Choosing the right country

Is work harder to find than in the States?

Unless you can legally establish EU residency, then it is nearly impossible to find work unless you can secure a position ahead of time and have your prospective employer help obtain a work visa. You can not just travel on a tourist visa, seek work, then try to stay.

Do either or both of you have an EU citizenship, and an EU passport?

If both great.

If neither, difficult.

If one, depending on the country, only that one may be able to move. Several countries make no concessions for boyfriend/girlfriend but if married then spouses are pretty easy.

If you have passports from one of the countries you mentioned, it's easy. There are some countries which offer residency based on an investment, such as Portugal. There's also potential to get a student visa if you are accepted into a university in another country. Among expats, it's more common that they work for an international company and get transferred to another country for a period of time. This is not necessarily easy, but larger employers have the expertise and know what is required.

There are certain advantages for choosing Austria. A good friend of mine, American, a good old Calif boy, did just that, chose Austria as the country to reside as an expat.

My family is from Austria and my girlfriend's family is from Rome

That means, your mother or father has Austrian citizenship? In that case, you can apply for Austrian citizenship, too. Grandmothers and Grandfathers do not count. Same for your Girlfriend and Italy.

If you haven't got an EU based citizenship, it's pretty hard to get a work permit. You have to find an employer first, have to meet certain minimum-wage requirements. The employer also have to meet some criteria. It depends on the EU country which regulations apply.

Thanks for the responses!

Nigel--Neither of us have EU citizenship. We have US passports, and unfortunately, don't work for any international companies? That's part of our research. Any suggestions?

LacLeman--I used to work at the Four Seasons Hotel. They had multiple properties in Europe. I could try and get a job with them again. Right now I work at a tea plantation down south.

Fred--Austria was amazing. I loved Vienna. Beautiful city. I hope I can find something there.

Jjj--My great-grandpa came from Austria. Having an Austrian born parent would make this easier. Haha! But it seems like becoming an EU citizen opens up more options. Are there any good expat websites you can suggest?

Look at the current unemployment figures in Italy. Unless you have a particularly specialized skill, I would all but rule it out.

There is another option, however. Go to USAjobs.gov for US government jobs with overseas postings. Most of these are on military bases, and therefore, in Germany, but jobs do open in Italy from time to time. However, with the exception of skilled medical workers, people with specific managerial and technical experience and perhaps teachers, most of these jobs probably don't pay enough to allow people to live overseas independently, as they're mostly intended to provide work for military spouses. But look into it. There may be something that meets your skill sets and pays enough.

Oh, and also realize that these jobs are not permanent. There's a statutory maximum amount of time you can hold the position before you would be forced to repatriate.

Josh, I'm not an expat but German. Maybe you read these two articles first got get an impression what you have to get through. Your girlfriend, too.
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/tazine/0906/finding-work-in-europe.shtml
http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/how-to-get-an-eu-work-permit/

Hi Josh,

In general terms:

As the citizen of a thrid country any employer (including an American one) must show that there is no EU citizens available to take the job before you would get issued a working permit. Some American companies get a few 'free' permits each year but these are quickly eaten up bring over senior management, specialists and their families.

The reality is that unless you already have some very speical skills that are not available within the EU or you are already an EU citizen it is going to be very difficult to move to the EU or EEA.

It might be possible to get a student permit to attend a third level college (not a language school) which would allow you to work about 15 hours per week after 6 months, but please note that time spent as a studend does not count towards a permanent residence permit.

Regards,

James.

Oh, and read this:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/hok-leahcim/2014/09/11-people-explain-why-americans-shouldnt-move-to-europe-as-if-we-need-to-be-told/

@ Josh....Vienna is indeed amazing in numerous ways. That's one reason I keep going back. My friend as an expat is no geezer, ie, not retired as I am but has a middle class job in order to support himself and his family. As I mentioned, choosing Austria has advantages.

Back when I lived and worked in Italy, it was much simpler. Today, rules are tighter and jobs are not as plentiful and the previous poster is correct that you really need a very specialized skill that your employer can point to and claim just can't be found as easily in the pool of European job candidates. I am friends with a married couple who moved to Scotland for a few years. He had a really rare skill and was purposely scouted out for a job opening in Edinburgh. They moved over with their kids, but she was never able to find comparable work to what she did in the U.S. Even with sponsorship by an employer, they still faced a lot of hurdles and hassles just getting their household set up - everything from renting a house to establishing a local bank account and getting a debit card. Eventually, they settled in, but after a few years they decided they needed to move back to the U.S. so they could once again be a dual income family.

Not sure what your job was with the Four Seasons, but hospitality is a pretty common industry and they likely won't sponsor you as they could find comparable workers among the Europeans. Are you only interested in Western Europe or would you consider some Asian countries? Are you fluent in any language besides English? With your hospitality background, if you can speak more than one language some of the cruise lines might be interested, but you need to be willing to live in some less than stellar conditions (e.g., a bunk in a room that's the size of a closet with about 3 other crew members) and work really long hours with no days off for weeks at a time until you get a break.

Jjj--Great articles. It gave me a lot to think about. It's definitely going to be a challenge. Thanks for sharing them.

