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April, 2024

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All you EUROPEANS!!!!!

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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
which dope country has the easiest residency requirements, and the highest standard of living?

UK doesnt count as Europe, neither does Italy. Matter of Fact, lets just keep it to the countries that Hitler took over in WWII adding in the scandinavian countries too.


Im thinking about moving out of California, and the US to another country. I was looking at New Zealand, and South Africa as well, so any residency info on those countries would be cool too.
Mar 30 2012 3:21AM
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cubber
Posts: 1933 - Karma: 638
Kazakhstan has the cleanest prostitutes and nicest weiners, move there, they have clean prostitutes and nice weiners from what the first part said
Mar 30 2012 3:25AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
should i only go in the summer? cause i heard in the winter it can get very depressing(name that movie)



But seriously, i would also be down with Czechoslovakia.
Mar 30 2012 3:26AM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Well, pretty much all of mainland europe is now under the same rules as far as visas and stuff go. You can apply for a job in the areas where they are kinda desperate for qualified workers but then you have to be skilled at something that noone else is.

Basically, you can stay in europe for 90 days out of 180. If you stay longer, you can be fined, deported, or be told you won't be coming back for some time.

Your best bet if you really want to move somewhere is probably to get a work visa for NZ to do ski instructing or something like that, but it's likely too late for summer.

Or you can just go somewhere and live illegally for a bit, but be prepared to have a good amount of money saved.

You can always find a cash in hand job in some foreign country, but depending where can be more or less difficult.
Mar 30 2012 3:26AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
i said only Hitler occupied countries, with the noted exceptions.


Mar 30 2012 3:28AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
No, im saying i want to move somewhere to continue working as a Civil Engineer. Not take a sabatical.


obviously, i would take a few trips and learn the language before i moved.
Mar 30 2012 3:30AM
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Elg
Posts: 2998 - Karma: 3,880
Civil Engineers are needed in Norway, not that many people get that education anymore. I´m not quite sure how hard it is to move here and stay legally, but we have hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world, so an educated american looking for legit work should get in pretty easy.

Buying a house costs a shitload though, and renting is a bitch too unless you have a good job. If you get a job as a civil engineer i think you could get by pretty well!

I think the situation is pretty much the same for all the scandinavian countries, but with the higher costs of living in norway you also get bigger paychecks. Probably the main reason so many swedes come across the boarder to work.
Mar 30 2012 3:39AM
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LIL-WAT
Posts: 1510 - Karma: 146
Come to NZ.
Winter soon.

Mar 30 2012 3:39AM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
You failed to mention that.

Then you're likely to do alright in eastern europe. You may be able to find something in Germany, they like american workers and I have quite a few friends who have worked there for a stint of time.

The deal with europe is that they need to be unable to find someone there that can fill the job. Then after that, most countries go for canadians, then ausies first. As odd as this sounds, check out jobs for the UN. I've seen positions in engineering for them and the US is an underrepresented country in the UN, which means you are more likely to be hired than someone from France or the UK. Then you could potentially live in Geneva or at some other UN office.
Mar 30 2012 3:40AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
oh really? i am currently living in a dilapidated dump of a house with 2 other guys. the house is worth $1.4 million dollars. its fucking ridiculous around here.

I have zero chance of buying a house where i currently live. Renting is absolutely cool with me.



Do the salaries allow you to live comfortably even though everything is so expensive?


thanks for the insight.
Mar 30 2012 3:45AM
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californiagrown
Posts: 9794 - Karma: 2,014
yeah, i posted a different OP than the one i had in my head, oh well.



