The election of Donald Trump has had rich celebrities scrambling to leave the US with some heading to more exotic destinations than others.
Cher has tweeted that she would move to Jupiter and comedian Jon Stewart said he would consider “getting in a rocket and going to another planet, because clearly this planet’s gone bonkers”.
But even for less esoteric destinations, there are tricky hurdles to be overcome.
With Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia de Rossi leading the way by apparently moving to the Cotswolds, the UK is a destination of choice for many disillusioned wealthy liberals.
With a raft of Emmys, DeGeneres should have been able to satisfy the Home Office that she would qualify for a “global talent” visa, while De Rossi has won a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Lawyers have already seen an uptick in requests to resettle away from the US.
“It’s certainly a trend we have been seeing, as we did eight years ago,” Sophie Barrett-Brown from leading immigration lawyers Laura Devine told The Telegraph.
Life has been made trickier for “high net worth” individuals since Dame Priti Patel, Britain’s former home secretary, scrapped the investors’ “Golden Visa” in February 2022.
Rich Americans have become collateral damage in the move, although it was aimed at Russian oligarchs.
“There is no route for someone to get in because they are just loaded, you have to be actively doing something,” Ms Barrett-Brown added.
While not talking about individuals, she added that even the “global talent” route open to television, film and music stars is not straightforward.
“To qualify for a global talent visa you have to meet specific requirements such as getting major awards within a specific time frame.
“For musicians and other art forms it is even harder, proving exceptional talent can be difficult as the criteria are more subjective.”
There is a range of other routes, with different timings and costs but in general they all require an application from outside the UK
The basic fee for a global talent visa is £716 and turn-around time is around eight weeks for the initial endorsement stage.
But priority services are available for the subsequent visa stage, with processing in 24 hours costing an additional £1,000.
“In the US there are VIP services, such as having a mobile unit attend the applicant’s home, studio or office to take their biometric data,” said Ms Barrett-Brown.
“This can cost several thousand dollars but is essential to many high-profile applicants for privacy and security.”
The option of seeking political asylum for Trump fleers, however, is unlikely to bear fruit, with the UK regarding the US as a safe country.
While the UK is popular, it is not the only destination of choice, Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels, an honorary reader in migration and politics at Kent University and an expert on overseas Americans told The Telegraph.
“The UK is one of the places that people are looking at – but not the top one I’ve been consulted on. People seem to be more interested in EU countries,” she said.
“However, others are constrained by language, and are looking at the UK.
“Spain, Germany, Ireland are the top three I’ve heard so far.”
Eva Longoria and Chelsea Handler are just two of the celebrities who have suggested they could move to Spain full-time.
Longoria and Handler already own homes in the European country and Longoria is a Spanish citizen.
“In Spain, there are a couple of different visas: one is a digital nomad visa, which means that you work remotely somewhere else, but are physically resident in Spain,” Ms Klekowski von Koppenfels added.
“There is also the so-called “non-lucrative visa”, which means that you are not permitted to work at all — not in Spain, not remotely.
“But [you] must have a minimum of £24,000 in a bank account or a monthly pension or other passive income of £2,000.”
Moving to Europe is not as straightforward as it might seem.
“Rich folk can access investor visas – but those are not necessarily widespread,” said Ms Klekowski von Koppenfels.
“Requirements on that vary by country. And the processing times can be lengthy. So yes, rich folk might have easier access, but not necessarily, and it’s not necessarily immediate.”
Theoretically the easiest option is just going north into Canada, an option floated by Barbra Streisand and rapper Snoop Dogg.
There, Americans can stay up to 180 days, after which they would require a visa, which can get complicated although actors, musicians and others with “extraordinary talent” can get temporary visas lasting three years.
Wanting to settle permanently would require an employment visa where applicants would come under the country’s points system and would be considered alongside others wanting to settle.
The bad news is that IT workers are considered more useful. “Entertainment is not a priority market,” one lawyer told The Telegraph.
As for moving to Jupiter, despite exhaustive research, The Telegraph was unable to ascertain what the planet’s visa requirements were.
Perhaps, like some celebrities who vowed to leave if Mr Trump won, it is better to just simply talk up fleeing the US online — but never actually go anywhere.