Tom--I'll look on USAjobs. In the past, I haven't had luck with them but that could change. Seems like I need to be more entrepreneurial than I thought.

Jim--I have a degree in English. Maybe I could apply that as a special skill. Any suggestions? It's amazing you're a citizen of three countries!

Fred--What types of advantages are there living in Austria? I've read a lot of articles since I visited.

Ceidleh--Sorry to hear about your friend. Hope things are working out for them. You have a good point about hospitality. That's why I'm hesitant to research positions with hotels. English is the only language I know. I'm not interested in living in Asia. However, I would like to visit Singapore or Japan.

I do not know for other states; in Italy an employer trying to hire an extra-UE citizen has not to demonstrate that there is no feasible UE candidate. But the procedure is quite complex, an authorization request has to be filed and authorizations are granted within a set number of person each year from each country. As no particular procedure is required to hire an EU candidate, they will be of course preferred, other things being equal.

I'm not an expat but a local, I do, however, know quite a few people who have managed to move to Slovenia from overseas and I'm sure this experience applies to most European countries, less so for Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and one or two other countries.

If you don't speak the local language or don't have any highly desirable specialised skills, be prepared for a very difficult and lengthy job search. Few companies apart from large multinationals use English as their working language and they will expect you to be able to work and deal with clients in their native language. They will usually have more than one candidate for a job opening and if you don't speak the language, you'll have to provide them with a very good reason why they would want to hire you instead of a local who may very well be as qualified as you are but knows the language, too.

A friend of mine wanted to work and live in Italy, but her skills were not specialized enough to win out over other (European) candidates. She is a nuclear pharmacologist.

Another friend recently retired from teaching English at a university in Switzerland. Very low pay.

You are going to need a Golden Visa. Do you have $250,000 to invest?

I'll add another perspective. I and many of my friends and acquaintances moved to Israel as adults in the years when Israel actively sought and supported new immigrants, with things like 5-6 month free language courses, 6-month free or nearly free accommodations, assistance in job-hunting, apartment-hunting and more. Taking advantage of the courses and accommodations meant spending lots of hours with other people in similar circumstances who spoke the same language (whether it was English or Spanish or Russian or Amharic) and thus making new friends.

You're looking to do it on your own. Living someplace is completely different from being a tourist there. Even if you have both have jobs and a place to live when you get there, you'll spend much of your free time learning the language and figuring out daily life along with the stresses that a new job imposes. Making new friends isn't easy - you're "breaking into" existing social circles and relationships. And you don't have any friends or family to support you.

Josh: Your not being able to speak a 2nd language will definitely impact your ability to find work overseas. When I worked and lived in Italy, it was in a place and a time when the ability to speak fluent English was not a skill a lot of Italians in that particular area had. My primary job was to speak and transact business in English for visitors coming into Italy who could not speak Italian. These days, more and more young workers in Europe speak multiple languages fluently. I have family members in their 20s that were born in Europe and each can speak and read fluently in 3 to 4 languages.

If this is something you really want, focus on building substantial skill in another language. But it is tough and takes a long time. While living in Italy, I took really intensive daily classes in Italian. Even after 1 year, I felt like my Italian was still somewhere in the medium range. I could understand what others where saying to me. I could read Italian and translate maybe 90% of it in my head to English. But I struggled a lot with being able to formulate a response back in Italian when having conversations, and similarly struggled when I had to write things in Italian. Sidenote: for some funny insight into what it's like for an American to develop real foreign language fluency, read "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris.

I agree with Chani that living someplace is completely different from being a tourist. I did have some family in Europe and was able to make some friends, but my difficulty having true fluency in Italian did limit my ability to interact more with those who could not speak English. Depending where you are trying to find work, certain things about the culture and the bureaucracy can be frustrating or perplexing once you are living there full-time vs. just a tourist who experiences none, or very little of it. What seems charming, different or tolerable to a tourist only passing through for a few days or a couple weeks might not seem that way when you are living there 365 days a year.

Zoe--Did your friend like working in Switzerland?

James E--I don't have half that amount. Haha!

Chani--I'll have to get started on learning another language. I'm just waiting to see which place I move to. Making friends is going to be challenging without a 2nd language.

Ceidleh--It will be different. That's why I'm researching and trying to hear from expats about their experience living abroad. I'd love to study a language for a year. Do you still visit Italy?

My friend enjoyed her work, but not the low pay. She was offered a job while she still lived in Austria with her husband, so they both moved.

For Italy, you need to have about $50,000, verified by your bank.

@ Josh...One advantage for choosing Austria, it's a small country and is viewed as such. The Austrians say of themselves: "Wir sind ein kleines Land." (We're a small country). I would recommend as respects to taking up a language German, not only for Austria but for Italy too, if that is under consideration, for the south Tirol area, towns like Bolzen.

Yes, language learning takes effort. Don't be afraid of over learning, no such thing. .The more time you devote to "acquiring" the language the better. Just pound the language, grammatically, accent, speech, writing, etc. Learning to speak conversationally, phrases, etc, is only part of it. That's not good enough. You need to learn how to write properly in the language.