What opportunities are there for a US citizen to work in Italy? Is it easy or hard to get a Visa? What jobs are most likely to be found there and open to a "foreigner"? Thanks!
Other - Italy - 2 Answers
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1 :
Without a passport from an EU country, or work skills that are not available to employers in Italy, it's just about impossible for a US citizen to find work there. You will need a job first to get a visa. But Italian employers need to prove that there is no Italian or EU citizen available to the work.
2 :
It is not necessarily easy to move here. You can only be here for a maximum of 90 days as a tourist without a visa. Also, you would need to speak the local language fairly well for most jobs. Here in Europe, citizens of the EU have the right to live and work within the EU. It would be illegal for others to do so without a proper visa. The site for visas here in Italy is: http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp . The rules in much of the EU have been harmonized and will be similar. You can also check the website of the consulate that has jurisdiction over you for any country that you might be interested in. A work permit is separate - you cannot apply for that yourself. The company has to apply and they have to be able to demonstrate that there is not a viable EU candidate for the job. As a result, jobs for foreigners including US citizens are pretty much restricted to people with special education, knowledge, or experience. The medical/healthcare field may have the most demand. When I applied for a visa several years ago, the process took about 8 months even though it was just of transfer of the job I was already doing from the US to Italy. Your best bet might be to find a job with the office of a multinational company in the US and try to transfer from there. You're more likely to get relocation assistance that way too. You might want to consider a semester or year abroad studying here before committing to a move. That would at least give you an opportunity to get acclimated and make contacts. It's useful to check the expat sites for information about living and working here or other places you might be interested in: http://www.escapeartist.com/ http://www.expatica.com/ http://www.expatsinitaly.com/ There are similar sites specific to just about any country you might be interested in that you can find by searching for "ex pat" and the name of the country. Generally, these will have a lot of good information on daily life and negotiating the bureaucracy when you arrive and provide you with useful information you should know before you make the transition. You need to be aware that if you were to get a job here in Italy you would still need to file tax returns in the US as well as here. Right now, the economy isn't any better here than in the US and jobs are few and far between.
