cd

My husband and I would love to do this at the end of 2004. Any suggestions on how to start the process? Is it possible?

suze

It would be helpful to post your usual field of work (teacher, accountant, social work, nurse, doctor, lawyer, artist, waiter, musician, whatever). Whether you hope to secure a job before-hand or after you arrive. What countries you favor? Monetary concerns. Sure it's possible!!

allovereurope

It can be very difficult to get a work permit in Europe, as after a year I still don't have one! I think a large part depends on which country you plan on working in, but it isn't as easy as you might think. It's easiest to just transfer to a European office from a company you are with back in the states...that is what we, and most expats I know, have done.

Defnitely check out expatexchange.com, expatica.com, and other similar websites (do a search both here and on Google) to find out more. Good luck!

sheila

In the UK you need an employer prepared to apply for the permit (it goes with the job, not the person) and they have to demonstrate that they couldn't get anyone from the EEA to do it instead.

Unless you're under 30?

Riffic

I would not recommend moving here from the U.S. unless you already have a job--given the current state of most countries' economies in Europe

The work permit thing is a catch-22. Generally, you cannot get a job without a work permit and vice-versa.

I'm an American living abroad, but before relocating, I developed a relationship with my current employer, who was willing to take care of the work & residence permits and all relocation aspects, which made the move quite easy. Without this help, I don't see how I could have made the transition.

Generally speaking, you need to have at least a basic command of the native language, if you intend to find a job in Europe on your own. This alone will not ensure a job. To hire you , a prospective employer would have to state to the gov't that the particular position requires a high level of expertise, which (i) you must have and (ii) no other citizen and that country has.

Also, as a general rule, finding a job will be easier if you have some technical specialization (computer programming, hard science, etc.)

I also would direct you to some other forums like expatica and "Americans in Munich", which is an msn.com community.

flanneruk

The rules on this vary by country (even the Schengen countries each have different rules from each other on the criteria for assigning work permits).

With unemployment higher in most of mainland Europe than in the US, and millions of desperately poor people anxious to migrate to Europe, few of Europe's governments are very interested in making it easy for relatively rich foreigners to reduce job opportunities.

The process is infinitely easier if one of you can claim EU citizenship: are you really sure neither has an Italian or Irish grandparent? Or if you're young, you can get a working holiday visa for most of the Northern EU countries, though this really only applies to Commonwealth citizens.

The loosest rules are probably in the UK, which allows fast-track permits for people with skills lacking in the UK right now (especially teachers and nurses). But the Home Office's definition of 'fast' may not be yours or mine. See www.ukvisas.gov.uk, and www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk. And www.americanexpats.co.uk is excellent on the practicalities. This is almost certainly the easiest option if you're over 30 and can't get an EU passport.

The UK also 'fast-tracks' applications from people wanting to bring their own business here, though IMHO it imposes unrealistic demands on the business.

Also note that a UK work permit does not give you the right to extended stays elsewhere in Europe.

If these conditions don't apply, and you're not part of a corporation with overseas offices, then you have to find an employer in the appropriate part of Europe who will both offer you a job and, with some approximation to good faith, testify - and demonstrate - to his local immigration people that you have qualifications he can't find anywhere in the EU.

For which, I'd suggest, you start by reading Richard Bolles' "What Color is My Parachute?" and following every piece of advice to the letter.

Don't despair. Certainly in SE England there are thousands of Americans who've worked their way through all this - and they don't all work for Citibank.

Their secret all seems to be the same as Bolles' advice: "Network, network, network. And if you haven't got a network, invent one"

isabel

flanneruk - you mention that the UK currently has job opportunities for nurses. Do you know of any agency or organization that one could contact for more information on the requirements for nurses from the US to work in UK? Thanks

flanneruk

Isabel:
This is way beyond my area of competence, but you may find this site helpful:
www.doh.gov.uk/international-recruitment/

Two general points:
- The NHS isn't a monopoly employer. Full-time NHS workers typically work for a local NHS trust. But there's a large business in providing them with temporary nurses through commercial agencies (google on uk nurse recruitment), and there is a significant non-NHS sector.
- Nursing unions make a lot of noise about lousy pay. This is true to an extent. But their case is often illustrated by a slightly different problem: that housing costs in SE England differ from average housing costs more than nurses' pay in SE England differ from the average. The problem is less acute outside a (roughly ) 80 mile radius of London.
But I've yet to see a BMW (or indeed many cars)in the nurses' car park of a British hospital.

cparris

I noticed on the official web site for Ireland that they also will give work visa's to people with certain skills...nursing being one of them . Look at the web sites for the specific countries.

cd

Thanks to all for the information. One more question. Can anyone recommend the name of a corporate headhunter?