Living in Europe is the goal of many people who want to live new experiences and take advantage of opportunities abroad. However, to make this dream a reality, it takes a lot of planning and emotional preparation. To find out how to move to Europe in a smooth manner, we have compiled the article below with practical tips to ensure a smooth move. Come on?
- How to move to Europe: step by step
Planning how to move to Europe is not easy. Any move to another country involves a series of important decisions, bureaucracy and financial planning.
To help you organize these preparations, we have elaborated this step by step with the main stages of this change:
- Define the purpose of your move to Europe;
- Choose the destination and your length of stay in the country;
- Access the website of the country’s embassy in US and provide all necessary documentation;
- Check the cost of living in the country and do financial planning;
- Choose where you will live and guarantee the payment of the rent;
- Prepare your family for change;
- Settle your debts in US;
- Pack your bags;
- Hire travel insurance;
- Boarding for Europe.
- What are you going to do in Europe?
The Europe is a favorite destination for travelers from around the world. The reason is simple, the continent is rich in culture and offers opportunities for all profiles and objectives.
The motivations for spending a long season in Europe are diverse, but the most sought after by foreigners are:
- Post-graduate or exchange in Europe;
- Work in a company in Europe;
- Perform voluntary work;
- Marry or accompany family members in another country;
- Take advantage of retirement abroad.
To make the best decision, reflect on your personal goals and profile. Then, check out the options available and do a detailed search on each one.
This choice must be taken with caution, as it will influence the entire planning of the move, including visa, country of destination, expenses, travel period and even the preparation of the suitcase.
- Visa to live in Europe
Now that you have defined the objectives of your move, it is time to provide the documents to enter Europe . The visa is certainly one of the most important, as it guarantees its legality in the European country.
There are different types of long-term visas for foreigners without dual citizenship . We will quote below the most requested.
- Study;
- Work;
- Investors;
- Entrepreneurs;
- Tourists.
The ideal is to choose the category that matches your goal in Europe. This document must be requested before the trip, at Embassy of the destination country in US.
- Financial organization
Financial planning is another item that helps a lot in the process of how to move to Europe. With it, you have an estimate of the expenses and cost of living abroad.
To prepare this plan, just create a spreadsheet in Excel and simulate all your expenses. If you don’t have Excel skills, make a table on a sheet of notebook paper yourself. A nice tip is to organize the expenses before and after the change:
- Before the trip: airfare , travel insurance , documentation, rental price and other preparations;
- After the trip: food, accommodation, transportation, leisure and extra costs.
- Documents to be provided
The process of moving to Europe is bureaucratic. In addition to the visa, you will need to provide a number of documents and vouchers prior to travel. See below, which are the most important and required by immigration:
- Visa;
- Passport;
- Travel insurance ;
- Proof of accommodation;
- Declaration of departure from the country ;
- Vaccination card;
- Financial proof i.e your bank statement of last three months.
- Closing accounts and settling debts in US
Before embarking, decide what you are going to do with your goods in US. Sell your car, apartment and other high-value items. With the accumulated money, settle your debts and create emergency savings to live in Europe .
Communicate in advance your move abroad at the company where you work. Thus, you will have time to comply with the termination and if you plan better. If you live in a rental in US, inform the owner of your departure. Also call the water, electricity and internet companies and cancel the services.
- Packing your belongings
Now that you are finally moving to Europe, from US and even how much money you need to move, it’s time to pack. At this point, you need to choose well the items that will make up the few pounds of your luggage. But if you desire to take all your belongings with you which obviously won’t be allowed in the airplane, you can opt to contact an intenational moving service 3 months prior to your move. These agencies manage everything related to moving your belongings to another country including import export charges, customs, and deliver them to you at an affordable rate.
