Preferably into the EU. I speak some Spanish and I’m set to graduate with an Associates this semester. Hoping to get CompTIA certs sometime soonish and would like to continue schooling to get a bachelor’s in Compsci. Most notable work experience is 2 years in an office setting making collection calls and processing payments. What resources are available to me? Who or what agency/department can I contact to get more information? What’s the pipeline look like?
I know I could look most of this up, but there’s a lot of information out there and some(a lot) of it I find somewhat confusing. Plus, I don’t really even know where to start.
Getting a student visa is easy and an excellent way to both get valid credentials and a feel for the local culture.
As to where you should go depends on what you’re interested in, you’ll almost certainly be able to make a home wherever, so pick something that seems interesting and go (you can always use your mandated vacation days to explore the rest of EU).
For language, in almost all the major cities people will be able to speak English, although typically you’ll want to learn the local language sooner rather than later for social reasons.
If you know Spanish go Barcelona, beautiful city, vibrant in both culture and industry, and with values not too shockingly different to the US. For more info, either visit the Spanish consulate nearest you or look up their online presence.
If you want to keep to English, consider Ireland, they’ve also had a booming IT industry for all the giants needing a foot in the EU.
Mostly you can’t go wrong anywhere in the EU. Biggest culture shock would probably be the Nordics or Slavic countries, but not necessarily in a bad way.
All of them have tons of info about student visas at each university, the degrees are standardised throughout the EU and most universities are good, and typically outstanding in a couple areas.
For more info you just contact their international coordinator, or their closest consulate.Most countries also have dedicated Web pages that outline the process, steps, and how you move toward permanent residence and citizenship if you’d want that.
Moving is typically the hard part, but if you start as a student, you’ll have a lot prepared for you (student accommodations, stipends, social activities, part-time job offers, recruitment fairs, incubators, etc.)
I second the student visa route. It doesn’t get you residency right away and is an expensive strategy, but it gets you out pretty quick. You also become more desirable since you have a higher education from a locally known institution. Currently doing this in New Zealand.
Go as a student and find a spouse while you’re there for the easiest way to stay after you’re done with school.
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You still have to learn the language and take citizenship tests to become a citizen in many European countries
Same sex marriage is legal in the EU isnt true.
Basically nothing is “in the EU” There are some general laws that each country applies on their own (often treating them as suggestions and get fined if they dont respect them)
It’s legal in a lot of the EU though, especially if you stay out of eastern Europe
EU is not a single country, as the US. Each country has its own rules and regulations.
Some countries, as mentioned, offer a digital nomad visa (Croatia is one of them) others do not.
There’s also something called the Shengen area, which allows for free movement between countries. Not all EU counties participate (yet) and even some non-EU countries are part of it. This allows you to have a citizenship in one country and live / work in another.
As for the language, your mileage can vary. Most countries will require at least a basic language knowleget to pass the citizenship test. For day-to-day communication, work and study, you can find options where English would be sufficient. Lots of universities offer English-language programs and lost of companies are international with English being the primary language. Most Europeans speak English quite well.
As others have mentioned, a student visa for one of these would be your best bet. Explore which country would make most sense based on your needs.
If student visa is not an option, then getting a job (in the target country) first would be a way in. Get a working visa and start applying for citizenship.
You should also understand that literary everybody ion Europe (not just EU) has an ID and is registered as a citizen. It’s therefore practically impossible to be undocumented and still get salary, open a bank account or visit a doctor.
TL;DR: Explore each country individually. “Moving to EU” makes as much sense as saying “Moving to Asia”.
So you’re saying this was a stupid question?
Your best bet is through a company. If you have a reasonable job opportunity, familiarise yourself with the work visa and residency procedures. Your future employer will likely help you in the process.
However, the economy currently is tough also in the EU, so you’ll need to find a nice.
Look up “working holiday visas” if you’re under 30. It’s a process to encourage people to get world experience while they’re young. I’m sure if you found somewhere you liked you could then try and get something more permanent.
University fees for foreign students can be very high. For example, I think the fees at Edinburgh university for a foreign student are 3 times the cost for English students, and almost 9 times compared to Scottish students. I’m going from memory here so I could be off a bit.
Many countries in Europe have straight up free universities for everyone, but yeah that’s something to keep in mind.
If Americans could stay in the US that would be great.
Seems xenophobic
that’s because it is.
Americans who want to leave are clearly able to identify the problems in the US, and are therefore probably not the ones causing the problems over there.
And in general we should welcome people who want to change their life conditions. Freedom of movement is important.
No need to take the chance. They got a pass the first time. You don’t get another. You vote in a rapist please stay where you are and deal with it.
fantastic take from someone immortalizing a serial rapist and sex trafficker.
Those that want to leave are probably not the ones you want to avoid.
IMO, anyone who is awake and aware of the situation in any capacity, and can think rationally has, or is, considering leaving, or has left already.
It’s the people who agree and are happy with what is happening that you should probably avoid, and they don’t want to leave.
Those that want to leave are probably not the ones you want to avoid.
They’re probably the ones I want voting there though, would be nice if people would move around more within the US specifically to counteract the gerrymandering and electoral college 😅
There’s a small third category. Those of us that see the problems and are willing to fight and die to try and save our country.
Fair enough.
Job visa or student visa
I think the more difficult question will be … which country. Each EU country has specific laws and procedures. Although you can travel freely this doesn’t mean you can settle wherever you want.
