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How difficult is it for an American to move to Sweden to live long term? The author had an employer sponsored visa. Are there other paths?

devoutsalsa 3y ago
I don’t know about Sweden, but I think immigration to Europe is easier than immigration to the USA. I recently interviewed with a company in the Netherlands, and immigration was a non-issue. Get job, get residence visa (assuming you aren’t a criminal with a record that shows up in a background check). Taxes are high in Western Europe, and salary lower than in the USA. That being said, some companies pay wages that are semi-competitive with American wages, and some countries offer a tax advantage for skilled immigrants (in the Netherlands, for qualified immigrants they offer package called the 30% rule, where you don’t pay taxes on 30% of your income & you’re exempt from the wealth tax on assets outside of the Netherlands*) *don’t quote me on that, do your own research* Info on the 30% rule in the Netherlands: https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/taxes/the-dutch-30-ruling-explained-101641 https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/taxes/the-dutch-30-rulin...
- bmoxb 3y ago
  From my limited knowledge, I think Switzerland is probably the only country that might be a bit more difficult coming from outside of the EU.
- tpmx 3y ago
  Sweden: For tech workers with reasonable salaries - it's very similar. There's not that much paperwork for the employer (no lawyers need to be involved on either side, even in small companies the HR people or the CEO/Founder are normally able to handle it on their own without that much pain).
- freitzkriesler2 3y ago
  It depends on what you do professionally. Are you a software developer? If so, you're golden to pretty much move anywhere you want. Anything else and you're SOL
iamEAP 3y ago
Moved to Sweden from the US ~3 years ago. The most stable path is with an employer-sponsored work visa. Best bet is to interview at a multinational with a presence in Sweden (big companies are more likely to operate in English). Next best option is to be in a stable relationship with a Swede. It’s possible to get a visa running your own business, but the wait times for this are long and you need solid documentation that you’ll actually make enough to support yourself/your dependents. Visas are also available for students and they’re experimenting with a visa for highly skilled job seekers, but these are a bit more limiting in terms of length and what you get access to.

devoutsalsa 3y ago

I don’t know about Sweden, but I think immigration to Europe is easier than immigration to the USA. I recently interviewed with a company in the Netherlands, and immigration was a non-issue. Get job, get residence visa (assuming you aren’t a criminal with a record that shows up in a background check). Taxes are high in Western Europe, and salary lower than in the USA. That being said, some companies pay wages that are semi-competitive with American wages, and some countries offer a tax advantage for skilled immigrants (in the Netherlands, for qualified immigrants they offer package called the 30% rule, where you don’t pay taxes on 30% of your income & you’re exempt from the wealth tax on assets outside of the Netherlands*) *don’t quote me on that, do your own research* Info on the 30% rule in the Netherlands: https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/taxes/the-dutch-30-ruling-explained-101641 https://www.expatica.com/nl/finance/taxes/the-dutch-30-rulin...

bmoxb 3y ago
From my limited knowledge, I think Switzerland is probably the only country that might be a bit more difficult coming from outside of the EU.
tpmx 3y ago
Sweden: For tech workers with reasonable salaries - it's very similar. There's not that much paperwork for the employer (no lawyers need to be involved on either side, even in small companies the HR people or the CEO/Founder are normally able to handle it on their own without that much pain).
freitzkriesler2 3y ago
It depends on what you do professionally. Are you a software developer? If so, you're golden to pretty much move anywhere you want. Anything else and you're SOL

iamEAP 3y ago

Moved to Sweden from the US ~3 years ago. The most stable path is with an employer-sponsored work visa. Best bet is to interview at a multinational with a presence in Sweden (big companies are more likely to operate in English). Next best option is to be in a stable relationship with a Swede. It’s possible to get a visa running your own business, but the wait times for this are long and you need solid documentation that you’ll actually make enough to support yourself/your dependents. Visas are also available for students and they’re experimenting with a visa for highly skilled job seekers, but these are a bit more limiting in terms of length and what you get access to.