Paperwork in those countries can take years but it only matters if you need entry visas/visas to travel elsewhere, so if you hold a first-world passport, you don't care, you file your paperwork and enjoy the rights of the permit you are applying for, from get go, and it's their problem how long it takes to get done. If you don't have a first world passport then yes, it's a pickle, because foreign embassies or immigration officials won't respect the 'application receipts' instead of a real document.
On the flip side, these countries are democratic and provide a path to citizenship and have a real society to integrate to, not literally 90% expat population who come and go and have both no potential (because no naturalisation) and no incentive, to integrate.
> you file your paperwork and enjoy the rights of the permit you are applying for, from get go, and it's their problem how long it takes to get done
I've experienced this in Poland. I was not allowed to leave the country while my paperwork was being processed (which took over a year) or I would not be allowed re-entry. Not sure how other countries operate.
I wholeheartedly agree EU is much better for settling long term, integrating, feeling part of a community, etc... I've had a great time in Poland and EU generally and I'd love to settle there at some point.
But presently I want a place to bunker down for one year and focus. And I found that to be difficult in EU where I'd have to keep moving every 3 months or deal with bureaucracy for a DN visa.
So far, I find Dubai to be a good fit for that time horizon. Zero income tax is a nice perk but wasn't my primary motivation. I also considered the Baltic countries, but shied away from the paperwork, language gap, and lack of a quick turnaround.
