms and tax payments, proof of solvency, defined as about 13k dollars in assets (cash and property) at the current exchange rate, and a letter of sponsorship from any good-faith Dominican citizen with in-country legal residence.

Within the first two months after this visa you can apply for a provisional residency card. About four months after the application, you receive your provisional residency card, which lasts a year. At about the year mark, it does not matter much if it happens before or after, you can apply for your permanent residency card. That last one lasts 3 years and is indefinitely renewable (as long as you do not commit a horrible crime).

After two years of uninterrupted legal residency in the country (i.e. at least six months and one day per year) you can apply for naturalization.

All the while, you are free to engage in productive business from day one. You would be taxed differently, on account of not being a citizen, but you would be allowed to work for a profit. If you happen to aquire assets in-country, there is leeway to have the sponsorship requirements waived.

Legal translations, medical examinations and notary public fees carry the burden of the cost of the process. Taxes will run you up less than $100 in total. The entire process is fairly inexpensive and could probably be done with less than $1000 dollars.

Note that the landing with $10 requires that one has to be from developed world.

And there is also a pretty similar procedure to get green card in USA, the EB5 route.

There is a bit of difference between $10 and $1000000 but , <sarcasm>aside from that, it is the same</sarcasm>

I was under the impression that before people used to just get on a ship and sail to America. Land on Ellis Island, get processed and move on to build a new life in US. Isn't that true?

Largely. Two things killed that off -- the jet age (meaning that travelling to another continent is now easy) and the greater connection of the third world to the first world.

Open borders for a rich country just aren't practical any more, if they want to remain a rich country. Like osmosis, open borders mean that people will flow from countries crappier than the US to the US until the US ceases to be less crappy than any other country.

I have a Tier 1 in the UK (btw- it no longer exists) and basically allowed me to make the UK my home with no job here. (I have a job) The major prerequisites were basically that English was my mother tongue, I made a certain amount of money, and/or had an advanced degree. It's more or less a way of saying "Are you going to create jobs here?" turns out I am, but doesn't necessarily mean that anyone with the prereqs checked off has the same intentions. I could theoretically have moved here and become an independent contracter.

As I understand it, its much easier in many countries to be part of their "skilled worker" areas than the US. It usually takes working for a large corporation to get a H-1B visa.

As an American citizen I feel like I can move to any country in the world. I mean any country should want me to move to theirs right? /snark

While I was studying in the UK I met several Latin Americans who told me were living there as good as they could until 10 years (I think, maybe less) have passed. It seems after you are there (in any way) for 10 years, you can somehow claim the residency.

The straight facts may be different, but that was the general idea of what I understood.

The problem with this statement is what is meant by "just come" to the country. I personally don't think that any immigration process should cater to the serendipitous. It's a legal process and most modern countries have processes in place where if you say "I want to move to X" and start the legal process to move to X in your own country, then yes, you can go there and live there if you meet the given requirements. Are there any countries without any requirements for new immigrants (money in the bank, job offer, etc) so that anyone regardless of status can just come? That I don't know. In my experience the barriers are always money, time, patience, and background. Usually in that order.

> The problem with this statement is what is meant by "just come" to the country.

But it used to, and as I've mentioned in other posts here, that is what US propaganda is selling -- we are so good because we are a nation of immigrants and we like to tell stories about our grand-grand fathers jumping on the boat to America and so on.

So it is strange that America ended up with a draconian immigration process.

Not blaming Japan, or other countries, they never claimed to be "melting pots" or anything like at. So this is mainly a jab at the propaganda vs reality.

Look at it from another point -- globalization. It is an interesting word. It is presented as being cooperation between countries and companies. Very nice indeed, except that you'd think it also means opening borders more and letting globalization spreading down to the individual level. For example US companies flood the market in South America with cheap corn and chicken, killing off small farmers, but when those farmers want to jump across the border to find jobs picking lettuce in Alabama, they are called "illegal aliens", they are breaking the law you see. So while for some borders are opening (large corporation) for individuals borders and immigration are closing.

> That I don't know. In my experience the barriers are always money, time, patience, and background. Usually in that order.

Wait, but everyone's epic grand-grand-father that came to Ellis Island did have $1M to invest in a US business. And I don't really mind the time. 10 years? - sure! But can I do that in US? Just come and tell them, let me stay here for 10 years, then give me a passport.

As sovereign, countries can change their policies --as Western Europe did after WWII to attract a workforce to rebuild --and in the 70s once that workforce was no longer necessary.

Every country has a carrying capacity --the limits can be economic, resource-bound, land-bound, political, etc. Why would the US be any different?

The Statue of Liberty is a statue expressing an ideal albeit a bit troubling in that it assumes a world of poor huddled masses --but it's not a national policy.