earthyfamily Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I read all the time on here about once Americans who now live in a different country. My husband and I have talked for quite some time about moving to another country, (France, England, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia are the only ones we've considered) and have done a bit of research on it. But it seems terribly difficult to be 'allowed' to move to another country. How does this work out for so many people? And any clue on how it would work out for someone that has pets that would need to come along? Thanks for any input here. :D Nicole Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 There are a number of ways to do this. The most common I can think of are: *military families who get stationed overseas *government employees (embassy, etc.) who get stationed overseas *missionaries who go overseas &/or those who go overseas to teach English in foreign schools *corporate employees, in varying fields, who get transferred overseas by their US job *couples wherein one spouse is one nationality, the other is something else, and they move to the "foreign" homeland of the 1st spouse When it is military, government, teaching or corporate transfer, the employer is instrumental in obtaining the appropriate visas/permissions for the family to move. When it is missionary, I believe the organization overseeing things helps, or the people themselves (if not with an organization) follow the various rules of the country; sometimes in those cases the missionary family relies on reapproval of tourist/temporary visas, having to leave & re-enter the country every so often. When it is a spouse's homeland, it's usually pretty easy for him/her to bring the rest of the family (I think). If you have to bring pets, the rules vary by country. It can be done. You'd need to check the laws/rules for that country, and jump through the hoops. For ex, for Brazil, we would have to have proof of our pets' rabies vaccine having been given at least 30 days prior, have to have a vet sign off on a statement that the pet is healthy enough to travel, that has to be authenticated by the USDA and I think stamped by the Brazilian consulate as well. And then you have to meet all the guidelines for the airline you're using. But, it can be done. And, in most employer-initiated moves the employee would have someone helping figure all of this out. So, what does that mean for the average person? If it's a big dream, seek employment with a company that has international locations, and keep an eye/ear out for job postings around the world. And in the meantime, read up on what challenges are involved in moving to/adapting to/living in a foreign country. It's very rewarding, but also very challenging. And once you are employed by a company that moves people around the globe, the position that comes up may or may not be in the country you'd like, yet it is not always that easy to say no and yet not compromise your job security. Best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I read all the time on here about once Americans who now live in a different country. My husband and I have talked for quite some time about moving to another country, (France, England, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia are the only ones we've considered) and have done a bit of research on it. But it seems terribly difficult to be 'allowed' to move to another country. How does this work out for so many people? And any clue on how it would work out for someone that has pets that would need to come along? Thanks for any input here. :D Nicole Rich I've done it as a student, as a missionary (working at an American school) and as a wife of a grad student who got a local job after graduation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I've done it the corporate way - my dh's company moved our family to Hong Kong a few years ago (we're back home now). They took care of most everything. It was GREAT. Our kids were a perfect age (9 when we moved there), and they loved city living as much as I did. No car! i loved just walking or taking the (excellent, clean, and cheap) public transportation. We missed our family but some of them, and also some of our friends, came to visit us. We didn't miss anything else, except the kids were very happy to get home and ride bikes, swim in our pool, and play outside! They were a little tired of apartment life in a huge city. Oh, and we missed our dog, whom we left with my FIL. But we'd all go back in a heartbeat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthyfamily Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Okay, so these corporate jobs that get people sent abroad...what kind of work is it that they do? Thanks! Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Okay, so these corporate jobs that get people sent abroad...what kind of work is it that they do? Thanks! Nicole My dh works in the high-tech industry implementing global supply-chain solutions. He was setting up a program near Hong Kong for Apple, so instead of him going over there every few weeks, his company moved us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear23 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 we are military so that is how we got there. when my husband retires and the children are grown we are considering Japan or Germany either working in the schools or with their recreation department (husband enjoys his outdoors and fitness) or as a contractor with a military base, any branch. Most non military I have met are from big companies that deal with computers or cars, teach English in private schools or are missionarries working the the Christan churches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Okay, so these corporate jobs that get people sent abroad...what kind of work is it that they do? Thanks! Nicole We are in oil field industry (my DH is, I should say, LOL, not me!), but here in our city/metro area of Brazil we have the following companies (besides who DH works