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Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

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Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#211

Post by Fnoord »

winteriscoming wrote: post #194
johnomarkid wrote: post #17

If you are a programmer/designer you can get a 3 year freelance visa in Berlin, Germany. I currently live in Berlin with that visa. Your standard of living in Europe will vary. Sure, some places offer free healthcare (not exactly free - see taxes), better public transportation, and decent quality food at lower tier supermarkets. That's all great. On the other hand, you'll likely take a huge hit in salary and pay high…

>> If you are a programmer/designer you can get a 3 year freelance visa in Berlin, Germany. I currently live in Berlin with that visa. For someone like me who doesn't understand German language, is it possible to go on with the daily life interacting with the locals in English?

In Berlin, sure. The elder may not be able to understand your English.

Some rules of thumb:

1) The younger, the more likely to be able to speak English.

2) Rural area less likely to speak English (well) compared to big cities and tourist areas.

3) In IT/tech world in Germany you should have far less problems than say farmers.

I'd say those count in general though :) if you go to Amsterdam people are much more likely to speak English than a local, small Dutch town foreigners generally haven't heard about. And, English is very practical in our globalised world. Make no mistake about German though; it is also a practical language in Europe.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#212

Post by toomuchtodo »

afarrell wrote: post #209
toomuchtodo wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live outside of the US for 330 days a year, you're considered exempt from ACA coverage requirements.

I think there is also something where you can take an extension in order to hit the 330 day mark if you move in the middle of the year?

If such a loophole exists I'm unaware of it, but I would love to be proven wrong if someone has a link or citation they can respond with.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#213

Post by jaqque »

tormeh wrote: post #174
tomschlick wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never been to the US, but I imagine it's much more homogeneous than the EU I'd argue they are mostly the same. IMO, The US is pretty similar in structure to the EU where the US as a whole is comprised of many states, each with their own laws. Yes there are federal laws but for the most part, each state can do whatever they want. Each state / region has vastly different cultures and standards of living.

Ireland is richer than the US. Bulgaria is poorer than China. That's the gap.

Per capita, Delaware is richer than Ireland (#37 in GDP), Mississippi is poorer than Bahrain (#98). Bahrain is behind Bulgaria (#81). China (#2) is in a class of its own, because of its enormous population.

This sidesteps the question of cultural differences state to state / country to country, or even between urban/rural regions.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_between_U.S._states... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#214

Post by fsloth »

alexhakawy wrote: post #50
fsloth wrote: post #22

"In Europe" is kinda broad statement. It's like saying moving to americas. Honduras is not Alaska. Where to, exactly?

London UK or Italy

UK for work, Italy for holidays? To my understanding the employment options in Italy generally suck. If someone has better information please revise.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#215

Post by [deleted] »

welder wrote: post #41
johnomarkid wrote: post #17

If you are a programmer/designer you can get a 3 year freelance visa in Berlin, Germany. I currently live in Berlin with that visa. Your standard of living in Europe will vary. Sure, some places offer free healthcare (not exactly free - see taxes), better public transportation, and decent quality food at lower tier supermarkets. That's all great. On the other hand, you'll likely take a huge hit in salary and pay high…

Good advice, but not having a degree or showing work experience might make it hard to get the freelancer visa. I would also recommend the "preparation for study visa" which gives you two years for taking German language courses and you can always change to the freelancer or work visa before the two years is up. [1] for the OP, without a degree you can still get the work visa if you're hired by a German company. > wha…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#216

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

johnomarkid wrote: post #184
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be smarter to just make use of his U.S. citizenship, contract for a Silicon Valley startup, make like $100k, and just travel in and out of the Eurozone whenever necessary to still be considered a tourist? Seems like he'd probably net around $2k a month after taxes doing that.

> If you spend three months in the Schengen area during any six-month period, you must wait another three months before you can apply to enter the Schengen area again without a visa. If you do not meet these conditions, or plan to stay in the Schengen area longer than three months, contact the embassy of the country where you plan to spend the majority of your time to apply for a visa. If you are fine with this then…

Eek, I thought you only had to leave for UH day, not 3 months. Yeah, that would suck. That's for pointing that out.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#218

Post by kavbojka »

johnomarkid wrote: post #184
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be smarter to just make use of his U.S. citizenship, contract for a Silicon Valley startup, make like $100k, and just travel in and out of the Eurozone whenever necessary to still be considered a tourist? Seems like he'd probably net around $2k a month after taxes doing that.

> If you spend three months in the Schengen area during any six-month period, you must wait another three months before you can apply to enter the Schengen area again without a visa. If you do not meet these conditions, or plan to stay in the Schengen area longer than three months, contact the embassy of the country where you plan to spend the majority of your time to apply for a visa. If you are fine with this then…

Apply? When did this happen? I stayed in a Schengen country for almost a year and came in and out without having to apply for anything.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#219

Post by rurban »

holydude wrote: post #24

I recommend Prague or Bratislava. You can save a lot and get a job in one of the US corps. People are down to earth. They really like americans and will speak english all the time when you are around.

I would also add Wroclaw, Cracow or Warsaw then.

Re: Ask HN: Thinking of moving to Europe from USA

#220

Post by tormeh »

jaqque wrote: post #213
tormeh wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ireland is richer than the US. Bulgaria is poorer than China. That's the gap.

Per capita, Delaware is richer than Ireland (#37 in GDP), Mississippi is poorer than Bahrain (#98). Bahrain is behind Bulgaria (#81). China (#2) is in a class of its own, because of its enormous population. This sidesteps the question of cultural differences state to state / country to country, or even between urban/rural regions. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_between_U.S._states... https://en.wik…

That's absolute GDP you're linking to.

Bulgaria: 6,843 USD per capita; Mississippi: 24,062 USD per capita

Bulgaria is a member of the EU. If you look outside the EU (but still in Europe) you find countries that are poorer than Iraq and Vietnam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...

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