Switzerland/austria/bavaria would be my top picks. Im def checking out the UN jobs. Thanks!!
Mar 30 2012 3:48AM
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HolySchimmel
Posts: 1601 - Karma: 1,297
Do not move to switzerland.. Very expensive and a lot of people dont like it :) rather go to austria or southern tirol (is a part of italy, but they mostly speak german and are kinda autonom) dunno what you need to do to be able to work and live there, but in general, it shouldnt be too hard for an american to get a visa here.
Mar 30 2012 4:40AM
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S.A.M.
Posts: 148 - Karma: 50
My vote is for New Zealand, Engineers are in big demand over here. I don't know much about the residency requirements but if Indians and Asians who don't even speak English can live here I assume its pretty easy.
Mar 30 2012 5:30AM
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Bateman
Posts: 8590 - Karma: 8,605
Norway. Best country in the world to live in according to the UN.
Mar 30 2012 5:46AM
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maximiliaan
Posts: 7710 - Karma: 2,849
netherlands, not really difficult to find work here with an degree,
Mar 30 2012 6:03AM
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maximiliaan
Posts: 7710 - Karma: 2,849
stupid mobile phone, but works nice over here, but its flat and there is about 1 week of snow over here... so i would choose for austria or sweden or norway
Mar 30 2012 6:04AM
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.skiwi.
Posts: 898 - Karma: 40
I lost. So true though
Mar 30 2012 6:07AM
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mikk
Posts: 451 - Karma: 107
maybay Estonia?
we have the most sexiest ladies in all europe! but thats it... lots of stupid russian people and poor economy.
Mar 30 2012 6:27AM
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nickyp
Posts: 5673 - Karma: 215
Eastern Europe has opportunities, in that they're still rebuilding a lot of the infrastructure following the collapse of the Soviet Union/ Former Yugoslvia. Living is fairly cheap, however wages are also depressed too. So if you have ambitions of returning to the US one day, you'd be returning with very little savings.

Scandinavia - high tax rates, high standard of living. Also, I predict that there will be an increase in Civil Engineering jobs too. With EU concerns over the Nabucco pipeline, the EU will increasingly be looking to Scandinavia for resources.

Mar 30 2012 7:15AM
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waugi
Posts: 22 - Karma: 11
hey. my cousin is currently studying civil engineering here in austria. he probably knows more about this. I'll ask him and get back to you
Mar 30 2012 7:20AM
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stoned_sorcerer
Posts: 659 - Karma: 72
lol.


Norway has the highest standard of living, but its expensive. Finland maybe?
And just out of interest, why only the countries Hitler invaded?
Mar 30 2012 7:52AM
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YoungDaysMedia
Posts: 1591 - Karma: 1,400
i would say come to switzerland, i live in the french speaking part near the alps, and i can tell you man, there are soo many tourists thats now days to become a ski instructor you have to speak english.

Living standards wise you cant complain man, its clean not very very expensive food wise.

Altough finding a job as a civil engiener could be quite hard, if you go to Geneva you could finda  job at the UN and only be a 2h drive from the mountains.

all im saying is dont rule switzerland out, especially what we call , Suisse Romande (French speaking part of switzerland around lake Geneva)

hope this helps you out, and pm me if you other questions
Mar 30 2012 8:15AM
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Elg
Posts: 2998 - Karma: 3,880
If you get a job as a CI and decide to rent a place, you can still live quite comfortably yes!
Mar 30 2012 9:57AM
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skithebert
Posts: 2163 - Karma: 16
how does italy not count as europe?
Mar 30 2012 10:07AM
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Haellgren
Posts: 792 - Karma: 86
Id say sweden. Long winter, Warm Summer, Hot Girls and alot other shit.
Mar 30 2012 10:17AM
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twin-tip-hero
Posts: 2896 - Karma: 277
Germany is the shit. I'm living over here, and have been for about 8 months. It's the shit.
Mar 30 2012 10:32AM
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Randy_Quench
Posts: 5447 - Karma: 4,342
inb4 IamMod
but my vote is for Belgium! fucking sick place with great people and even better beer.
I'm traveling around europe for 2 weeks this summer, and will bump this thread with the sicker places I go.
Mar 30 2012 10:34AM
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B.Aussie
Posts: 5851 - Karma: 4,522
I've spent a lot of time travelling around Switzerland and it is by far the most expensive country I visited in Europe. Although this could translate to higher wages, I doubt it would be worth it as even the Swiss people I know admit that their cost of living is very expensive in regards to their wages.