for, which I'll not name): Proctor & Gamble Unilever Caterpillar Hyundai IBM Dell Johnson & Johnson Samsung And I'm sure several others I'm forgetting/not aware of. We've met other people who work for each of those, besides the locals we know who work for Brazilian companies. Tech industries, auto industries, some agricultural industries, oil field industry, and the companies that make daily use items (P&G, J&J, etc) -- think diapers, razors, deodarant, etc.; most companies set up locations to do that in the region it will be sold. So, diapers and such that are to be sold here, P&G has a factory here that covers Brazil and other parts of S. America. Same with J&J, Unilever, etc. Different regions/parts of the world will have different things. The best thing to do would be for you or your dh to search companies that are in whatever industry he/you work in and find those with international/worldwide offices. Then, work his/your way up and go from there, although most people we know in these jobs are management level or higher, or R&D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julikins Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 One population of ex-pats that live in other countries are those that go to teach in the universities in other countries or are experts in their fields and are hired as consultants/trainers/teachers for their fields. I recently met a man here in Brazil who instead of retiring, got hired at a private high school that does dual enrollment in English and Portuguese. So he teaches all the classes taught in English, like history, etc. (as opposed to English classes). Just thought I'd add that. There's also the not-so-legal population of people that come on a tourist visa and just never leave. They usually live off the land by setting up a stand to sell stuff, marrying a local, teach English or do something else clandestine-ly (I don't even know if that is a word!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 For immigration not tied to a spouse or job-- Different countries have different requirments. Some allow citizenship based on place of birth and citizenship of one's parent or grandparent. Some have a test combined with a point system which allows a work permit so you are on a path to citizenship. The point system takes into things like age, profession, education........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 @OP Many Overseas Americans (there are more than 6 million of us) are Retired. I'm in that group. Early retired and I moved here 17 1/2 years ago. You mentioned pets. When I moved (February 1995) I had an Old English Sheepdog. She made the trip from Texas at the age of 12 1/2. Not sure about their current laws, but, years ago, I know that the UK, Hawaii, probably Australia and New Zealand had very strict laws that required arriving animals to be in quarantine for months. Depending upon the country that you want to move to, you would need to apply for a Residency visa. Prove income, that you are crime free, etc.. Once, years ago, I read somewhere that an International move is about as stressful as a house fire. Glad that I have never had a house fire, but I can assure you that international moves are stressful. Also, I read that for an Overseas American to return to the USA, to live, is more stressful, more of a "culture shock", than the move from the USA to a foreign country. GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 If you have a teaching degree you can get a job teaching at an international school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 They were formal exchange programmes in France organised by my university, so I didn't need a teaching qualification. Then I taught in China - at that time the government didn't require teaching certificates. In all these cases, the school/university sorted out immigration in advance. After that, I taught privately in Taiwan; again, no teaching certificate required for private tutoring. More recently, my sister has taught English in China, working for private English language schools. In both cases, we were also studying Chinese, so were living on student visas. We have also gone the corporate route, with husband finding jobs in Hong Kong and China, and the company dealing with visas. He works in fund management and company research. A couple of times, when Husband was between jobs, he signed up for language courses in order to get a student visa to tide us over. I hope that helps. I lived overseas for about twenty years and it was an amazing experience for all of us. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Not sure about their current laws, but, years ago, I know that the UK, Hawaii, probably Australia and New Zealand had very strict laws that required arriving animals to be in quarantine for months. One of my neighbours is an American who just moved his dogs from the US. The paperwork was extremely strict and difficult but he did manage to fly his dogs over without their having to go into quarantine. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) My brother's flatmates recently moved their two cats from the USA to the UK. They did a home quarantine and managed to only be away from the cats for the length of the flight. One of his flatmates is dual nationality UK/USA and his girlfriend is American. I am not sure how she got her work visa so easily but she didn't seem to have much trouble. I would love to live abroad with my family but as our line of work is mostly entertainment industry it has seemed quite hard to find opportunities in such an over subscribed industry other than tours of a show which means you don't stay put anywhere. Edited August 3, 2012 by lailasmum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaNZ Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Medical jobs will usually get you enough 'points' to be able to get in. That's how we did it. That includes things like physios, opticians, dentists as well as docs and nurses. Different countries have different requirements though, so