I am trying to find jobs in Europe (preferably remote) that are open to hiring Americans. I know many companies seek residents and citizens of Europe first, but I know there has to be some companies that are open to seek Americans as well. With horror show going on in the US, I hope there are some European companies that are open to hiring Americans trying to escape it. For context, I am looking for jobs that deal with any of these sectors: customer support, privacy, IT&tech, and arts&humanities. If anyone knows of any companies or job portals that can help Americans find jobs in Europe, that would be greatly appreciated!
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From the experience of a friend of mine: if you are of European descent, try finding out about your lineage and if that can somehow get you a European citizenship.
A friend of mine, who is Mexican, wanted to remain in Germany after finishing her Master’s degree, since she had a German boyfriend and generally believed her prospects were better here. While it’s possible for non EU citizens to get a work visa, the requirements are very high. She ended up applying for Spanish citizenship, since one of her grandparents had emigrated from Spain. After getting the Spanish EU citizenship, everything was a breeze. She didn’t need any further paperwork, could remain in Germany indefinitely and apply for any job that doesn’t specifically require German citizenship (such as some public service jobs).
Similarly another friend of mine, who is Brazilian, now holds German citizenship, despite not speaking a single word of German. He’s fluent in French though and has found work in Luxembourg easily.
Therefore, if at all possible, try getting any EU citizenship via your grandparents/great grandparents. It will open the door to living and working in any EU country without ever needing a visa or work permit.
Do you enjoy dark and cold weather?
https://www.thelocal.se/20201103/how-americans-can-move-to-sweden-usa-permit
Nobody hires you because of whatever you are running away from.
If you get hired, it is because of 1. what skills and experiences you bring with you, 2. how well these fit to the open position, and 3. how much of it you can prove (should be 100% - you better don’t claim it if you can’t prove it).
One very, very, veryvery important “extra question” is the language skill. It is not because we Europeans would emphasize language, but because the language skills are missing so often with immigrants.
Are you looking for just any job? Then it will be difficult.
Are you specialized in some way? Then you might have better chances. But as someone else said, the company would need a reason to hire you instead of someone just around the corner.
You need to be much more specific. You need to say what your exact job will be and have a solid reason as to why the European company couldn’t hire a European to do it. This isn’t a choice thing, this is a legal requirement to get a work visa. You need a real qualification.
I think an important factor for standing out from the local applicants could be the potential domain knowledge you bring to the table.
Plenty of developers around. But a developer with extensive knowledge and experience with, for example, specific logistic chains is a lot harder to find. In my (limited) experience it is often a reason why an exception for hiring foreign talent is made.
Skills can be learned with a course and a certificate, but domain knowledge comes from hard earned experience in specific industries.
What languages do you speak?
I bet an American would put down their second language as British and think that would work.
What languages would be best honestly? I’d like to be prepared before they come for me.
Generally speaking, the best bet is French due to the large community of speakers (including also Belgium, Luxemburg and Québec), the relative ease of getting French to a usable level, and its usefulness and sought-afterness even outside of francophone countries. Next up would be German with its even larger community of speakers in Europe and economic relevance but higher difficulty. Third I’d say is Spanish, since learning it will also make Italian intelligible to you.
If things get worse in the US, some people who are affected particularly gravely (e.g. trans people) might even be eligible for asylum, which would remove the language requirements (but I’m only speculating here).
While this advise is generally ok, thinking about it as an English speaking immigrant you should probably consider what languages the locals speak. For example, while it is nice to be able to speak English with more or less anyone in the Netherlands, it also means that your ability to speak English fluently is in very low demand. While in some other country being able to speak English might be more apprechated in an new employee.
What about English? Or does Ireland not accept American immigrants?
Ireland is a poor choice because of English speaking immigrants flooding in. You will immediately be thrown into the shittiest housing market in Europe while also dealing with the most underdeveloped transport system of any European capital. The country has seen population growth far in excess of what the government was able to handle. There is not one efficient state service other than taxation and the passport office. Investment in ETFs is effectively banned. The weather is also shit.
If you don’t already speak it, its probably too late at this point to gain the level of proficiency they will want.
Whether language proficiency is needed beforehand depends a lot on the precise European country (and on the profession(s) OP would like to work in, and on what other skills they possess).
English, and I am currently learning Spanish.
I don’t want to demoralize you just to be realistic. Those languages aren’t getting you very far (maybe try in Ireland or malta), English proficiency in the eu isn’t great. Also those fields you listed are super saturated.
When you say remote do you mean working from the states? A European wage with American CoL? I think many Americans think we’re paid the same as them. We are not. A waiter in the us prolly makes more than a (medical) doctor or an engineer over here, and I’m not talking about fresh out of college.
Hotels, bars, restaurants in some touristy areas in Spain (east coast, Mallorca, Ibiza…) do hire native English speakers. Also teaching English as a second language. But I’m not sure you’ll get many offers without being already here.
I’d say that at least central and Northern Europe is VERY proficient in English.
More than the south sure. As a tourist you wouldn’t have any difficulty getting directions or ordering at restaurants or things like that. Places where you can work effectively without any knowledge of the local language are more difficult to find. And those are the hardest countries to get in as a migrant.
Companies tend to outsource jobs to cheaper countries, so unless you got some super special rare skills that can’t be found anywhere in Europe or you want to compete with Indians for a crap hotline job, I’m afraid you’'re out of luck. Also as far as I know (this might be outdated information though) as an US citizen you’re required to pay income tax in the US no matter where in there world you’re working, meaning you’d be paying income tax twice, in the EU and the US.
US citizens are required to file but, depending upon income, don’t need to pay anything. It does make contributing to US retirement vehicles a lot more difficult since many need to be contributions on taxable income. Citizens also need to be super careful about trying to use foreign retirement schemes like ISAs and the like because of PFIC rules.
~ US citizen living in Japan.
