Dreaming of Living Abroad

Hi All, my name is Teresa and health issues have required me to re-evaluate the quality of life that both my family and I want. I once heard that North Americans "Live to Work" and Europeans "Work to Live". My doctor thinks that a move to Europe could potentially benefit my overall quality of life. Not to mention the quality of life for my husband and kids. I suffered a back injury in 2001 and have been steadily declining. A change in climate, pace, and place does wonders not only from a physical perspective, but also from a psychological one.

We have been wanting to relocate to Europe for some time now. My husband and two daughters (19 & 15) and I are all Canadian Citizens. However, my husband was born in Italy and renounced is Italian Citizenship in the late '70s. From what I understand, I don't think he can get it reinstated unless he establishes residency for at least a year. (I could be way off, so if you have info, please let me know.) This was our original plan, however I was recently informed that my daughters and husband qualify for a Polish Passport because I am a direct descendant of a Polish citizen who lost their citizenship during WWII. I have all of my father's and grandfather's original documentation from Poland (ie. Birth certificates, passports, and army info.)
Am I correct in thinking that traveling with an EU passport will help us in acquiring employment? We are hoping to begin our European move in Italy or France.
Any advice, help, tips, and info you can offer is much appreciated!
Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing from you. I also look forward to hearing your experiences -- good AND bad -- I know that it's not always a stroll through the park.
Cheers!
Teresa

Hi Teresa,

Welcome to the board. If you are able to get an EU passport, you will be all set as you will be able to live and work in most EU countries without a problem. You may still need to establish residency for up to three years for some things (for example, to pay resident fees for univeristy). Try the Polish Embassy in Ottawa http://www.ottawa.polemb.net/ for more info about whether or not you qualify for citizenship.

It's not all a walk in the park and even moving to another English speaking country like the UK was a huge change for me, but I am enjoying life over here.

All the best.

Bear in mind there's no such thing as "EU citizenship" or an "EU passport". If you are a citizen of a EU member state, then you have the right to reside or work in any other EU member state as provided for under the Treaty of Rome, and other treaties. If you are Polish and move to Italy, you still have to apply for permanent residency, however it is pretty much a formality and you are allowed to live and work there while the application is underway.

In some EU States applying for permanent residency if you're from another EU State is basically a check box on the form and enclosing a copy of your passport.

I question the logic of quality of life being better elsewhere than Canada, the only place I've ever been where the quality of life could objectively be said to be better than Canada is Switzerland. And the UN appears to agree with me, the top five cities in the UN survey are all Canadian and Swiss. Unfortunately, Switzerland is not in the EU, although they do speak Italian in the southern Canton.

I think you might find moving out west might work out better. Ireland also is quite nice and there are lots of jobs and you don't have to learn another language. The UK is too crowded and expensive though. I speak as a British citizen!

Productivity based on the number of hours that people perform work isn't purely a result of how many hours people want to work - there are environmental factors at work as well, i.e. how healthy people are, how good transport links are, how good the education system is. This is why the US usually ranks so high in productivity, because people CAN work for longer periods.

I'm far less stressed than I ever was living in the UK and I work the same number of hours.

EU passport- translation-> passport of an EU country.

Yeah, this is just a pet peeve of mine because I had a big argument about it with a reporter for the Toronto Star who refused to correct her article.

Although it says: "European Union" on the front of a passport issued by an EU member state, that simply means the passport complies with the standard laid down in the European Directive on identification and the Schengen Agreement, it doesn't mean it's an EU passport. The Council of Europe can actually issue passports to EU diplomats, but they are a very rare document.

I can get really obscure by pointing out that certain places where you get British citizenship if you were born there, e.g. Jersey and the Isle of Man, actually aren't covered by the directive and you have to get a British passport to get one that is EU compliant. But actually it's only needed to re-enter as the UK is the only EU State that didn't fully agree to the Schengen free movement provisions that allow people to cross borders in the EU without identifying themselves. And the UK doesn't care obviously if you are a British citizen.

But some non-EU places don't recognise a BOT passport, only a British EU compliant passport. Yawn. I'm sure all this bureaucracy serves a purpose in some alternate dimension.

Wow- you sure have a bee in your bonnet about this one.

I said EU passport because I have a Dutch passport and live and work in the UK without.

*Yawn* is right.

Yikes! My apologies for the following diatribe.

Thanks for all the info! You know the old saying about the grass being greener right? I guess that's how I'm feeling at the moment. There are definitely some positives about being Canadian. However, I know that at this point in my life, I'm not as content to sit idly by and watch what was once a fantastic nation become a nation covered in red tape.

I'm just a little bit bitter. can you tell? I'm a victim of the wonderful law that provides insurance to injured workers! AKA - workers' comp. I hurt myself in 2001 and am unable to work at any regular 40+ hour a week job. The Canadian workaholic tendency was what did me in. You know you're hired on salary for a basic 40 hour work week. But what that really means is if you want to keep your job the minimum required number of hours is 60 -- with (if you're lucky) 3 weeks of vacation.

Hi my name is Teresa and I'm a workaholic. is NOT how I want to introduce myself or how I want my kids to remember me when I'm gone. I think that the change of pace to a rural or medieval European town would suit us just fine. In my professional career I was part of the management team of an e-B2B company and not only was I physically in my office for 60+ hours, I was attached to a "crackberry" and a mobile 24/7. No more! Because here I am now with a debilitating back injury that occurred on the job and I still have to hire a lawyer to fight for what is rightfully mine -- a whoppingly meager 85% of my original salary. Apparently the WCB thinks that I am able to work while every doctor I've seen says I cannot. Not to mention the fact that I can't even sit, drive or walk for more than 15-20 minutes at a time.

Sorry to vent, but hey. I think that I have contributed to the Canadian economy such that I should get something back.?

I know that right now the grass may seem greener to me on the other side, but maybe what we all need at some point in our lives is change.

Bye for now!
Teresa

I said EU passport because I have a Dutch passport and live and work in the UK without.

No worries Lori, I'm hip to your jive.

I really appreciate all the advice. it is most interesting to hear from all of you.

I just wanted to clarify that it is not only the lifestyle change that I am looking forward to.it is the weather, in the mid-southern part of Abruzzi that draws me. With my injury, the weather here is the worst. Other than Arizona, or the Sahara, my husband's home state and province in Italy will be good for the back and the bones.

The other more personal reason is to get back some of my husband's roots. He was born in Italy and has not been back there to see aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. since he was 8 years old. It's time for a change.

The bureaucracy of the paperwork is a definite yawn. Even though my hubby was born in Italy, when he became a Canadian, there were no dual-citizenship rights from Italy and he had to renounce his Italian citizenship. Because of the timing and the year of his citizenship into Canada, as far as I can tell from the Italian Embassy, is that he can not just apply for it back. He must establish residency for (I think I got this right) one year because he was born there. Even that rule is a little sketchy. That's why we're going the Polish route through me. A lot less hassle -- I HOPE!

Ciao!

I saw some TV show about Sicily I think it was, longest life expectancy in the world for caucasians apparently.