What is this extended criteria list for?
Finding the right place to call home depends on many personal factors. The extended criteria list is intended to help you identify and organize these factors systematically. It contains a wide range of possible decision criteria that can serve as inspiration and as a practical starting point.
The list is not intended as a fixed set of requirements. You can adopt individual criteria, add new ones, remove others, or adapt them to your personal situation. Everyone has different priorities. These personal priorities should later be reflected in the weighting assigned to the individual criteria in the decision matrix.
Extended Criteria List
🟩 Safety and Stability
- Overall crime level
- Regional differences (urban vs. rural areas)
- Political stability
- Legal system / enforcement
- Corruption / reliability of public authorities
- Road safety / accident risk
🟦 Legal Matters, Residency, and Integration
- Residency requirements / visas
- Is permanent residency available?
- Is citizenship available?
- Minimum physical-presence requirements
- Recognition of your driver's license
- Military service / government obligations
- Vaccination requirements / health regulations
- Language barriers in everyday life
🟥 Work, Income, and Qualifications
- Work permits / access to the labor market
- Recognition of professional qualifications / degrees
- Opportunities for self-employment
- Average income
- Income distribution (social structure)
- Local working conditions
- Need for local-language skills at work
- Is remote work possible / accepted?
🟨 Education and Family
- School system (public / private / international)
- Quality of education
- Availability of international schools
- Higher-education opportunities
- Childcare
- Family-friendliness
🟪 Health and Essential Services
- Quality of hospitals
- Availability of medical specialists
- Access to medical care
- Availability of required medications
- Costs / access to insurance
- Special requirements (e.g., chronic medical conditions)
- Access to fresh food (fruit, vegetables, quality)
- Air quality / environmental pollution
🟧 Infrastructure and Everyday Life
- Road quality / traffic
- Public transportation
- Internet / digital infrastructure
- Reliability of electricity and water supplies
- Shopping options / availability of everyday goods
- Services (tradespeople, maintenance, etc.)
- Accessibility / international connections
🟫 Cost of Living (Consider Each Area Separately)
- Rent / real estate prices
- Groceries
- Restaurants / leisure activities
- Utilities (electricity, water)
- Insurance
- Transportation costs
- Household staff / services
🟨 Taxes and Finances
- Tax system (territorial vs. worldwide taxation)
- Income tax
- Taxation of capital gains and investment income
- Wealth taxes or other asset-based taxes
- Complexity of the system
- Predictability and long-term stability
- Double-taxation agreements
🟩 Asset Protection and Banking
- Legal certainty / protection of property rights
- Stability of the banking system
- Access to international banks
- Movement of capital (unrestricted vs. restricted)
- Currency stability
- Protection against government seizure or intervention
🟦 Climate and Environment
- Temperatures
- Humidity
- Rainy seasons
- Natural hazards (storms, earthquakes, etc.)
- Environmental quality
🟧 Lifestyle and Recreation
- Recreational opportunities (golf, horseback riding, water sports, etc.)
- Dining / restaurants
- Cultural offerings
- Mentality / social customs
- Expat community
- Everyday experience / overall quality of life
🟫 Special Considerations (Often Underestimated)
- Pets (is importation permitted?)
- Is keeping horses possible?
- Access to the ocean / beach quality
- Boating / marinas / boat slips
- Airfields / options for recreational pilots
- Are hunting and fishing permitted?
- Accessibility for people with disabilities
- Alcohol regulations / social norms
- Personal sense of safety in everyday life
- Availability of familiar products
- Everyday bureaucracy
🔍 Other Frequently Overlooked Factors
- Waste disposal / cleanliness
- Noise pollution
- Reliability of services
- Wait times (government offices, doctors)
- Everyday corruption
- Friendliness / service culture
- Pressure to adapt (integration vs. always being seen as a foreigner)
- Internet censorship / freedom of information
- Property rights in legal disputes
- Ease of visiting family (flight time)