Any tips on moving to Europe from the States?

Cumming Moving

The Unemployment rate is over 10 percent now, and if the health care and cap and trade bills becomes law the economy could recess even further, my advice would be to move to a different country. I would like to move out of the U.S., but there not many better options

My bad, I read your questions wrong

Cumming Moving

I know many people would love to just pick things up and move to a new place.
it isn't that easy for an American to move to Europe and just stay without proper paperwork and enough money to live on since it is very doubtful that you would would be able to get a job in Europe without a work visa and a special skill that no resident could do.
Perhaps you could work out a transfer with a US co. that does business overseas before moving.
If you have a large saving account, you probably could apply for a longer stay then the usual 90 days that is permitted for US citizens abroad.
If you got married to a EU national, your case could change but it would still take perhaps over a year for working permits.

Cumming Moving

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. Depending on where you're coming from, you may need a visa even for a short visit as a tourist. 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, for example, is: . 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.

For Austria, you might be interested in these sites:

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 to Italy 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.

It's useful to check the expat sites for information about living and working here or other places you might be interested in:

There are similar sites specific to just about any country you might be interested in that you can find by searching for "ex pat" or "expat" 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.

Right now, the economy isn't any particularly good and jobs are few and far between. The political climate is very much against people who are here illegally.