always dreamed of living and working as a local in tuscany or rural italy any tips as to how to start?
Question by Kaz: always dreamed of living and working as a local in tuscany or rural italy any tips as to how to start?
so many amazing writers have done it. Is it possible for me?
Best answer:
Answer by conley39
First, where are you from? This isn’t particularly easy with the current economic conditions. Unless you’re an EU citizen, you can’t just show up and move in. You would need a visa to live & work here legally. EU citizens have the right to live and work freely within the EU, others cannot automatically live and work here. The site for visas here in Italy is: http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp . The site has links to the application, the additional information you need to supply in order to get the visa and where to apply. It also includes education visas and elective residence visas which are somewhat easier to get than work visas. You can find similar information for other countries on their consulate websites, but it wouldn’t be any easier to move there. An elective residence visa allows you to live here, but not to work; some of the people who end up writing about their experiences have gone this route. It requires that you demonstrate adequate resources to support yourself without working and that you have a place to stay.
The rules in much of the EU have been harmonized and will be similar. You cannot apply for the visa from Italy; you need to do that before you arrive. When you get here, you will have to apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno (Permission to Stay) from the authorities. This will have to be renewed annually.
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 Canadian or US citizens are pretty much restricted to people with special education, knowledge, or experience … and you would have to be able to speak the local language. When I moved here, it was through a transfer of the job I was already doing in the US to the Italian office. Even so, it took 8 months to put all the paperwork in place to apply for a visa. That was 11 years ago when the economy was booming; with the high unemployment here, employers are not so likely to be hiring foreigners illegally.
With the economy now, jobs are scarce – a lot of companies have a hiring freeze in place; hopefully, the economy will improve and the situation will be better for a move in the future.
You need to look carefully into the economics of the move. The cost of living is somewhat higher here than in Colorado where my US home is, for example. In addition, if you’re a US citizen you’ll need to file tax returns in both the US and Italy as a US expat and that can be quite expensive.
A good starting point for further information is the expat websites which you can find by searching for “expat” and the name of the country you’re interested in. http://www.expatsinitaly.com/ in an excellent resource for Italy
Add your own answer in the comments!
Tags: always, dreamed, italy, Living, local, Rural, start, Tips, tuscany, working
1° “so many amazing writers have done it”
Wrong.. they where all rich people (in good economic conditions..).. most of them had never worked..
2° now italy sucks.. really.. the economic situation is very very very very bad.. it’s not a good time to look for a job…
bloodring is wrong. this is the best period to invest money in italy! prices are low expecially if you want to buy an old country house and want to convert it into a bed and breakfast (in italy are called agriturismo… if you want to search in google).