off to italy...

[jessie71685]

Well I just finished my first year of college and decided it wasnt for me and that I didnt wanna rot in a small college town in minnesota for the next 3 years wasting money....so I have been working my ass off all summer to save up and I'm packin up and moving to italy hopefully by october. problem is that ive looked and looked online for cheap places to live in italy (not sure where to start out and where to live first...any suggestions? im thinking Rome) and i cant find any good websites that help to find jobs there or help out in any way when it comes to my first time going out of the US. I speak a little italian and i have my bartending license and im really good at photography (what i want to do for a career someday)...so im hoping that will get me somewhere while in in Italy...im just looking for any guidance or any words of advice from anyone who knows about italy...im completely lost in where to begin planning and where to go...please help me!!!

[skidrage]

I can't help you with finding a place to live, but as for work, you are going to have to look for jobs that pay under the table and since you mention Rome, this is a good place since they should offer a lot of these jobs. One of these positions is bar work, so it should help you that you do have bartending skills. Also, the tourism industry is another area that you can look for work in as their are many native english speakers giving tours.

Once you arrive, I believe that you are supposed to apply for a residence permit with the local police (you don't have to do this, but get caught and they will deport you). For this you just need to show that you have a certain amount of money (not sure of the amount, but it is nothing too bad) and pay a fee. Since you are not from the EU, the only way you can get a legal job is if an employer can prove that you have a skill that no one else in the EU has, which is pretty much impossible to do.

Rent in Rome is probably expensive as it is in most of the major cities, but the other costs of living should be relatively cheaper compared to the other major cities of Europe. Good luck!

[jessie71685]

thank you so much for the reply!! any bit of info helps me more than you know...

*just got my passport today...lol..big step for me...kinda pathetic that i havent been out of the country yet and im 19!*

thanks again skidrage!

[kudos_for_1984]

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Oh, don't worry about it Jessie! I am 20 and I am barely going to be travelling outside of the US to a place that isn't in Cental America! Italy should be alot of fun, and I'm sure that you'll have lots and lots of things to tell people about when you get back! I mean, we are only young once, right? :D

[bluepea]

Just a thought - my hubby and I are working on moving to Germany next summer. I plan on going to school there and he will be working. We are fortunate in the fact that Germany has a thing called a green card initiative for IT pros, pretty much eliminating a lot of the red tape one must go through to be able to work as a non EU citizen.

A friend of mine moved to Germany also (sorry, no direct info on Italy!) and ended up getting a sweet gig. He contacted the US embassy in Germany (or the German embassy in the states... can't remember) and he got a job as a nanny through them. He had a place to live and an income. He ended up taking a different nannying job for an ex Italian model who's starting a clothing business. He makes hella cash and has a place to live. The short moral of this long story is contact the embassy and see if they could be of any assistance, whether a job or a place to live.

And skidrage is right - when you get there, make sure to register that you are there!

Good luck. Maybe we'll run into each other next year!

[PlayPal]

Did your friend need a work visa? I'm confused, because skidrage said that in order to work under the table you have to register, and that if you register you will get deported if you don't have a completely unique skill?? Hmmm.....