Sweden is the Best Country to be an Immigrant, followed by No. 2 Canada and No. 3 Switzerland

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sweden is the Best Country to be an Immigrant, according to new analysis from U.S. News & World Report. Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Germany round out the top five. Part of the Best Countries report, the new ranking assesses the international perceptions of 80 countries, their immigration policies and economic data.

"The 2017 Best Countries rankings revealed that more than 40 percent of respondents view immigration as the most important issue for our world to solve," said Eric Gertler, co-chairman of U.S. News and the New York Daily News, who was recently honored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as a 2017 Great Immigrant. "With the recent spotlight on immigration in the U.S. and abroad, we wanted to dive into its potential benefits and challenges on a country's perceived economic status in the world."

Key findings follow:

• Nordic nations – Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark – take four of the top 10 spots due in large part to favorable global perceptions of their economies and commitment to income equality.
  
  
• Four of the top five countries – Canada, Switzerland, Australia and Germany – are viewed as having the most stable economies and provide a number of integration measures for immigrants such as language training and transfer of job certification.
  
  
• While the U.S. hosts the most migrants in the world and serves as the source of the largest remittances, the country ranks at No. 7 due in part to a lower score for income equality.
  
  
• The U.K. ranks at No. 17 despite its strong economy. The nation is one of six countries ranked – along with No. 33 Saudi Arabia and No. 74 Myanmar – that has immigration policies geared toward the interest of nationals.
  
  
• Countries in the Middle East, including No. 15 United Arab Emirates and No. 23 Qatar, have a high proportion of migrants compared to their total population. However, these nations fail to provide migrants with tools for integration, contributing to their lower ranks.

Top 10 Best Countries to Be an Immigrant

In-depth pieces accompanying the ranking include:

• Kevin Drew, with reporting from Stockholm by Cajsa Collin, on Sweden's No. 1 standing in the ranking, and its recent shift from having a historically open border policy to one forced to accept the limits of its policies toward migrants.
  
  
• Andrew Soergel's dive into the U.S. immigration debate and its impact on the economy through the story of Thamina Stoll – a recent graduate of Duke University and a native of Germany – who faces continuing challenges with her expiring student visa. "It's just frustrating to witness how having the wrong passport makes everything so much more difficult," Stoll says.
  
  
• Deidre McPhillips's analysis on the United Arab Emirates' lack of integration policies for immigrants, deepening the divide between Emirati nationals and the other 90 percent of the country's population.
  
  
• Devon Haynie, with reporting from Santiago, Chile, by Daniela Mohor, on the growing anti-immigration sentiment in South America.
  
  
• Pamposh Raina reporting from New Delhi, India, on the effects of the current U.S. policy discussion regarding H-1B visas, which allow foreign workers with specialized skills to work for companies in the U.S. for at least three years.
  
  
• Gertler's op-ed outlining his path to U.S. citizenship and support of commonsense immigration reform.

The methodology measures attributes such as economic stability, income equality and a good job market based on exclusive data gathered from a proprietary survey of more than 21,000 business leaders, informed elites and general citizens. Additional factors include data from the World Bank and the United Nations on the share of migrants per population, the amount of remittance migrants send to their country of birth and analysis on immigration policies.

The new ranking is part of the annual Best Countries report, a joint rankings and analysis project from U.S. News, BAV Consulting and the Wharton School to capture how nations are perceived on a global scale. For more information, use #BestCountries on Facebook and Twitter.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars and News & Opinion, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings, news and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 30 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report

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