I am a tradesman with a lot of technical skills with some specialized skills in short supply (at least in the US) with a little less than a decade of experience. My partner is a skilled social worker with more than a decade of experience.
We cannot afford a golden visa in any country.
We are at least 3rd generation Americans, and do not have the right to claim citizenship in any other country without going through the immigration and naturalization process there.
Neither of us is very good at picking up a new language (lord how I’ve tried)
Where could we realistically look to go?
Make a list of countries that speak English or at least allow you to get by with speaking only English. Then look up their work visa categories and see if your skills fall into any of those categories. Once you narrow that down further, check if they allow working holiday visas, where you can fly in for a limited amount of time to look for a job. If there’s no such option, you’ll have to remotely apply for a job that is willing to sponsor your work visa so you can move there. You can also do try countries with digital nomad visas, but that’s temporary and you’ll have to leave and go back every couple of weeks/months or so.
Another option is a student visa, if you are willing to go back to school and can afford the tuition.
Those are pretty much your only options aside from marriage or asylum.