it's worth spending a bit of time looking closely at their immigration website. It is considerably easier to get in of you already have a job lined up - start looking for work first. There is often a pathway into countries that requires 'less' from you (eg. if you have no job lined up, have a degree in something they don't need, or no degree at all etc), but these routes do take longer to get to the end point of residency. Pets - it's possible to move with them, but extremely expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 DH and I came to NZ on a work visa (with Ernst and Young) and a visitor's visa (me). He requested an overseas transfer with E&Y and we agree to go anywhere that became available. NZ came up first and we moved here and never left (15 years). Right after moving here we began the process of obtaining permanent residency so that we would not be forced to leave the country if something happened to his job. While waiting, I got a work permit in "postgraduate studies" to work at Statistics NZ because I have a PhD. Once we got permanent residency, we began the process for citizenship, and became citizens 2 years later. The rules are stricter now, but still doable if you are 1) young, 2) well educated, 3) have a job offer in NZ, 4) are healthy, 5) speak English, and 6) are rich. If you score high in the other categories, you can drop one. HTH, Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 We are military in Germany (active) and plan on extending here as long as possible, looking at military contracts overseas after retirement (in 8 years). We'd like to stay in Europe, we love it here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 (edited) My Husband immigrated from Canada to Australia by applying for a job in Australia. The whole immigration process took him 2 years from applying to being accepted. that was before he even arrived in Australia. I know there are a few jobs available in the mining industry that they have opened up for Americans to fill on a short term (couple of years) work visas. Another thing you could try is hop on a boat from Sri Lanka or Indonesia and as soon as you get into Australian waters you cause the boat to start to leak, you then call Australian coast guard and they will tow you to Christmas Island, where you will live in a detention Centre for a few months. You then plead refugee status. There has been something lkike one boat a day for the last few months. Over 70% of people trying this way of immigration are accepted.:glare::glare: As for bringing pets, I am pretty sure they have to be quarantined for a few months if they come from a country that has diseases like RABIES. Edited August 3, 2012 by melissaL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthyfamily Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 For immigration not tied to a spouse or job-- Different countries have different requirments. Some allow citizenship based on place of birth and citizenship of one's parent or grandparent. Some have a test combined with a point system which allows a work permit so you are on a path to citizenship. The point system takes into things like age, profession, education........ I wonder if something like that would work with a 'great' grandparent...? Something to look into. You guys have all been so very helpful!! I appreciate all of your feedback :D Nicole Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 As others have said, every country has its own regulations. In Europe, I believe most jobs, schooling, etc., need to be set up ahead of time in order to obtain the visa (at least the initial one) before entering the country. My son got a volunteer job in Germany and was given a missionary visa (it was at a Christian school). He would have been able to have the visa for as long as he wanted (or as long as they needed him, which would have been long-term). My daughter first studied short-term, then worked as a volunteer, and now is a full-time student in Costa Rica (she has been there about 5 years now). For the first four years, they let her stay as long as she left the country every 90 days for 72 hours. (She'd take a bus to either Panama or Nicaragua.) Finally as a full-time student she has a study visa, but it took her almost a year to process it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I wonder if something like that would work with a 'great' grandparent...? Something to look into. You guys have all been so very helpful!! I appreciate all of your feedback :D Nicole Rich Dh thinks that Germany is great-grandparent. But you have to have great documents. Birth, death, marriage, immigration, from ancestor to you -- need to be legal documents. There are probably other countries but Germany is the major European one. If you are under 35 and have skills-- carpenter, plumber, etc. Then Australia is perfect. You have to pass an English proficiency exam which is harder then imagined. We know a number of people in the process of immigrating there. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elinnea Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Dh thinks that Germany is great-grandparent. But you have to have great documents. Birth, death, marriage, immigration, from ancestor to you -- need to be legal documents. There are probably other countries but Germany is the major European one. Only, if they lost their citizenship during WWII and then there is a lot of paperwork. Germany is not an easy country to get a visa for on your own. If you have an in-demand profession or are an academic, with the military or through a corporation it is probably easier. I am married to a German citizen and it still took a lot of hoop jumping for me to get a visa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I know P&G moves their employees state wise and country wise, but I think it would be really hard to move across country and expensive- even if your employer pays most of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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