Impact Leaving the USA

Have International Identification? Get your Passport Now!

When it comes to your identity in the greater world outside of your home country, the only form of legal identification is a passport. Many of us in the United States are used to our State-Issued Identification Cards or Driver's Licenses to confirm our identification in police engagements, healthcare/hospitals, airports, and public transportation. However, when it comes to any movement of our person outside of the country, we have to have our passports as a form of identity.

Leaving the Country, Prioritization:

What impacts you when it comes to your eligibility to leave the country?

Health Conditions, Medical Necessities, Identity, and Rights Access, can impact each person's needs when it comes to deciding if one is able to leave, and where that person is able to go. When it comes to looking for traits in other countries that are favorable to your current situation, it will always depend on the things you need from your environment. When we think about moving out of the country or concentrating ourselves into other 'bluer' states for safety, we need to be careful as to the strategies we rely on to build safe networks. 

Do you have the documents you would need to leave the country?

If you want to be able to flee or leave the country in the event you feel the need to do so, you will need to have the correct documentation to be allowed to exit the United States, and also to enter another country. At any time the United States or other countries can change the needed documentation for entering the country, so it is important to have copies of all the documentation needed. 

Documentation for safety in these cases should always include all of the documentation you have access to, but should include proof of your citizenship. In a few states, in order to access a state identification you have to prove your immigration status or citizenship. This usually means there is a requirement for the verification of a birth certificate, or passport. Having an identification of these levels would prove your citizenship, and would allow you to have a form of international identification. The state-level identification cards are typically not helpful when trying to leave the country, so having a passport, passport card, and/or official copy(s) of your birth certificate. 

Do you have access to applying for a visa, via a work-visa, education-visa, etc?  (this can be easier than you think)

When you think about your ability to file for a visa, begin with the knowledge that many people can easily access a 90-day travel visa to the EU, and the majority of other countries are friendly with the USA. If you need to leave quickly, the travel visa will be the best form of a quick escape. (You do now have to fill out an online form to clear your access into the EU as a form of a online visa, it may take up to three days to go through and allow travel.)

If you are looking for a more stable, long-term availability for being out of the country, then it's time to look into the work and student visas. You need to make sure that the profession you're going into will support you while in that other country, and have previous confirmation with that company so that they are willing to help you access a work visa. If you plan to apply to a school or program that would count as a student visa, make sure you plan to have the assets and accessibility to keep yourself in the program for the full-term. 

Many people find jobs in other countries teaching English to young students. If this is something that you may be interested in, it may be a good way to obtain a job in another country.

Countries that have had recent Economic/Government Shutdowns:

Countries that Support Legal Gay Marriage:

Europe:


Americas: 


Asia: 


Countries that have Legal Marijuana or Decriminalization:


Countries that Support their Civilians Right to Protest: 


Countries that Support Queer & Trans Identities: 

VISAS:

Work Visa

Work Visas are reliant on the work and hiring of you out of a foriegn country. The place of work will help fill out paper work with you to verify that they want you to work in that country and for how long. Often times work visas begin at 1-2 years and then are renewed as the contracts are renewed. 

Make sure if you plan to work for a company, that you know who you would be working for, because if they decide to let you go, your visa can expire quicker. That is why it may always be helpfiul to have a back up job plan in whatever country to place to work. 

Travel Visa

Typically a shorter-time visa, that last 90 days, if people want to extend their visas, they just need to apply for the extension 45 days before the end of the visa. 

In any visa, there is always a grace period given that they know planes and travel do not always go as planned. It would be important to know the grace period allowed in the country you plan to visit or go to. 

Student Visa

Student visas are dependent on the place of program and length of likely degree or certificate. Student visas are typically renewed yearly or bi-yearly. If the program is planned to be less than a year, then the person would likely be hindered by that on their visa. If a person wanted to extend their student visa with a travel visa, they could do so. If a person studied in another country, they are also typically open to the idea of work visas following the student visa programs. 

New European Travel Policy: 

European travel regulation is called "ETIAS" (European Travel Information and Authorization System), which will require most visa-exempt travelers to apply for an online travel authorization before entering the Schengen Area, starting sometime in the first half of 2025; essentially, even if you don't need a visa, you will need to get this additional approval to travel to Europe. 

To apply for the visa, click the link below to go to the official ETIAS website:

There is more research being done to finish this page, please be patient with us. 

If you would like to help us write about commonly silenced areas or personal experiences you may have with these topics, contact us at thisisactivism2023@gmail.com or fill out our Comments page. We want our website to be a continuous growth of knowlegde to share with each other in a positive way. There are so many things we don't talk about and we should!