I'm moving to Italy...one way or another
Jun 3rd, 2016, 05:23 PM
#1
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I'm moving to Italy...one way or another
I am planning on moving to Italy his fall. I have been emailing consulates, browsing countless websites, and generally paining government agencies trying to get any straight answer...which I have not gotten, as yet.
I want to be able to go and choose from Florence, Bologna, and Venice, which I want to live, be able to look at apartments and homes before making a decision, and find a job near my place of chosen residence. However, none of our visas allow for this. They all want you to have a job and a place of residence and apply for the pertinent visa before even leaving the US.
To any of you out there who successfully live and work outside of the US, is there any way around the mountains of red tape? Any advice is much appreciated.
RozPrince
I want to be able to go and choose from Florence, Bologna, and Venice, which I want to live, be able to look at apartments and homes before making a decision, and find a job near my place of chosen residence. However, none of our visas allow for this. They all want you to have a job and a place of residence and apply for the pertinent visa before even leaving the US.
To any of you out there who successfully live and work outside of the US, is there any way around the mountains of red tape? Any advice is much appreciated.
RozPrince
Jun 3rd, 2016, 05:45 PM
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You are dealing with sovereign nations who have no interest in your "one way or another". Sorry - you need to follow the rules. If they are too confusing suggest you consult a specialist attorney.
If you simply want to do whatever you want - suggest you go on a tourist visa and just stay on until they find you and deport you. Why not go and visit these cities and see which you like - then you can start a very long an complicated job search process? Indigent immigrants are not welcome, just as they are not welcome in the US.
Don't see how you would ever get a job in Italy without a work visa - and typically the employer works to provide this before you arrive. If you have a LOT of money you may be able to buy some business that would help you in some countries - but not sure about Italy.
And how is your Italian? If you can't speak it fluently how will you find a job there?
If you simply want to do whatever you want - suggest you go on a tourist visa and just stay on until they find you and deport you. Why not go and visit these cities and see which you like - then you can start a very long an complicated job search process? Indigent immigrants are not welcome, just as they are not welcome in the US.
Don't see how you would ever get a job in Italy without a work visa - and typically the employer works to provide this before you arrive. If you have a LOT of money you may be able to buy some business that would help you in some countries - but not sure about Italy.
And how is your Italian? If you can't speak it fluently how will you find a job there?
Jun 3rd, 2016, 05:57 PM
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Thanks for the reply. Took four years of Italian in college. Not fluent, but working on it every day. It's sad that they do not offer any special situations visas. Finding a job is usually a process in itself, I have the money to support myself there for roughly three years, but want to be able to work, I'd go crazy not working for three years. The elective residence visa allows me to get there without a job, but does not allow me to work while there on that particular visa. The work visa allows me to work, but I have to have a residence and job prior to being there. I just wondered if there was any way to get there and find a place and job without having to apply for all the visas before I even leave the US, not saying I don't want the visa at all. It would just be nice if I could apply for it once I got there. Didn't know if anyone with the experience of living there knew of a way to do this instead of having to be in the US to apply for a visa.
Jun 3rd, 2016, 06:42 PM
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No there is no way to apply once you are there. You can't get around the rules.
I can work in Italy as I am married to an Italian, otherwise it would be impossible for me as well as my birth country is non-Schengen.
No getting around the rules - you need some patience.
Also, what kind of work do you do? You may find the locals prefer to support their own rather than someone new from an English speaking country.
I can work in Italy as I am married to an Italian, otherwise it would be impossible for me as well as my birth country is non-Schengen.
No getting around the rules - you need some patience.
Also, what kind of work do you do? You may find the locals prefer to support their own rather than someone new from an English speaking country.
Jun 3rd, 2016, 06:46 PM
#7
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Unless you have a special skill you are not likely to find employment in Italy. The Italian unemployment rate is over 11 percent and for youths it is about 36 percent.
In the USA unemployment is presently under 5%,
In the USA unemployment is presently under 5%,
Jun 4th, 2016, 03:42 AM
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I don't understand what your special situation is. There are lots of Italians who would love to live and work in the US, but there are no special situation visas for them, either. There are basically four ways to get a visa, and almost all developed countries have the same rules.
1. Be offered a job in the country. In Europe and in the US, the company offering you a job has to prove that you're uniquely qualified to do the work, and that they couldn't find any of their own citizens who could do the same work. I've known researchers in the US who got a US visa this way. Sometimes they really had special qualifications, and sometimes the university carefully defined the requirements so that hardly anyone could meet them except the guy they wanted to hire. I once got a job in the Netherlands this way, but I really did have special qualifications. My employer had to prove they'd actually done a job search before settling on me.
2. What you call elective residence, which is mostly the path chosen by people who want to retire abroad. In this case you have to prove that you have sufficient income to maintain yourself without working or depending on Italian social services.
3. Marry a citizen of the country. That's what I did, but I moved to Italy because I got married, not the other way around.
4. Invest enough money in the economy of the country to create something like 50 jobs. I'm not sure what the rules are in Italy for this type of visa, or if they even have this type of visa.
1. Be offered a job in the country. In Europe and in the US, the company offering you a job has to prove that you're uniquely qualified to do the work, and that they couldn't find any of their own citizens who could do the same work. I've known researchers in the US who got a US visa this way. Sometimes they really had special qualifications, and sometimes the university carefully defined the requirements so that hardly anyone could meet them except the guy they wanted to hire. I once got a job in the Netherlands this way, but I really did have special qualifications. My employer had to prove they'd actually done a job search before settling on me.
2. What you call elective residence, which is mostly the path chosen by people who want to retire abroad. In this case you have to prove that you have sufficient income to maintain yourself without working or depending on Italian social services.
