Living in Europe

This website covers a whole range of information about that subject: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/living_abroad/living_in_europe.shtml. It's a little more current and updated than some of the others I have looked at.

EDIT: This website has links to resources for each individual country in addition to general information about living in Europe.

Each country has their own immigration laws and rules, and you need to comply with them. If you just want to live in a country, and have enough funds to support yourself, that is usually possible.
If you want to work, that is usually only possible if you have a skill or qualification in short supply. In most countries that means finding a job that the employer cannot fill from the local workforce, and convincing them to apply for a work permit on your behalf. You cannot just get a visa and then look for a job.
A work visa may only be valid for that one job. Getting a job usually implies speaking the local language.

How easy it is to get a visa also depends on your nationality.
How easy or difficult is it for a Frenchman / German / Italian to get a residence and work permit in your country? It will be no easier for you the other way around.

Your first step would be to decide which country you want to live in, research that country's rules and look on their Embassy or government website.

Here's a website with forums for different countries:

https://www.expatfocus.com/Forums/

Also, years ago there was a series of books called "Culture Shock [country name]" that were geared to business folks and those wishing to move to a foreign country.
So if it is France you are interested in, go to the usual book sites and look up a new or used book "Culture Shock France", for example.

Here's one: http://www.expatforum.com/

Explain your interest for moving -- live, long term, short term, retirement, work, etc. It will help everyone respond better to your question. You have been hanging around here long enough to know that we like more details. Please.

Just for a point of reference, here is the link to the French consulate's page about French residence permits. Explore it and it will give you a good idea of what it takes to live in Europe. Every country is different. Some countries are easier to get temporary permits for than others. Also depends on how much money you have or if you have a specific skill that is in demand in the country you are interested in.

I found this interesting website/blog from expats living in Portugal. As noted earlier, issues will vary by country, but they. do a nice job of explaining things to consider if wanting to live overseas:

https://noparticularplacetogo.net

Sorry, Frank and others, we are open to a number of countries. Yes, I understand that Europe is comprised of a number of counties.

Here are some reasons for our preliminary consideration. Husband has retired. We live in a huge house and will be downsizing in a few years. We spend 2 months of 12 in Europe and want more. I'll not say anything about the politics here. I could also consider working or studying.

I would think some countries would be easier gain expat status (we have been expats in Asia) than others.

Thanks Nancy! That is a great website.
I guess, to answer the others questions... I would rather live in Europe and visit the US 2 months of the year, than what I'm doing now, which is visiting Europe 2 months.
After having been an expat in Asia, I know that one can't really get the feeling for a country and its culture by just visiting for a few weeks. I know we could go for 3 months without a problem, but must leave before returning for another 3 months. We had a friend whose company placed him in Europe, but would make him leave every 3 months. They didn't want to go thru the paper work.

We had a friend whose company placed him in Europe, but would make him leave every 3 months. They didn't want to go thru the paper work.

That is technically illegal. The 90 days is an allowance for tourists, you are not allowed to work. If you want to work you need a visa from day 1.
The difficulty of getting a work visa (called different things in different countries) is related to how much of a problem that country has with immigration, legal and illegal. If you want an easy process, choose a country that nobody wants to go to. A few decades ago that was Italy and Ireland, both countries with net emigration. That doesn't apply any more.

If neither of you want to work, just live off your retirement savings, that would be (relatively) easy.

Sorry, I am still confused - are you planning on retiring there or working? Getting a working visa will be significantly more complicated, expensive and time consuming, unless you have EU passports.

Which languages do you speak?

Where do you plan on being fiscally resident? Portugal has had a 10 year tax incentive that you could investigate. My understanding is that tax rates in some countries, such as Spain are quite high, which you would need to investigate.