Student visa is the most probable one I could get. The biggest issue is admissions, mainly because of language barriers. With Britain no longer in the EU, my next best bet is Spain because I already speak some Spanish, but I feel like it’s not enough to get accepted there.
If money isn’t an issue or you could get financed somehow, a lot of European universities offer a pre-degree/pre-enrollment year to teach you their languages and prepare you for their entrance exam, you could get in this way
Many universities in the EU have programs in English. I mean I personally believe that if you’re going to a foreign country you should learn the/a language spoken there, if only to not be frustrated by language barriers, but you don’t need to do that if your only goal is to get into university in a foreign country.
Netherlands and scandinavian countries have a lot of courses in english. And ireland of course. Also in germany slowly but steadily english courses are more offered. I would advise you to srudy in english because its hard to study in a foreign language even if you already speak it very good. However i also advise you to learn the local language to connect better to people and culture.
Get a working visa in AU’s or Canada, stretch it out and in the 5th year when the concentration camps and gas chambers are in full swing, there should be a refugee visa available.
Just show up in Belgium. Ask for asylum. If you’re denied, just stay. Belgium does not deport asylum seekers that got denied, you get access to unemployment benefits, free (for you) education, etc.
lol does that actually work?
Mexico actually is a great country to live. Cheap living expenses, and the food is just ridonculously good. There are always good jobs available for educated people with good English
Out of curiosity, what is the climate/temperature like there, in the big cities? I imagine it being very warm
Depends in where you are. Mexico is (afaik, I might be wrong) the only country that has every possible climat in the world within its borders.
You can have sweaty hot, but tolerable, in Vallarta, you can have dry hot but very doable.innthe Guanajuato region, you can have a milder climate in Mexico City
Biggest swamp cooler in the world just off the west coast. The closer you get to the Pacific, the more moderate the temperature is. It’s rather cool in Tijuana, currently. (50° F/ 10.5° C)
Step 1, figure out if any of your parents, grandparents, or in some cases great grandparents came from somewhere else. Many countries allow near descendents to get citizenship.
and that’s the true story of how my partner and i figured out that the only non US place that will take us is ruzzia
Oof
And that’s the true story of how I learned all my Polish ancestors came over before modern Poland was a thing, and thus didn’t have Polish citizenship to pass on.
broooo! same! the weird part is that the part of so called russian poland my family was from when they evacuated Europe is in Western Ukraine now, so i guess the conclusion is everything’s made up and nationalities don’t matter
Country borders are just lines on a map. They don’t exist in the real world.
If only everyone was able to experience the overview effect, a lot of our issues could potentially fix themselves.
Similarly fuzzy! I think they mostly came from the “Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria” region of Poland. Some definitely have “Galicia” on their earlier census records, then later records for the same relatives say Poland. Other relatives waffle between Poland and Russia. t National borders are so fuzzy.
The other side of the family is from Appalachia since the 1800s, but sometimes can’t decide if they’re born in TN or KY because they were from a disputed region.
there are dozens of us with this background! dozens!
Mine did, too. I received Polish citizenship this year. If your family came from what is today Poland and you can prove that, you’re potentially eligible. If not, and they came from the territory that is today Hungary, Romania, etc - then check with those countries instead as similar laws apply.
So, how did you go about doing that? Did you pay a company to guide you through the process or what? TBH, I’m a bit intimidated by interacting with a foreign government potentially in Polish, a language I do not speak.
I hired a law firm in Poland that specializes in immigration. They walked me through genealogy / document procurement first, then helped with getting everything translated and notarized for use in Poland. It took about 2 years from starting the process to receiving citizenship.
Free benefits
Well that’s not really an improvement…
That is a rough one, damn
our partner now
For great grandparents I go through 23 and me or other similar service, right? I know the grandparents on my mother’s side are Venezuelan and the ones on my father’s side are from the US, I don’t know about further back than that.
What? Can’t you just ask your mom who her grandparents were?
Although as I type this I realize I have no idea if your parents are still alive, or on speaking terms.
lol all good, she is alive, and we are on speaking terms (I see her a few times a week). I’ll ask her, but I’m pretty certain her grandparents are native to Venezuela too. I don’t know if she really knows them or if they’re still alive though…
23 and me is a private company that sells your data and gives you a piece of paper with some percentage points written on it.
Unless your relatives are still alive and have another country’s citizenship along with the papers to prove it, you’re out of luck.If you have Italian ancestry, they actually have government help that will do free reviews of US immigration documents. I missed my Italian citizenship by a few years :(
But it was super easy to find out. Just google around for it, jure sanguinis or something like that.
Step 1, figure out if any of your parents, grandparents…came from somewhere else.
I’m related to 7 different passengers of the Mayflower!
…yup I’m not moving countries the easy way
Oh damn maybe we’re related. Wing?
I’ll have to have my dad explain it again because he’s the one who’s really been deep diving into genealogy, but I remember he said the captain of the ship and the guy that fell overboard were two of the people we’re related to
I may have to look into this. My grandparents on my father’s side moved here from Norway as children (separate families obviously but immigrated around the same time to the same place, Minnesota) I’d love to go to Norway, I even know a (very) little Norwegian.
Illegally cross the border into Canada or Mexico and try to get citizenship before they deport you back.
Why not legally cross? It’s not that hard to do so.
Because imma bad boy 😎
Badman* FTFY
