Language would be a problem, but I could survive with Spanish, so probably Spain. I could learn other Latin or Germanic languages pretty easily though if needed. I know a little Dutch from a job I had that sent me there a few times and Portuguese or Italian is close enough to Spanish that combined with the English similarities I could pick up eventually. But work requires more than a basic grasp of language, especially if I have to start in the service industry or something. So Spain would probably be the quickest.
The biggest barrier is the requirements for having housing already and having to pay for it while not being in the country while waiting for the Visa. Housing in the US takes half or more of most people’s salary. For me it’s more and I am a software architect in my late 40s, though I do live on the west coast in a major city which is more expensive. But I don’t have a car payment because of public transportation which has allowed me to keep my older cars a lot longer, which doesn’t exist in most of the US.
Don’t forget english can be something useful in computer jobs, am a cs guy myself and in France its appreciated.
So how hard is it to get a visa? I mean the rest will follow, just rent a shitty 1 bedroom for starters and work your way forward, as long as you have a job it will work
It’s not quite that easy. You need the job and lease first. Finding a job without speaking the language that well is a lot. And honestly, even as someone who makes a moderately high salary compared to the majority in my country, I still am not middle class and don’t have the ability to rent an apartment in France and pay up front for health insurance in addition to my mortgage and living costs. The number of work visas are also limited depending on the country.
And it’s risky. What if the job doesn’t work out and ends too close to the Visa renewal time to find another. Not to mention you have to leave the country for some time to get the new visa. I’d have to have the ability to move back to the US until I could find new employment while still maintaining the apartment in France or wherever. That might be OK for someone with a big family to support them back home, but most of us don’t have that. It’s not part of our culture.
And finally, work visas are a system designed for employers to abuse foreign employees with the threat of being deported if the employer decides not to renew. In most countries (including the US most of which has lax employment laws anyway) the employer doesn’t even need to technically fire the employee, just decide not to renew their visa.
Yes, let’s trade…lol
Language would be a problem, but I could survive with Spanish, so probably Spain. I could learn other Latin or Germanic languages pretty easily though if needed. I know a little Dutch from a job I had that sent me there a few times and Portuguese or Italian is close enough to Spanish that combined with the English similarities I could pick up eventually. But work requires more than a basic grasp of language, especially if I have to start in the service industry or something. So Spain would probably be the quickest.
The biggest barrier is the requirements for having housing already and having to pay for it while not being in the country while waiting for the Visa. Housing in the US takes half or more of most people’s salary. For me it’s more and I am a software architect in my late 40s, though I do live on the west coast in a major city which is more expensive. But I don’t have a car payment because of public transportation which has allowed me to keep my older cars a lot longer, which doesn’t exist in most of the US.
Don’t forget english can be something useful in computer jobs, am a cs guy myself and in France its appreciated.
So how hard is it to get a visa? I mean the rest will follow, just rent a shitty 1 bedroom for starters and work your way forward, as long as you have a job it will work
It’s not quite that easy. You need the job and lease first. Finding a job without speaking the language that well is a lot. And honestly, even as someone who makes a moderately high salary compared to the majority in my country, I still am not middle class and don’t have the ability to rent an apartment in France and pay up front for health insurance in addition to my mortgage and living costs. The number of work visas are also limited depending on the country.
And it’s risky. What if the job doesn’t work out and ends too close to the Visa renewal time to find another. Not to mention you have to leave the country for some time to get the new visa. I’d have to have the ability to move back to the US until I could find new employment while still maintaining the apartment in France or wherever. That might be OK for someone with a big family to support them back home, but most of us don’t have that. It’s not part of our culture.
And finally, work visas are a system designed for employers to abuse foreign employees with the threat of being deported if the employer decides not to renew. In most countries (including the US most of which has lax employment laws anyway) the employer doesn’t even need to technically fire the employee, just decide not to renew their visa.