I would also remind the OP to look into the tax situation, I believe you would pay taxes in both Europe and the US if you keep your American citizenship. It is getting increasingly difficult for Americans to move to Europe if they aren't in the military or have a lot of money. If you do choose to retire in Europe, I would first spend 2-3 months living in the city/area you before any permanent move as vacationing vs living in a city can be drastically different. Finally, if you move to a non-English speaking country, I'd urge to start language lessons now as while many Europeans speak English, your daily life will be much harder if you can't communicate.

Check embassy websites for resident qualifications. Good luck. I've known two people that retired in Europe. One came back after a year due to missing children/grandchildren. The other is still living there and loves it.

Here are some reasons for our preliminary consideration. Husband has retired. We live in a huge house and will be downsizing in a few years. We spend 2 months of 12 in Europe and want more. I'll not say anything about the politics here. I could also consider working or studying.

Will you be living off pensions and savings? That would be much easier in terms of gaining a visa however if you're seeking employment then that is going to be much more difficult. I'm assuming that you're either retired or nearing retirement in which case finding work would be extremely difficult notwithstanding you will need to offer skills that the can't be fulfilled by an EU national.

It's not easy for non EU nationals to find employment in the EU and with such high unemployment in many of the Mediterranean countries it will be almost impossible in those areas.

Heather said

I would also remind the OP to look into the tax situation, I believe you would pay taxes in both Europe and the US if you keep your American citizenship. It is getting increasingly difficult for Americans to move to Europe if they aren't in the military or have a lot of money. If you do choose to retire in Europe, I would first spend 2-3 months living in the city/area you before any permanent move as vacationing vs living in a city can be drastically different.

Visiting and living are so different! We lived in Rome for almost 5 years. We really loved our lifestyle and access to travel, but after the blush wore off, we started to find things that were quite annoying (as one does anywhere). Getting utilities and internet, banking, medical care -- not to mention the visa and residency process -- can bring you to your knees especially if you do not speak the language. (My Italian is pretty good and it was still frustrating having to discuss everything at length for transactions that would be simple in the U.S.)

At least between the U.S. and Italy, there is an agreement so that you are only taxed in one country. But for your U.S. based income (pension, Soc Sec) one still has mandatory taxes deducted and has to file to get them refunded based on taxes paid in Italy, so it becomes cumbersome.

And yes, you need to prove you have sufficient resources -- both cash/investments and passive income -- to get an Elective Residence Visa in Italy.

We already know that we want to retire in Europe (which is over 20 years away) but from doing a small amount of research, most EU countries have the same immigration laws. You'll need a Type 1 visa, which is either gotten at at US consulate (for some countries, such as Italy, Spain, etc) or sometimes you get it when you get to the country (Portugal).. then you'll need to renew it each time until you hit 5 years, at which point you can usually apply for a permanent resident status. The two easiest countries seem to be Portugal and France. Italy makes you come back to the US to renew every year and the financial requirements are typically €30k/per person liquid assets per year.

This link talks more about retiring in Portugal and the paperwork required - http://www.expatexchange.com/ctryguide/4216/92/Portugal/United-States-Citizens-Moving-to-Portugal-Demystifying-the-Paper-Trail

Thanks Jennifer,

To those wondering... it looks very probable that I would not work but may take classes. The financial holdings would make us as easy candidate for expat.

We haven't decided on permanent residence, but what about staying a couple of years.
Thanks to the poster about the troubles when you stay longer.
Been there and done that, moving to a different country is not like traveling there. I've been down this road in S. Korea.
Thanks again to all who have bothered to comment. I've gained a few very good references.

I lived in Europe for 7 years, (three years as a student in Germany, and then 4 years under Uncle Sam's umbrella at NATO/SHAPE in Belgium.) I would like to say that if you are a teacher, there are federal teaching jobs all over the continent, but you have to apply through the DOD website. Look at usajobs.gov.

We retired earlier this year, and like you, wanted to live in Europe. Not permanently forever, but a year or two. We decided on Italy and have done a ton of research over the last few years. We just received our Italian Elective Residency Visas last week. This type of Visa specifically states you are to have no earned income through work, blogs, etc.