3. Marry a citizen of the country. That's what I did, but I moved to Italy because I got married, not the other way around.
4. Invest enough money in the economy of the country to create something like 50 jobs. I'm not sure what the rules are in Italy for this type of visa, or if they even have this type of visa.
Jun 4th, 2016, 08:36 AM
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What if you go on an elective residence visa, use your time to choose a place you like and to job hunt; then, with job offer in hand from a company that understands your situation, exit Italy, return to the US, and apply for a work visa?
I am not an expert by any means, so you'd have to make sure this is workable even in theory.
And I think it's going to be hard to find a job at all, but I don't know your field.
I am not an expert by any means, so you'd have to make sure this is workable even in theory.
And I think it's going to be hard to find a job at all, but I don't know your field.
Jun 4th, 2016, 08:48 AM
#14
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Roz - you link to your website in your profile, and there you say you are interested in doing a masters. Is that something you could do in Italy, and get a student visa for?
Alternatively, you can visit Italy, and look at places to live on a tourist visa (or, rather, visa-free entry), but you're unlikely to be able to get a job if you can't show you're legally allowed to work.
Alternatively, you can visit Italy, and look at places to live on a tourist visa (or, rather, visa-free entry), but you're unlikely to be able to get a job if you can't show you're legally allowed to work.
Jun 4th, 2016, 09:28 AM
#15
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You can't go on an elective residence visa unless you have boatlaods of money and can prove it.
http://www.relocatemagazine.com/arti...residence-visa
http://www.relocatemagazine.com/arti...residence-visa
Jun 4th, 2016, 11:20 AM
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"then, with job offer in hand from a company that understands your situation, exit Italy, return to the US, and apply for a work visa"
You can't apply for a work visa. The company first has to demonstrate that it has searched throughout the EEA (EU+a few more) and failed to find a suitable candidate with Europeam citizenship. The employer then applies for a work permit for you.
If all works, but you later get fired or quit, you get deported.
We don't want you. Any more than your country wants us. You'd use your life far more usefully if you accepted that.
If working abroad really matters, work for a global company, then get transferred internally, become a global expert on something or work for those bits of the US government (like the State Dept) that send people abroad.
I can't for a nanosecond see any legitimate reason why an Italian company would want to hire an American, unless you have an extraordinarily unique skill - in which case you'd be able to network your way to the job without any help from here. There are close to 100 million people with citizenship of an EEA country far more fluent in English than you, for example.
You can't apply for a work visa. The company first has to demonstrate that it has searched throughout the EEA (EU+a few more) and failed to find a suitable candidate with Europeam citizenship. The employer then applies for a work permit for you.
If all works, but you later get fired or quit, you get deported.
We don't want you. Any more than your country wants us. You'd use your life far more usefully if you accepted that.
If working abroad really matters, work for a global company, then get transferred internally, become a global expert on something or work for those bits of the US government (like the State Dept) that send people abroad.
I can't for a nanosecond see any legitimate reason why an Italian company would want to hire an American, unless you have an extraordinarily unique skill - in which case you'd be able to network your way to the job without any help from here. There are close to 100 million people with citizenship of an EEA country far more fluent in English than you, for example.
Jun 4th, 2016, 02:27 PM
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<i> You can't go on an elective residence visa unless you have boatlaods of money and can prove it.
http://www.relocatemagazine.com/arti...residence-visa
</i>
That article has no substance. There is a specific table that shows the amount of income you need to prove you can sustain yourself independently. It's from 16 years ago, but in 2011 they applied a multiplier of 3 to the amounts in the table. I can't find any further adjustments, but there's been no inflation to speak of since then, so I imagine the multiplier is still 3. The table is at the end of the following document.
http://www.esteri.it/mae/normative/n...o_1-3-2000.pdf
With a multiplier of 3, a single person would need an annual income of about €30,500, and a married couple would need €37,300. That doesn't sound like boatloads of money to me. Anyone with a decent pension could probably pass the test.
You would also, at least for the first five years, be required to make a contribution to the national health plan if you wanted to participate in it. It's based on income, and would come to about €2000 per year if your annual income were €30,500. After five years, you can become a permanent resident, and I think at that point you're entitled to national health coverage without a contribution. After ten years, you're eligible for citizenship.
http://www.relocatemagazine.com/arti...residence-visa
</i>
That article has no substance. There is a specific table that shows the amount of income you need to prove you can sustain yourself independently. It's from 16 years ago, but in 2011 they applied a multiplier of 3 to the amounts in the table. I can't find any further adjustments, but there's been no inflation to speak of since then, so I imagine the multiplier is still 3. The table is at the end of the following document.
http://www.esteri.it/mae/normative/n...o_1-3-2000.pdf
With a multiplier of 3, a single person would need an annual income of about €30,500, and a married couple would need €37,300. That doesn't sound like boatloads of money to me. Anyone with a decent pension could probably pass the test.
You would also, at least for the first five years, be required to make a contribution to the national health plan if you wanted to participate in it. It's based on income, and would come to about €2000 per year if your annual income were €30,500. After five years, you can become a permanent resident, and I think at that point you're entitled to national health coverage without a contribution. After ten years, you're eligible for citizenship.
Jun 4th, 2016, 02:37 PM
#20
>>With a multiplier of 3, a single person would need an annual income of about €30,500, and a married couple would need €37,300. That doesn't sound like boatloads of money to me. Anyone with a decent pension could probably pass the test. <<
But the €30,500 can't be wages and I'm pretty sure the OP doesn't have a pension.
But the €30,500 can't be wages and I'm pretty sure the OP doesn't have a pension.
