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Re:Linus Torvalds became US citizen by jimbokun on Tuesday September 14, 2010 @11:05AM (#1690807)
That is certainly part of it. But I also think some other countries do a worse job welcoming immigrants. Japan notoriously so. Is it easy to become a citizen of China or India if you want to "outsource yourself"? The EU gives essentially a free migration pass to all member countries, but how is it coming from outside of Europe?

Any of you hackers care to comment on the situation in your nation of origin, or the one where you live?

Re:Linus Torvalds became US citizen by _delirium on Tuesday September 14, 2010 @12:18PM (#1691086)
I'm an American in the process of getting a Danish work permit, and it's easy so far, but they seem to have a special fast-track category for "researchers", and a Danish university is sponsoring me. I assume I couldn't just move there on my own. On the other hand, Linus also fits a fairly easy profile, so could probably get a work permit almost anywhere (highly educated and internationally famous engineer with steady employment).

Getting Danish citizenship, though, is notoriously difficult, and among other requirements, they require you to renounce any other citizenships (unlike the U.S., they actually enforce this requirement). Many foreigners, as a result, live in Malmö, Sweden and commute to Copenhagen (it's about a 30-minute train ride over the bridge/tunnel), since Sweden's citizenship laws are more lax, and once you have EU citizenship you're essentially good anywhere in the EU.