For Italy, do a search for Consulate General d’italia and most of the consulates will come up. Then go to visa/elective residency to look at requirements. Both France and Italy require a signed 1 year lease to apply for a visa.

We actually rented out our house in California, and are teaveling across the US now with our dog Barley and in July will take a transatantic cruise to the UK in July, then will be living in Verbania ,Italy by August.

If you'd like links to other webstiesbive found helpful, PM me.

If anyone is interested following our travel blog documenting our experiences (through our dog’s eyes), Pm me and I’ll send you the link.

I know people who moved over there and they came back for one reason or another, or regretted taking that final step as a retiree. The fact is that they are back in CA. Others I know stayed, one couple going now for 15 years but he (the expat) and the wife are fluent in the local language, both are engaged in definitely middle class jobs.

It can be done ie, moving over there, depending how desperate you are to pay the price, and I am not merely focusing on financial $ but to leave all your friends (if they matter in this decision), cut emotional ties, geographically, etc. You weigh all the considerations...legal, financial, medical, cultural, emotional, etc, etc. There are those cutting the ties offers no problem, others it could be filled with problems. My friend missed CA the first year away, (emotionally) not that he had never been away for a year, such as in a year long language exchange program to sharpen the skills in German, but now it's not much of a big deal.

Fred, I agree with you. We could move to Croatia when we retire if we wanted. My husband has a Croatian passport and inherited an apt. when his parents passed away. Except for his brother, all his family lives there - aunts, uncles, cousins, newphews, nieces etc. He also has kept in touch with his university friends. BUT, he and I would miss all the friends we have here, friends from his first day in the US some 40+ years ago. Add in my family (i have 7 brothers and sisters with wives/husbands kids, etc) and our grandchildren - well you get the picture. We plan on getting a visa for me when we retire so we can come and go and not worry about counting days. When we go this summer we are going to look into the visa requirements for me. Going vacation and living somewhere permanently are 2 different animals. Besides, if we ever sold our home and left, then wanted to come back, we would never be able to afford our neighborhhod again.

The Washington Post has several articles today on living abroad.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/10-attractive-cities-that-prove-you-can-move-overseas-and-live-comfortably/2018/05/24/b2cca8a8-5de7-11e8-9ee3-49d6d4814c4cstory.html?utmterm=.7e6762d28669

At the bottom of this article are links to more.

I'm (semi) retired in France and the quality of life for a given cost of living, in my opinion, is much higher than I could find in the U.S.

That's partly because of how France treats retirement income from a 401(k) or IRA for tax purposes given French tax code and the tax treaty between the U.S. and France, partly because of the reasonable cost of housing if one is willing to live outside Paris or other tourist hot spots, and partly because of the low cost of medical care.

Granted, I was lucky enough to originally move here for work so I have a carte de séjour that permits work (carte bleue européenne), which allows me to continue my consulting practice in the U.S. on a part time basis and a carte vitale, which is required for access to the French health system. But if one's savings or pension(s) are sufficient, having a residence permit that does not allow work shouldn't be a problem.

Living here is different from vacationing here. Don't have any illusions about it. It can be difficult and one's patience with the idiosyncrasies of life in France will be tried on a near-daily basis. I suspect it's the same in any other EU nation.

But it also can be sublime and can provide a very convenient and low-cost springboard for seeing other parts of Europe.

If circumstances allow one to be far from family and friends (and it's easier now than in the past with Skype, Face Time, email, texts, and the ability to use the Internet to learn and capitalize on travel deals), then I highly recommend it.

We emigrated to Australia from England in '99, without ever having been here before. We learned from that experience, and listening to others who did the same thing, that it is almost impossible to say whether it will work out for you. I have looked at many cases that were successful and many that were not and, though there are some common issues, I cannot pick why some work out and others don't. The ONLY way to know is to try it out.

But ...

