Larcand

To anyone out there with some advice...

I live in the US right now. I am a year and a half out of college with a decent job. I am pondering the thought of moving to Europe, but have no idea where to start or what my goals should be to make this huge move. I am wondering if there is a place in Europe that is friendly to new comers that isn't expensive and would be a good place to make a new start. I know that there are people out there who make a move like this all the time and do it just fine (some without any preparation at all)... so I know something like this is possible, but I would like to have a little bit of an idea of how to start this process.

Some questions that I have for those who might be familiar with American expenses and such...

• What is the cost of renting an apartment or home in a lower cost city/country?
• What is the general cost of living for an average income individual with no children
• Is one area/country/city best to start out in that is more reasonable than another?
• What are other things that I should take into account when moving abroad that might not come to the front of my mind?
• Is there a good place to start looking in the job market for positions available?

If there is any advice that I can get from anyone who might be familiar with making this kind of transition, I would really appreciate it. This is something that I have considered doing for a very long time, and now that time is moving faster and faster... I feel like I should have some sort of idea as to what to expect when considering a transition like this as I feel it is something I really want to make happen!

Thank you so much for you help and advice! I really appreciate your time in responding!

~Larcand

Mikeyc

The very first thing you need to do is find out if you can actually move to Europe.

Do you have EU citizenship? If not then it’s near impossible (but not impossible) to move to Europe. Non-Eu Citizens find t very very hard to get into Europe.

Your only chance is to get sponsored by a company – but even that is hard now as they must first look at their own nationals and EU citizens (over 500 million) before they can offer a job to an outsider.

If you can get a sponsor or EU citizenship (by family decent) then the move is easy.

Now, in terms of cost, it’s too broad, you need to narrow your place down, I mean you can buy a 5 bedroom house in Bulgaria for 30,000 Euro but will only get a 1 bed apartment in Dublin for 500,000 euro.

Mikey

Larcand

Thank you for this info... Looks like I have some more searching and narrowing down to do! I appreciate this help. It is a great start! Keep the advice coming!

:-)

Mikeyc

Once you get past that first hurdle of EU citizen ship then it really is a simple matter of booking a ticket and moving.

Lots of Americans are able to get EU citizenship by decent and don’t know it. (usually Irish or British).

What is your family heritage (before America) and how far back does it go?

Mikey

Larcand

Oh wow... That is quite a question... Our family heritage is such a mix it is hard to tell. I have some Norwegian in me, I think some Irish, French, Italian. I would really have to do some digging to find out for sure, but I don't think I have anything that really stands out among the others.

Mikeyc

Well with Irish nationality law you can usually claim citizenship if your parent or grandparent was Irish (and in some cases great-grandparent).

Not sure about how far back the other ones go.

Good luck.

Mikey

Larcand

Thanks so much for your help! Definitely a great start!

:-)

Larcand

For those peeking in... or even Mikey (who has been extremely helpful), I found a little info into my family heritage. My paternal great-great-grandmother/father were born in Italy. I think that puts me too far out to claim any type of citizenship, but I thought I would put it out there anyway. Not sure about my mom's side of the family... but I'll keep looking!

Thanks again!

:-)

Mikeyc

Not sure how far Italian Nationality law will go back. But remember if you can’t get citizenship for the EU at all then your next option is to get a job to sponsor you (hard and near impossible now, but not completely impossible), also depends on your occupation.

The way to do this is start looking for companies in Europe you would be interested in working for (plenty of American companies in Europe and plenty of International English speaking companies across Europe), send them your CV and contact them to see if they are interest, you never know, you might get a sponsor out of them.

Mikey

Larcand

Thanks again for the point in the right direction! I will start with that!

:-)

Celtic Princess

First off why not work bloomin hard where you are and save, save, save. Then when you have some money behind you (assuming you don't already) come to Europe as a visitor, which is far easier, and travel around a bit and see which parts you're drawn too?

Ems_8674

There are programmes that allow you to spend up to a year in an EU country, usually as an English language assistant in a school. They're competitive, but not too hard to get into. It's a good way to experience life in Europe without committing to a permanent move, and if you decide you do want to stay, it's much easier to get a longer-term job once you're already there, although you still have to find a company that would sponsor you properly and you might have to temporarily return home to renew your visa. Anyway, there should be info about programmes like this in France, Spain, Austria and maybe Finland at www.ielanguages.com or I think at www.bunac.org there's stuff about year-long working holiday visas in Britain and maybe Ireland. The cost of living is definitely higher in Western Europe than in the US, though, so whichever route you choose, you'll need to save up. Good luck!