Question from a foreigner (find a job, buying, university)

[CuriousEagle]

Hi everyone, I'm a 20 years old student from Rome, Italy. I'm currently getting a degree in English (also studying French) at my local university (the name of the degree is Lingue e Culture Straniere - it litteraly means Foreign Languages and Cultures). While I love my city, the climate, the art and the great food, I'm really tired of the culture, the stagnant political scene and more in general the way of thinking of many people here in Italy. On the other side I've always been fascinated by the US and i really like American culture, history, etc. so I'm thinking about moving to the US after I'm done with university, more specifically the south, let's say Georgia, the Carolinas or even Florida. I say these places because i like the culture, the geography (the landscape and such), the climate is really similar to the one I'm accustomed to and it seems a less expensive region than the west coast or the north. Now, my questions are 1. how hard is it for a foregneir to find a job, especially for someone from europe with a degree in English? and 2. is it hard to be accepted in the community? I ask this because I know there are some places in the south where "outsiders" are not really accepted (or maybe it's just a common misconception). Thanks.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by CuriousEagle

1. how hard is it for a foregneir to find a job, especially for someone from europe with a degree in English?

One substantial hurdle is that as a non-citizen, you would need to have the proper paperwork to work in the US. It is illegal for an employer to hire you without that paperwork. The details of that are best discussed in City-Data's Legal Immigration forum.

[projectmaximus]

As a blanket statement (but it's pretty much accurate as far as blanket statements go) the big cities in the south will all be perfectly welcoming and fine for you. You will have some adjusting and acclimating to do for sure, but you won't have a problem being accepted into the community just cause you're foreign.

Medium-sized metros and college towns will be a mixed bag, but mostly will also be perfectly fine for you.

Small and rural towns might are the ones that might be tough.

All of that said, it's not as simple as just buying a plane ticket. There's a process to get hired and get a visa.

[masonbauknight]

You have to have a US work permit ("green card"), and they are not easy to get. I'm American and studied for 3 years in France. Although I hold two master's degrees in French, it would be extremely difficult for me to move to France next year and search for a job -- even teaching English, and even though Americans are far more desirable in the field than they used to be. (Back when I lived in France, British teachers and language assistants were always preferred, and Americans and Australians were considered second-best. That has totally changed in the last 10 to 15 years.) Yet the EU doesn't allow Americans to work legally in any of its 28 member nations, and the US doesn't make it any easier for Europeans to work here either.

I think you should seriously consider the UK or Ireland, both English-speaking countries where it will be easy for you to move. Or perhaps consider Canada by applying at a Canadian consulate as a landed immigrant. It takes a while, but at least Canada has a *serious* immigration process that gives preference to educated, multilingual people like you. Many young French have moved to Montreal recently, while other continental Europeans move to Toronto and Vancouver. But moving to the US will be just as hard for you as moving to Paris or Milan would be for me. And that's very hard.