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Comment by m0zg | Hacker News Reader

>> reciprocal agreement would be much better

It would also be completely unrealistic as millions of Brazilians would just go to the US and stay there. Reciprocity doesn't work between countries with significantly different wealth and standard of living.

I've been on the receiving end of US visa process. They require you to demonstrate that you have substantial ties to your country that would make it more likely that you'll eventually leave the US. Income, real estate or other assets, children/wife staying, that kind of thing. That's not a guarantee you'll return, of course, it just makes it more likely.

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> It would also be completely unrealistic as millions of Brazilians would just go to the US and stay there.

Millions? I don't think so. Maybe a few thousands? I think you overestimate the amount of people in Brazil who fancy a life in the US. Furthermore, I also think you overestimate the amount of people who, fancying a life in the US, are actually able to secure financial and social resources to move there.

Brazilians have visa-free access to Europe[0] and you don't see "millions of Brazilians" just going there and staying. Why would it be different?

[0] Technically there's a visa which is granted on arrival

I don't know about living in Europe illegally, but I can tell you that I at one point considered moving to Germany legally (and was offered a job there, which is very much a prerequisite for such a move).

I have found their immigration process so onerous, I decided against it. One of the most irritating things was, my wife would not be able to work for 5 years (IIRC, it's been a while) if there are _any_ Germans whatsoever willing to take the job she'd be applying for. She's an accountant, so that would definitely be the case. I mean, I see the point of all this _for Germany_, but that definitely put them at a disadvantage in attracting me to work there, in addition to much lower pay that my profession gets in Germany (which, ironically made the second income much more desirable).

People in the US seem to think that EU is this open borders paradise where "ihre papiere bitte" is not a thing. It very much is a thing.

Because it's far easier to live in the US without papers. It's much more difficult to do that in Europe.

I would like to see some stats on Brazilian immigration in Europe vs USA, both legal and ilegal.

Sometimes, Brazilians in US are categorized as Latinos but in reality, outside Boston and maybe Florida, there isn’t that expressive Brazilian communities in the USA.

There's nearly a million Brazilians in the US, including nearly 100,000 in NYC alone [0].

Protip: Go to Carioca in Astoria or Copacabana on 39th Ave. Holy shit Brazilians can cook.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Americans

I guess my motivation was more to dwelve on historical fact European immigration to Brazil could make easier for European Brazilians descendants to immigrate back to Europe legally? Yet, I suspect it is not as much as it could be.

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