Some young American workers are moving to Europe in hopes of a healthier and happier life.
That depends a lot of the country. In some EU countries is rather easy and cheap.
As a former EU citizen (UK, thanks Brexit) which countries do you think it is easy? I don’t think it is, I believe there is Malta where you can literally buy a passport and Portugal that has some lax visa laws. But gaining citizenship isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do.
You are correct with Portugal, I found this on some website:
Portugal is, overall, the easiest country to get citizenship of the EU.
That’s due to the following factors:
Short residency period of just five years before applying for citizenship
One of the world’s most powerful passports
Range of flexible visa options to suit remote workers, retirees and investors
Dual citizenship OK – keep your original passport
Easy language requirements – A2 elementary level
Access generous tax benefits while counting up the years to citizenship
Reasonable minimum stay requirements
What’s more, Portugal has one of Western Europe’s lowest costs of living
Citizenship is easy to get once you already live in the country, not just Portugal, Luxembourg is probably easier even, the language requirement is a low level of Luxembourgish. Of course for that you first need residency. In Portugal is again easy, as long as you have a job contract, Portugal has probably the most liberal migration laws in the EU right now (yeah, wages are low).
Portugal nationality for non-residents is easy as long as you can prove a family connection, that can be a Portuguese granparent or Portuguese Jewish roots (they can be 5 centuries old, is a compensation for inquisition, but you must be able to prove it, a Portuguese Jewish surname helps).