Preferably into the EU. I speak some Spanish and I’m set to graduate with an Associates this semester. Hoping to get CompTIA certs sometime soonish and would like to continue schooling to get a bachelor’s in Compsci. Most notable work experience is 2 years in an office setting making collection calls and processing payments. What resources are available to me? Who or what agency/department can I contact to get more information? What’s the pipeline look like?
I know I could look most of this up, but there’s a lot of information out there and some(a lot) of it I find somewhat confusing. Plus, I don’t really even know where to start.
Get a working visa in AU’s or Canada, stretch it out and in the 5th year when the concentration camps and gas chambers are in full swing, there should be a refugee visa available.
Student exchange programs - > job - > permanent residence is one of the easiest ways to migrate.
Use European Grants for foreign Students and be debt free when you finish. … Even that should set you in front of your peers in the materialistic USA. ( No fees for studying and cost of living in less fancy european cities is really low for students).
Illegally cross the border into Canada or Mexico and try to get citizenship before they deport you back.
Why not legally cross? It’s not that hard to do so.
Because imma bad boy 😎
Badman* FTFY
Do you have ancestry from a country that makes immigration easier if you can prove it?
Semi serious. Who said it is gay to marry your homies?
Not OP, where do I apply
Step 1: Marry a EU Citizen
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Enjoy your life
(remember, same-sex marriage is legal in the EU so you got plenty of options, just saying 😉)
Same sex marriage is legal in the EU isnt true.
Basically nothing is “in the EU” There are some general laws that each country applies on their own (often treating them as suggestions and get fined if they dont respect them)
It’s legal in a lot of the EU though, especially if you stay out of eastern Europe
You still have to learn the language and take citizenship tests to become a citizen in many European countries
No one mentioned DAFT (Dutch American Friendship Treaty) yet. It’s the lowest barrier of entry to EU for English speaking US citizens with no heritage path. It’s just money and grit. Other paths require some amount of chance, be it luck in finding employment willing to sponsor, or acceptance into some student program and hoping you can manage to find employment sponsorship before you graduate. DAFT is strictly having a minimum amount of money (4500 Euro), and then being a successful enough entrepreneur to sustain a life anywhere in The Netherlands.
Huh, didn’t know that. It is pretty hard to start a business, but the process itself seems pretty straightforward. I’ll keep this in mind and look into it more, thank you.
Look up digital nomad visas. Get remote work here, then apply to relocate to EU country. Good luck with the timezone difference, tho.
Getting remote work with my current level of education and experience seems almost impossible. I’ve looked on Remotists.com and Indeed, all the ones I saw ask for a bachelor’s minimum or very high skill set that I simply don’t have yet. Do you have any recommendations on where to look for remote jobs I might qualify for?
I recently lost my mostly-remote role to layoffs and struggled to even land an interview, and ended up accepting a fully in person role an hour’s drive away. Job market’s pretty tight right now.
From the analysis I heard on the economics podcast I listen to, people aren’t changing jobs much and employers aren’t listing new jobs much at this second. Employers are apparently trying to wait and see what the new administration has in store for them before trying to expand their teams
You might be able to find one with state/federal government - but they might have rules about residing within the state you’re at. Or require you to come in occasionally. But they can be good places to get started in a career. www.governmentjobs.com or usajobs.gov Not sure about private.
A couple of months ago I had a recruiter from the Department of State hit me up on Linkedin about onsite technical support roles at their embassies. The location selection process sounded more like military deployment and really sounded like a lot more uncertainty than I’d want to put my family through but if I didn’t have kids I’d have absolutely pursued it just for the experience. They were hiring for a ton of open positions so those might still be open if you have an IT background
iirc we’re right in the middle of hiring season for college students who graduate in May.
- look for job fairs. these are events to recruit college students. sometimes they’re held online. Check out your school’s career center to see what job fairs are scheduled. if you’re at a small school, look at the schedule for nearby larger university. back when they were all onsite, you could usually sneak in, dunno about virtual.
- once you get to a job fair look for big international companies. ask about opportunities to work overseas. emphasize your CompTIA certs and ability to speak Spanish. it’d be easier with an undergrad but an associates is doable.
- consider going to Latin America, since you know Spanish.
- wait, did you say your grandfolks were Venezuelan? check out the Latino alumni club of your college. If your college is too small, check out the club of the nearest large university. If they have a “diversity lounge” with counselors go there and ask for an appointment. a lot of times companies make contact with those counselors for referrals. (I know a lot of companies are closing their DEI efforts but fam this is a cycle that happens every 5-10 years and the Latino/Black/etc people who work in those companies still make an effort to ensure fair hiring even if we have to review resumes in our spare time.)
