Did you move to an EU country without a family or ancestral connection?

December 10, 2018 5:21 AM

Did you move to an EU country without a family or ancestral connection? I want to hear how you did it and what the experience was like, in as much detail as you're willing to share.

If you found an employer willing to sponsor your visa, what kind of job was it? What kind of skills did you have that made it worthwhile for them to do so? If you found some other path to residency, I want to hear about that too.

I am in the US, but I'm interested in stories of people immigrating to the EU from anywhere.

posted by enn to Work & Money (11 answers total)

My husband and I are from the US, and we moved to the Netherlands nearly five years ago. He works in IT and was recruited and sponsored by an international company. My spouse visa is depent on his sponsored visa, but I am also able to work and found a job with an international publishing company less than 3 months after we arrived. Neither of us love our jobs, but the trade off for the benefits of being in Europe make up for the lack of job satisfaction (for now). Travel has always been a passion and a priority for us, so the extra time off and easy proximity to so many places we wanted to explore has been more than we could have hoped for. It's very easy to get by with English in the Netherlands, which has been both a challenge (as a barrier to more complete integration) and benefit. All in all, a positive experience for us.
posted by PosterGirlwithNoPoster at 5:39 AM on December 10, 2018

I moved to the UK (not sure if you class this as EU!) in 2002 at age 21.

I first came on a temporary 6 month work visa available to recent students. Then I stayed 6 months as a visitor and wasn’t able to officially work. Then I completed a 5 year professional degree on a student visa. By this time, I had lived with a British boyfriend long enough to then get an Unmarried Partners visa, which eventually led to permanent residency and citizenship.
posted by peanut butter milkshake at 5:45 AM on December 10, 2018

I moved from the US to the Netherlands a decade ago, without a family or ancestral connection. I moved as a highly-skilled migrant, which meant that a company wanted to hire me and could prove that I had skills they hadn't been able to find in an EU candidate. Back then, there were legal details that meant the government didn't call it as "sponsorship", but the rules have changed over the years, and these days they do refer to the employer as a "registered sponsor". In my situation, a software company hired me to work as a technical writer. Ostensibly, being a native English speaker was my leg up, but to be fair, technical writing is a somewhat niche profession in the first place.

The experience was difficult because my employer didn't have experience with the highly-skilled migrant process, and back then it took a while to get a national ID number (required to get a bank account, insurance, etc.). The government started streamlining the process shortly after I immigrated, and I think it's easier these days (provided the employer takes care of their part). It was also a very expensive transition, even with my employer paying the government fees. Costs add up during an international move. But overall, it wasn't a negative experience, and it led to a lot of personal growth.
posted by neushoorn at 5:45 AM on December 10, 2018

I have established residence in an EU country as a "retired person of independent means"--which means providing sufficient financial, back ground/criminal record history, proof of health insurance etc to establish that I would not be a burden to the country or use public services for a specified time. Let me assure you it does not mean independently wealthy but it does mean financially independent of the public benefits of the country and able to support my/our(selves). Good luck and my only recommendations are don't take any short cuts and be completely forthcoming. As a non EU resident it is not easy to immigrate/establish residence in an EU country and almost impossible to reapply if you if you are found to have previously violated immigration rules or falsified information.
posted by rmhsinc at 8:24 AM on December 10, 2018

There is also DAFT, the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty for "self-employed US citizens" with an investment of 4500 euros which gives you a two-year residence permit. More information here.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:25 AM on December 10, 2018

The DAFT gives you a residence permit that must be reviewed annually. After five years you have a permanent residence and no longer have to have your DAFT status reviewed.

PLEASE NOTE: the link TWinbrook8 provided above is to the website of a known internet scam artist. Here is the national immigration service website:

https://ind.nl/en/work/Pages/Self-employed-person.aspx
posted by humboldt32 at 9:13 AM on December 10, 2018

I first came [to the UK] on a temporary 6 month work visa available to recent students. Then I stayed 6 months as a visitor and wasn’t able to officially work.

Just to clarify: I've known people (US citizens) turned away at the UK border when returning for those 6 months as a visitor, so that's a big risk. We apologise for our xenophobic Prime Minister (and former Home Secretary).

Anyway, because Google doesn't actually show it anywhere close to first, here's the EU's Blue Card website, which will tell you how to get work permits for every country in the EU except the UK, Ireland & Denmark. They're transferable after a few years, too.
posted by ambrosen at 9:50 AM on December 10, 2018

oh shit, sorry about the rotten link. I used it because it had a better explanation of types of jobs (musicians! graphic designers! ie not just tech bros) than Wikipedia. I should have mentioned that I had no experience with them.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:35 AM on December 10, 2018

I first came [to the UK] on a temporary 6 month work visa available to recent students. Then I stayed 6 months as a visitor and wasn’t able to officially work.

>> Just to clarify: I've known people (US citizens) turned away at the UK border when returning for those 6 months as a visitor, so that's a big risk.

I got detained for questioning by UK Immigration when I did this back in the nineties. (Eventually got to enter the UK and spent six months there on a tourist visa, but that was a pretty scary experience for young me.)
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:05 AM on December 10, 2018

UK: I came over as a student, moved to post-student work visa, then highly skilled migrant, then unmarried partner, now preparing for indefinite leave. Then, citizenship. I managed to work through a very narrow gap when the post-student work visa was shortened significantly. Many people had to rush into marriages that didn't work. I know others who did the work permit route and are now stuck at companies they cannot love. Try looking at the Germany Freelance Visa programme, it might be the way.
posted by parmanparman at 11:56 AM on December 10, 2018

...my only recommendations are don't take any short cuts and be completely forthcoming. As a non EU resident it is not easy to immigrate/establish residence in an EU country and almost impossible to reapply if you if you are found to have previously violated immigration rules or falsified information.

This is very good, very sensible advice. However, there may be a few caveats. Proceed with extreme caution if:

- you are not a middle class or well off white person
- the bureaucracy you are dealing with has been intentionally shaped to be xenophobic and incompetent (see UK and news stories about “hostile environment” policy)
- the bureaucracy you are dealing with culturally expects you to understand that it is irregular and treat it as such (see Greece, Italy, etc)

If any of these are the case, you must still be honest, thorough and accurate. But please speak with friends or acquaintances who have gone through the system already before approaching the process with a completely forthcoming attitude, which may very well upset and provoke the officials you deal with, depending on the country. I wish this weren’t true. Stay safe.
posted by Concordia at 12:04 AM on December 11, 2018