When people move to a country, they are expected to pay their way, pay taxes, pay social premiums etc. And do useful work. Perhaps all these foreigners tapping away at their keyboards creating “content” is not really seen as contributing, or engaging with society. And the US keeps demanding that Americans pay taxes in the US.
Also, don’t underestimate how “European” the citizens of Europe feel. Americans tend to see those countries as “moving to France”, “moving to Spain” etc. But we see it primarily as an American choosing to live in Europe, and only then we think “the French part”. Many Americans have been very dismissive of Europe, see other Substack entries. Old world, stagnant, low birth rate, ageing population, no innovation, etc etc. Whilst we think, they don’t even have proper trains, or proper bread, or proper manners.
Don’t underestimate the bad reputation Americans have in Europe, although good manners prevent you from being confronted with this.
It reminds me of the book in the 1970’s “See Europe on 5 USD a day!”, or the more modern ones, describing where to find soup kitchens for the homeless where you can “just” queue up in line. Americans are seen as exploitative and disrespectful, so they are not really welcome, actually. For a holiday, yes; as a resident, only under conditions. Sorry to tell you this, but see it as a good friend telling you you have spinach stuck between your teeth.
Oh, where to begin? There are so many important points you hit on, but the core message of prepare, do your homework, and get clear-eyed about a plan B are spot on. With a visa you are a guest. There’s no guarantee you can stay.
Immigration bureaucracy - and all the attendant stress - just is not something most ‘lifestyle’ immigrants factor in. Here in Portugal, at least, where I am, it’s very real. Nearly 400,000 of us are praying to every god/spirit/agent of common sense that the new (more right-oriented) government will extend a current deadline of 30th June legalising all permits, expired or otherwise. If they choose not to - and politically they are saying the ‘backlog is nearly cleared’ - many people who gave up everything for this ‘dream’ will become illegal aliens. A Plan B if not a Plan C is imperative.
Thanks for your comment, Michelle. It might be impossible to project accurately the policy direction in Portugal or other countries, but popular backlash against immigrants, including affluent immigrants who are seen to be displacing the citizenry where economic well being is concerned, is a potential harbinger of the direction policy might take. I think it's something to pay close attention to.
Agree completely. There is a real housing and cost of living crisis in Portugal, and so many new builds are for the luxury market, often bought up by investors who don’t even live in them 😢 But then immigrants also become an easy scapegoat for fundamental social and economic ills that leave a high % of Portuguese themselves looking to live and work elsewhere. It’s a bit of a mess, and I’m very conscious of being part of it, however I try to lighten my impact here. My personal hope is that I can start to contribute in small ways, and show gratitude for being given a beautiful home here.
Your point about administrative backlogs signalling shrinking entry paths is so insightful. In 2008 we moved to Italy with two small kids and no backup plan (no resources, really; just our dreams). In a year, our fledgling U.S. business we were running from abroad failed in the early chaos of the Recession.
Our one saving grace was that we managed to get the paperwork done for my husband (and therefore the rest of us) to claim Italian citizenship through his great-great grandfather. In 2015, we used that citizenship to move to Amsterdam, and gradually built a solid financial footing and a life here. The Italian government this year enacted a sweeping reform of immigration law, which would have made our path impossible. It feels like a part of this same shift you describe.
I’m glad things have worked out so well for you. And in Amsterdam, such a lovely city. I had the recent proposals for change in Italy in mind, among other things, when I wrote of entry paths shrinking.
Great post. Realism is so important when planning a cross-cultural 'transfer.' Though I think often there's a leap before looking effect that takes over when one is smitten with the desire to move abroad. Then the adage live and learn takes over.
This matter was more than sufficiently debated during the period of the bailout and in the years following, so I'm not inclined to revive it here. Sovereignty, or economic sovereignty, was a sensitive subject throughout, as commentary by elected officials (captured in the records of debate in Dáil Éireann as well as in the press), union officials, and press commentators demonstrate. Re-reading some of this commentary and revisiting the terms of the MOU, as well as terms agreed at the time the government exited from the bailout, gives a good sense of what drove the austerity programme and the role of EU officials in overseeing it. Others can make their own judgment about whether "economic sovereignty" and "jurisdictional independence" are somehow equivalent, and whether either was compromised during that difficult period.
In the aftermath, academic commentators tend to be somewhat nuanced in their judgments, implying that or specifically stating that "sovereignty" is a 'flexible concept' in the EU context generally. See "Changing Sovereignty in Europe," a group of brief essays edited by my former colleague Imelda Maher of UCD <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2439175#>
Yeah all these backlogs are starting to freak me out as someone moving to Spain this year and starting her 5 years before residency 😅 You're most likely right that it's strategic. But where will all these people go if they can't get legal in their desired countries? I think the world is going to look like a significantly different place in 10 years.
Thank you for this. I saw her article and could only sigh. There is a level of entitlement that makes US visa holders blind to the fact that the US, and Americans, are fast losing their caché around the world, coupled with the local realities of each place. Having a plan B, or even C, should be par for the course, not an afterthought.
Yep, I am navigating this as we speak. While I am traveling, I am paying attention to the residency requirements, as well as the desirability of each place for consideration to stay on a visa at some point. I keep waffling about whether or not to go back to the US, but I really don’t want to right now haha but I miss real green chile
Ireland was not’ essentially governed’ by the Troika. While the IMF, European Central Bank and the European Commission provided a bailout package and oversaw Ireland’s economic adjustment program following the 2008 banking crisis . We maintained our own Sovereignty and our own government. Their involvement was solely focused on implementing specific economic policies which would ensure fiscal stability.