Anyway, this is something to try alongside the schooling approach.
Getting a student visa is easy and an excellent way to both get valid credentials and a feel for the local culture.
As to where you should go depends on what you’re interested in, you’ll almost certainly be able to make a home wherever, so pick something that seems interesting and go (you can always use your mandated vacation days to explore the rest of EU).
For language, in almost all the major cities people will be able to speak English, although typically you’ll want to learn the local language sooner rather than later for social reasons.
If you know Spanish go Barcelona, beautiful city, vibrant in both culture and industry, and with values not too shockingly different to the US. For more info, either visit the Spanish consulate nearest you or look up their online presence.
If you want to keep to English, consider Ireland, they’ve also had a booming IT industry for all the giants needing a foot in the EU.
Mostly you can’t go wrong anywhere in the EU. Biggest culture shock would probably be the Nordics or Slavic countries, but not necessarily in a bad way.
All of them have tons of info about student visas at each university, the degrees are standardised throughout the EU and most universities are good, and typically outstanding in a couple areas.
For more info you just contact their international coordinator, or their closest consulate.Most countries also have dedicated Web pages that outline the process, steps, and how you move toward permanent residence and citizenship if you’d want that.
Moving is typically the hard part, but if you start as a student, you’ll have a lot prepared for you (student accommodations, stipends, social activities, part-time job offers, recruitment fairs, incubators, etc.)
I had to look up what a consulate was lol. There’s a Spanish one in the biggest city in my state, 6 hours from me but they don’t have a website, I’ll have to call (or check Spain’s embassy website if they have one). Ireland doesn’t look like it has any consulates in the US, and the embassy is in Ireland itself… most likely will have to call them as well. Thanks!
I second the student visa route. It doesn’t get you residency right away and is an expensive strategy, but it gets you out pretty quick. You also become more desirable since you have a higher education from a locally known institution. Currently doing this in New Zealand.
Are you able to spend a lot of money on it? Last I checked, there were a few places in the EU that had a citizenship track if you purchased substantial property. So if you’re in position to buy a nice house, that’s an option. I think Portugal is the most approachable cost-wise. But it’s been a while since I looked at this so I’m sure things have changed.
Several countries will allow extended student visas, even if you only speak English. I think Sweden allows this.
Then of course there’s the easy way: marry a Canadian.
I wonder how substantial they mean. I might be able to afford a down payment on something small, as long as the housing market is nothing like the one here in the States (ie significantly better). I’ll look into it, thanks.
Sorry, it looks like the real estate option in Portugal is no longer available. :( Now it would take a €500K investment in a local business or €250K in a nonprofit. If you’re that stinkin’ rich, you probably have better options already.
According to https://www.globalcitizensolutions.com/real-estate-citizenship/ , Cyprus offers a citizenship path with real estate purchase of €300K. Greece and some other countries do, as well.
You saying we’re easy? I mean… we are but you’re not supposed to just say it
Sorry
Did I pass the immigration test?
One of us!
There are a few weird historical rules which may be useful. For example, if any of your ancestors were Spanish Jews who were expelled in 1492, you may be entitled to Spanish citizenship. The same might go for Portugal.
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Wow is that true? :D thats a crazy long time ago…
Your best bet is through a company. If you have a reasonable job opportunity, familiarise yourself with the work visa and residency procedures. Your future employer will likely help you in the process.
However, the economy currently is tough also in the EU, so you’ll need to find a niche.
Job visa or student visa
I think the more difficult question will be … which country. Each EU country has specific laws and procedures. Although you can travel freely this doesn’t mean you can settle wherever you want.
Student visa is the most probable one I could get. The biggest issue is admissions, mainly because of language barriers. With Britain no longer in the EU, my next best bet is Spain because I already speak some Spanish, but I feel like it’s not enough to get accepted there.
Many universities in the EU have programs in English. I mean I personally believe that if you’re going to a foreign country you should learn the/a language spoken there, if only to not be frustrated by language barriers, but you don’t need to do that if your only goal is to get into university in a foreign country.
If money isn’t an issue or you could get financed somehow, a lot of European universities offer a pre-degree/pre-enrollment year to teach you their languages and prepare you for their entrance exam, you could get in this way
I did not know that was possibly a thing. I’ll check it out and see which ones offer that.
Netherlands and scandinavian countries have a lot of courses in english. And ireland of course. Also in germany slowly but steadily english courses are more offered. I would advise you to srudy in english because its hard to study in a foreign language even if you already speak it very good. However i also advise you to learn the local language to connect better to people and culture.
