Moving to Italy - Job Questions!

[jamesbyron]

Hi all,

Just registered on this site. I'm currently planning to move from Austin, Texas to Italy in January 2013. My original intent has been to teach English and I'm in the process of finishing up my TEFL teaching certification.

I'm getting ready to set up interviews for September (I know teaching interviews are in September and January). I still need to get my work VISA, but it seems to be a catch-22. You can't apply for a VISA unless you have a job or a "job promise." However, most of the teaching positions I've found require a work VISA. Wha?

Also, I've researched the average teaching salaries and average cost of living and the amounts are frighteningly close. So, as a long-time writer/editor, I'm also searching for content editing positions.

Lastly, I'm a musician and would like to live in a city with a decent amount of music venues. Lots of info, I know, but if anybody has any feedback on jobs and preferred cities - I'd love the hear your thoughts! Thank you! - James

[Bevdeforges]

Teaching English is a particularly tricky route for a visa for Americans, since any Brit can pop over to Italy and take a job without the need for a visa at all.

On the page discussing documents required for a work visa for Italy Ministero degli Affari Esteri - Visti, it mentions the following:

This visa is to be issued pending issuance of the “nulla osta” (entry clearance), to be requested by the employer.

Which seems to imply that you have to find the job first and then have your employer file for a nulla osta. (This is pretty much the procedure in most European countries these days.)
Cheers,
Bev

[CCinItaly]

Language schools don't issue visas or nulla ostas for English teachers. Some will employ you under the table, but they are not reputable places where you would want to work. If you want to move to Italy you need to:
1. Get ancestry citizenship in the EU
2. Enroll in a study program
3. Marry a EU citizen
4. Prove you have sufficient income to live on without working.
5. Find a company willing to sponsor you for a work visa (highly unlikely except for companies from your home country with Italian offices or military appointments, because it is a long an expensive process for them). English teachers are a dime a dozen, unfortunately.

I have been in Italy for several years, and these are the only options I have seen people use successfully. Study visas are the easiest to get, and can be a pathway to work. Definitely figure out what you will be doing for your visa before you get to Italy, because no one will hire you with out one, and if you enter Italy without one you have to go home after 90 days.