U.S. Citizen moving to Italy - What do I need to do?

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conley39

You need to plan carefully for this type of move. It's not legal for you to stay for over 90 days within a six month period without a visa that allows you a longer stay and you cannot legally work while you're here without a visa that allows that. Visa information for Italy is available on this site: http://www.esteri.it/visti/home_eng.asp .

EU citizens have the right to live and work within the EU. Others have to have a visa as noted above. Generally to get a work permit for you, a company would have to demonstrate that EU citizens are not readily available to fill the position - you basically have to have special skills or knowledge. Some jobs here are specifically prohibited since it wouldn't be possible to demonstrate such skills. For example, by law Italian families are not allowed to hire an au pair who isn't an EU citizen. There are relatively few places where you will be able to work effectively using English alone; your knowing at least a little Italian will help. You'll at least be able to negotiate the bureaucracy to get your permesso di soggiorno, codice fiscale, and register with the anagrafe if you do find a job here. You need to be aware that you will still have to file taxes in the US as well as here in Italy.

Jobs here are difficult right now. Unemployment is high and people are leaving. In Spain, the unemployment rate is over 17%, for example; Italy is a little better, but not a lot. I did see a sign up in a pasticeria in town looking for an apprentice. I haven't seen anyone else here looking for workers in quite some time.

When I moved to Italy about 10 years ago, it was through transfer of a job I already had. Even then, it took 8 months for all the paperwork to be completed to get the necessary visa.

The expat websites are a good place to start researching this kind of move (anticipating better economic times): http://www.expatsinitaly.com/
http://www.expatica.com/
http://www.escapeartist.com/

There's a lot of information provided by people who have already made a similar move including what it's like to live in a particular country and practical information on how to get around, open a bank account, register with local authorities, etc.

Another place to look is the website of the country's embassy or nearest consulate.

You might want to consider graduate school here in Italy. Come on an educational visa and make contacts while you're here. It would also give you an opportunity to strengthen your Italian skills while waiting for the economy to improve.

Philip H

The two other answers pretty much sum it up. There are certains regions in Italy that have a very high unemployment rating. Italians have a hard time finding work and a place to live.

I know how you feel. I am already a European citizen and speak Italian fluently and finding a job is very very hard.

bg b

I assume Italy is a sovereign country and if you want to move there you have to apply for, quite different from moving from state to state.
Because you want, you have to find out if they want to.

zafir

You can't move to Italy just because you want to, as other people can't move the US.

Firstly you will need a job, and that job offer needs to come before you leave the US. This will be quite difficult. In Italy, as with the rest of Europe, an employer needs to prove that there is no Italian or European person able to do that job. The only way to get a job in Italy is to have special skills not available there.

Check the Italian Embassy website for information on long-term visas, but I think that you'll find them difficult to get unless you manage to have a job first, or can support yourself financially. Permanent residency in Italy is just about impossible to get.

brulicious

Before doing that you may want to come for a little bit to know what life will be like here.

Look into Goabroad.com they have many jobs abroad here and you could find an internship as well after a couple of months here you would be able to make that decision more wisely.

It's really hard to just get up and move here, you would need a job first and they would basically do all the paperwork for you to work here for them. It's just as hard for italians to find jobs here so you better be real good on your italian ... also depending which region you go to they all have different dialects.

Buona Fortuna :)

Genius Cook

Here below are some web sites that may help you out.

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