Personally I would recommend either Norway, Sweden, Germany or Austria. Sweden, Germany and Austria I've heard they are looking for Engineers and the people I have met from there are great, they are beautiful countries and in Germany and Austria rent wasn't obscene.
Mar 30 2012 12:19PM
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1337
Posts: 31039 - Karma: 29,013
know how I know you aren't a 14 year old NS'er and are probably old enough to make this decision? #nostalgia

But I'd recommend Norway, Sweden, or the Netherlands. I have friends in all three and they all seem like great places to live.
Mar 30 2012 12:24PM
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cubber
Posts: 1933 - Karma: 638
I apologize, I was on the Kazakhstan hype train and couldn't get off. But here, have one of these *bump* also I am half Finnish half Swedish so naturally I like Scandinavia
Mar 30 2012 12:26PM
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Smuffy
Posts: 4685 - Karma: 3,407
good taste son.

bayern is the shit
Mar 30 2012 12:31PM
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
Hmmmm... You're impression is entirely different than mine.

In LA, a job at starbucks pays $9 an hour and you pay $600 - $800 for rent to have your own room in a 2 bedroom. A beer at a bar is usually $5- $8 depending on what you get.

In Switzerland, a job at starbucks pays $19 (USD) an hour and you pay around $600 - $700 (usd) for rent to have your own room in a 2 bedroom. A beer is $7 - 9 USD

Groceries are significantly cheaper in Switzerland/France/Most of europe.

Clothing is about the same price after conversion.

The only thing that actually costs more are hotels and restaurants... so touristy things. And movies... movies are around $20 a ticket.

I'm going to Switzerland for 5 months starting in May (I can only do that because I was there in February). And staying in a large 1 bedroom on the most main street of Luzern with a balcony that looks at the river and fortress/castle. Rent's only $804 after the conversion. I pay more for a smaller apartment in Mammoth.

Depends what you are used to, but compared to CA it's pretty equal and the Swiss franc converts way better for people in the US than the Kroner does.


It's $1.11 for a swiss Franc, $1.31 for a Euro and

Krones are anywhere from 3 times to 5 times more valuable than a dollar. Travel costs aren't as high, but living costs are. A glass of beer is 50 - 70 krones. So $10 - $14 USD. It's an amazing place to travel, but it's insanely expensive to get started there.

And, if you're trying to exchange with cash... You'll be paying a lot more. It's $1.66 per euro at most exchange places changing USD into Euros. Best exchange rate I found is through Debit Card with Bank of America. Only 1% transaction rate and free to pull out cash at a lot of banks if you do the research.

I'll be having to BofA accounts and pulling out a lot of cash at the free ATMs and transferring into a Swiss account/ and probably a french as well for Euros. Cause there some places wont take american credit cards cause they aren't chipped. Transit places specifically.. Need cash for a bus/train ticket.

I only know so much cause I'm doing the exact same thing, only continuing work for myself, and doing it all legally in case for some reason I do end up wanting to work or stay or something.

http://www.bfm.admin.ch/content/dam/data/migration/rechtsgrundlagen/weisungen_und_kreisschreiben/weisungen_visa/vhbI/visahandbuchI-e.pdf

Those are the actual Visa laws if you want to go out there and look for a job. Section 7 is the important one. I even emailed the Swiss consulate to confirm I was doing everything legally. Could be worth a call to the US embassy when you figure out what country you want to work in. They are pretty cool about it.

1 thing to keep in mind, if you get a job in Europe legitimately, you will need to pay the european taxes, as well as US income tax for your first year. So if you move to a country where you are paying 40+% in taxes, you'll have to pay US tax on top of that.

If you have any questions, I've been preparing for this since February, I've got a lot of answers.
Mar 30 2012 2:41PM
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YoungDaysMedia
Posts: 1591 - Karma: 1,400
...
Mar 30 2012 3:15PM
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