I believe one of the reasons it worked out for us was that we kept our house in England, renting it out, and planned that we would return after 2-3 years. This way, there was much less pressure to make it work and we could be much more objective about things, knowing that moving back would be simple.

Obviously, it did indeed work out for us. In fact, we almost immediately fell in love with Australia and our English home was put on the market after just one year. That's not to say it wasn't a challenge though. One thing that I didn't expect was the insidious way that homesickness works. You can find yourself feeling low, or things seeming more of a challenge than they really are, when in fact what's going on in your head is 'suppressed homesickness'. Once we realised what was going on, we were able to rationalise our feelings and things started to work much better.

Now, almost twenty years later, I sometimes find myself missing the way I felt those first couple of years - stressed out but equally excited. Everything was new. The most absurdly routine matters can seem thrilling, especially if you're lucky enough to have an equally-adventurous partner, like I do.

I met a few families in those early years who had tried and - it seemed - failed at emigrating. They would head back home after just a year or so, sometimes even less. In some cases however, they would arrive back home and find that, once the 'welcome home' parties were over, they started to miss Australia and would soon start planning to return! The removalist we used gave us some excellent advice in this regard. He advised us to simply put our chattels into Australian storage and head back to the UK for a few weeks if we started to feel that way. He said that, chances are, we would find we had made a mistake but could easily rectify it with a handful of air tickets. If it turned out we really wanted to stay in the UK, a quick phone call would have our stuff on plane. He said he had encountered several couples who 'bounced back' to the UK only to find that they had made a mistake but, having flown all their goods back too, couldn't afford to move back to Australia again. In most cases I believe, those people succumbed to homesickness, which affected how they saw Australia.

So, good luck to you. Just acknowledge that it will be a challenge and be vigilant for the dreaded homesickness, recognise it for what it is - and what it isn't - and you should be fine.

@ Barbara....Going over with the intent of staying brings with it problems whether you are retired or young with a job and raising kids. It also has to do with what you are willing to accept insofar as the kids are concerned. As retirees (or to close to it), if you are a pair or couple, both persons have to be in total agremment that being an expat is what the final agreed decision is., culturally, emotionally, plus the money aspect of it. Even the weather. All these factors amount to in the end the price one is willing to pay to live overseas.

Fred, I do know since I lived there when we first got married in 1981 when my husband was a merchant marine for a Yugoslavian company. At this point in our lives I wouldn't even stay for the 3 months in one stretch because I would miss family and friends at home. We want the visa so we can go when there are family occasions such as weddings and not have to worry we were already there for our allotted time.

Well, I first came over here due to the military, but ended up marrying a German. That got me a permanent residency permit after a certain number of years. It was always in the back of my mind to eventually move back to the US, but every time I visited my family in Ohio, living in Germany would become a lot more attractive again. After my divorce, staying here seemed like an excellent idea with university being almost free and great health care was very affordable. 31 years later, am still here.

Though sometimes it seems like living in the US would be a nice idea with family close by, it would mean being far away from my 2 kids. Frankly, have gotten used to being able to travel cheaply and easily all over Europe, don't have the expense of a car, my daughter just finished her masters degree with no debt incurred to her or to me and it would be tough to leave my business behind. German bureaucracy can be frustrating at times, living with totally different rules can be mind boggling at times, but the pros always outweigh the cons. The food is certainly superior, life isn't stressful, and it is quite enjoyable being surrounded every day by so much history. (yes, am a die hard history buff)

Jobs are to be had, especially if you are a teacher. There are many international schools here, that will move you to Frankfurt if they hire you. Pay is better than with DOD schools and the benefits are nice too. 25 days vacation, health care, etc. With Brexit happening, the schools are rapidly expanding to cover all the British who are moving to Frankfurt. Perfect time to find a job overseas for a while.

I have to return to the US for at least a couple years but my husband and I have decided we want to eventually settle permanently abroad, most likely Europe but we're open to other options. I've come to really value the quality of life here, especially good public transit, social culture and lingering over meals, no workaholic culture, relatively reasonable housing prices, at least in Germany (would love to return to CA but we are literally priced out of living anywhere worth living in that state and I don't see that changing anytime soon!).