When people move to a country, they are expected to pay their way, pay taxes, pay social premiums etc. And do useful work. Perhaps all these foreigners tapping away at their keyboards creating “content” is not really seen as contributing, or engaging with society. And the US keeps demanding that Americans pay taxes in the US.
Also, don’t underestimate how “European” the citizens of Europe feel. Americans tend to see those countries as “moving to France”, “moving to Spain” etc. But we see it primarily as an American choosing to live in Europe, and only then we think “the French part”. Many Americans have been very dismissive of Europe, see other Substack entries. Old world, stagnant, low birth rate, ageing population, no innovation, etc etc. Whilst we think, they don’t even have proper trains, or proper bread, or proper manners.
Don’t underestimate the bad reputation Americans have in Europe, although good manners prevent you from being confronted with this.
It reminds me of the book in the 1970’s “See Europe on 5 USD a day!”, or the more modern ones, describing where to find soup kitchens for the homeless where you can “just” queue up in line. Americans are seen as exploitative and disrespectful, so they are not really welcome, actually. For a holiday, yes; as a resident, only under conditions. Sorry to tell you this, but see it as a good friend telling you you have spinach stuck between your teeth.
Oh, where to begin? There are so many important points you hit on, but the core message of prepare, do your homework, and get clear-eyed about a plan B are spot on. With a visa you are a guest. There’s no guarantee you can stay.
Immigration bureaucracy - and all the attendant stress - just is not something most ‘lifestyle’ immigrants factor in. Here in Portugal, at least, where I am, it’s very real. Nearly 400,000 of us are praying to every god/spirit/agent of common sense that the new (more right-oriented) government will extend a current deadline of 30th June legalising all permits, expired or otherwise. If they choose not to - and politically they are saying the ‘backlog is nearly cleared’ - many people who gave up everything for this ‘dream’ will become illegal aliens. A Plan B if not a Plan C is imperative.
Thanks for your comment, Michelle. It might be impossible to project accurately the policy direction in Portugal or other countries, but popular backlash against immigrants, including affluent immigrants who are seen to be displacing the citizenry where economic well being is concerned, is a potential harbinger of the direction policy might take. I think it's something to pay close attention to.
Agree completely. There is a real housing and cost of living crisis in Portugal, and so many new builds are for the luxury market, often bought up by investors who don’t even live in them 😢 But then immigrants also become an easy scapegoat for fundamental social and economic ills that leave a high % of Portuguese themselves looking to live and work elsewhere. It’s a bit of a mess, and I’m very conscious of being part of it, however I try to lighten my impact here. My personal hope is that I can start to contribute in small ways, and show gratitude for being given a beautiful home here.
Your point about administrative backlogs signalling shrinking entry paths is so insightful. In 2008 we moved to Italy with two small kids and no backup plan (no resources, really; just our dreams). In a year, our fledgling U.S. business we were running from abroad failed in the early chaos of the Recession.
Our one saving grace was that we managed to get the paperwork done for my husband (and therefore the rest of us) to claim Italian citizenship through his great-great grandfather. In 2015, we used that citizenship to move to Amsterdam, and gradually built a solid financial footing and a life here. The Italian government this year enacted a sweeping reform of immigration law, which would have made our path impossible. It feels like a part of this same shift you describe.
I’m glad things have worked out so well for you. And in Amsterdam, such a lovely city. I had the recent proposals for change in Italy in mind, among other things, when I wrote of entry paths shrinking.
Great post. Realism is so important when planning a cross-cultural 'transfer.' Though I think often there's a leap before looking effect that takes over when one is smitten with the desire to move abroad. Then the adage live and learn takes over.
This matter was more than sufficiently debated during the period of the bailout and in the years following, so I'm not inclined to revive it here. Sovereignty, or economic sovereignty, was a sensitive subject throughout, as commentary by elected officials (captured in the records of debate in Dáil Éireann as well as in the press), union officials, and press commentators demonstrate. Re-reading some of this commentary and revisiting the terms of the MOU, as well as terms agreed at the time the government exited from the bailout, gives a good sense of what drove the austerity programme and the role of EU officials in overseeing it. Others can make their own judgment about whether "economic sovereignty" and "jurisdictional independence" are somehow equivalent, and whether either was compromised during that difficult period.
In the aftermath, academic commentators tend to be somewhat nuanced in their judgments, implying that or specifically stating that "sovereignty" is a 'flexible concept' in the EU context generally. See "Changing Sovereignty in Europe," a group of brief essays edited by my former colleague Imelda Maher of UCD <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2439175#>
Yeah all these backlogs are starting to freak me out as someone moving to Spain this year and starting her 5 years before residency 😅 You're most likely right that it's strategic. But where will all these people go if they can't get legal in their desired countries? I think the world is going to look like a significantly different place in 10 years.
Thank you for this. I saw her article and could only sigh. There is a level of entitlement that makes US visa holders blind to the fact that the US, and Americans, are fast losing their caché around the world, coupled with the local realities of each place. Having a plan B, or even C, should be par for the course, not an afterthought.
Yep, I am navigating this as we speak. While I am traveling, I am paying attention to the residency requirements, as well as the desirability of each place for consideration to stay on a visa at some point. I keep waffling about whether or not to go back to the US, but I really don’t want to right now haha but I miss real green chile
Ireland was not’ essentially governed’ by the Troika. While the IMF, European Central Bank and the European Commission provided a bailout package and oversaw Ireland’s economic adjustment program following the 2008 banking crisis . We maintained our own Sovereignty and our own government. Their involvement was solely focused on implementing specific economic policies which would ensure fiscal stability.