Or move back to your home country once you've gained a beneficial citizenship and can have foreign government benefits paid out every month while you don't even live in that country anymore.

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jimkleiber 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Perhaps. I think it's more about the passport ranking so one can travel and also the salary bump. But even if more of the other government services, try living in a country where if you get into a serious car accident you have to pay cash at the ER before they treat you. Scrambling to find multiple thousands of dollars in cash at 3am sometimes. (This happened to my friend in Kenya)

Im not sure if I can blame people for wanting to have more financial or medical security.

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slow_typist 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Is it legal to let people suffer or even die at the ER on Kenya if they don’t happen to carry a few k$?

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jimkleiber 2 days ago | parent [-]

Fair point, just looked it up and it seems to be illegal to do that. But in my experience, many probably still do it, or people don't trust that hospitals will follow the law...it may be more of that latter part, not knowing whether they will or won't ask you for money, or whether they will or won't take your insurance. So I think that uncertainty can mean having to be prepared for it anyway.

	▲	slow_typist 2 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Probably a mix of all parts, also in Africa there are hospitals you would certainly try to avoid if you can.

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carlosjobim 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I think a very low percentage of migrants do it so that they can get a better passport for traveling. Sure, there are people who do that also.

	▲	jimkleiber 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Fair point. I also think the same group you're talking about is probably not thinking about going back home with just government benefits to sustain them. They probably are more focused on working in countries with higher wages and building big homes back home. I think it tends to be more wage driven than government benefit driven, but I could be wrong.

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inigyou 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

What country pays out benefits to non-residents?

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pjc50 a day ago | parent | next [-]

The UK will pay state pension if you live abroad: https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

.. which is a contribution based benefit. There's a lot of (deliberate) confusion between pensions and "welfare" benefits, which are generally not available to either immigrants who have not achieved nationality or to overseas nationals.

People should cite more specific examples if they want to claim otherwise.

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bluealienpie 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

And if you pay taxes and social security for 20+ years why wouldn’t you be entitled to it? Especially considering you wouldn’t be using expensive programs like Medicare.

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carlosjobim 2 days ago | parent [-]

You don't have to pay taxes nor social security for 20+ years in order to become a citizen in very many countries. You can live on benefits before becoming a citizen and after becoming a citizen. Usually the requirement is that you are a resident for a set number of years in order to become a citizen.

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aranelsurion 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

> You can live on benefits before becoming a citizen and after becoming a citizen

What benefits? I don't know every country in the world, in Germany unless you count retirement as a benefit (which is something you pay for and have to reach a certain age that is ever moving upwards) you don't get any assistance if you're not living in the country.

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carlosjobim 2 days ago | parent [-]

When was the last time you were called to personally appear and report to the German government, so that they could verify that you are in the country, and not somewhere else?

Benefits aren't collected in cash, they are sent to bank accounts. The beneficiary can be anywhere.

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netsharc 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

And if they're suspicious, they can ask to check your passport for exit stamps, or receipts from your local supermarket, restaurant, bar, etc... Oh you pay cash and don't get receipts, let's see what the bank statement says which ATMs you withdraw your money from...

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inigyou 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Germany has address registration, you have to unregister if you leave the country for more than 3 months and having it inaccurate is a crime.

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carlosjobim 2 days ago | parent [-]

Oh, in Germany it is illegal to break the law? Good to know!

When were you last summoned, or visited at your adress by government officials to verify that you are where you said you'd be?

	▲	inigyou a day ago \| parent [-]
		About the same time I was last summoned to make sure my house doesn't have a dead body.

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inigyou 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Most countries have contribution-tested benefits if not means-tested. You definitely can't fast-track citizenship and then start receiving benefits and fuck off.

	▲	carlosjobim 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Who's talking about fast tracking? It takes the time it takes. But once you are a citizen, receiving benefits requires much less. You can still receive a lot of benefits without being a citizen. You even have the right to receive benefits as an illegal alien. This in many European countries. And those of you who are typing replies before reading the entire comment, go and check the immigration authority websites of your own country first.

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carlosjobim 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Any country that pays out benefits to bank accounts instead of cash-in-hand. When was the last time you as a citizen were summoned to appear in front of a government official so that they could verify that you are in the country.

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swiftcoder a day ago | parent [-]

My elderly British relatives have to prove every year that they are still alive (sworn statement by an official in their country of residence) if they want to keep drawing their government pension.

Of course pensions aren't contingent on being in-country, but I have trouble picturing the same bureaucracy being less anal about other government benefits.

	▲	carlosjobim 20 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Showing up once per year is easy to do, even if that's the only time you'll be in the country.