As far as family goes, people love to visit us, social media makes it easier to stay in touch, and my friends are scattered throughout the USA and the world now too (thanks to high housing prices). I don't know if boomers understand this, but for people under 40, you don't really have the option of staying in one place surrounded by the same people for most of your life if you come from certain places in the USA. People are forced to move for financial reasons, for jobs, etc. We have have to be emigrants, we might as well go somewhere we really love.

Agree with Sarah about the increasing commonness of moving for jobs and changes in life. We have lived in 6 states in our adulthood. Most of our friends have lived abroad for some length of time: the Netherlands, England, Germany, the UAE, and several to NZ. We could move abroad too, especially NZ (there is a path for my husband's job already established, hence knowing several people who have moved there).
The one thing I want to highlight, that has been touched on by a few people, is that first year. No matter where you move, whether domestically or abroad, the first year is always hard. Because we have moved so much, we learned to sort-of write off that first year, or at least not judge the place or our lives there during that first year. Somehow, after the first 12 months, things turn a corner, and everything gets easier. So for those who returned to England from AUS at the first year mark or before, I get it. Now when we move, we say "after the 'first year' is over..." because no matter how well you plan, it is just hard, but if you know that's normal, it makes it less hard. Our friends just moved to Boise last summer, and have called us a lot this year about how hard it is. I say, just wait until the 12 mo. mark, it will get better...
And yes to the homesickness. I am from N. Cal, and while we could move back there, and choose not to, I get strong pangs of nostalgia and missing it. Weird.

@Sarah: "I don't know if boomers understand this, but for people under 40, you don't really have the option of staying in one place surrounded by the same people for most of your life ... "

Whilst more people are more mobile than ever, I can assure you that has been the case for quite some time. I am a 'boomer' from a working class background, yet I have lived and worked in three countries and my family (including my children) are similarly scattered. This is not because it isn't possible to stay in one place any more, but because there are more opportunities available for people who are prepared to move around.

This is not because it isn't possible to stay in one place any more,

Eh, that's actually not true for a lot of people. There aren't decent jobs in the rural areas and small towns, forcing people Gen X and younger to move to the cities, but because of NIMBYism and things like Prop 13 in California and bad zoning, housing prices are through the roof, providing a poorer quality of life for younger generations than Boomers enjoyed. Lots of studies showing this. While Europe is expensive compared to say, the rural midwest it's actually quite reasonable compared to SF or NYC, so it makes sense that people are doing this, but it's not like it's entirely by choice for some.

Just want to point out that while some people can move abroad easily for their job, it is not the norm nor easy, as I found out. Especially if you are not in a profession that is needed in Europe(teacher or nurse). Companies in EU look for EU applicants first in filling jobs.

Having just been through this ordeal with my daughter who married a Swiss man and then moved to Switzerland to be with him...we went through MUCH blood, sweat and tears. Maybe Switzerland is more problematic to relocate to, or maybe not, idk. But there were MOUNTAINS of paperwork and no official person could agree on which of the myriad of forms were required and where to send them. Keep in mind my daughter married a Swiss Citizen so it was supposed to just be a matter of getting a Swiss Family Reunion Visa - but it turned into a nightmare.

She's there now and everything is in place and she has a great job. But she still cringes when thinking that she might have to visit the immigration office because they were just so absolutely hateful to her through the entire process...

I've often thought how great it would be to retire overseas...until I saw what she went through.

Interesting Tim. And she comes from the States. Imagine if she came from a poor country!

Anyway—about retiring overseas. It’s one thing to live abroad for a few years while still healthy, but it’s another thing to be exploring nursing homes and choosing headstones. Things to be considered.

Yes, Bets. Obviously the rest of the world is not in line with the "America First" program! hahahaha