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Recently, I've seen a lot of posts with questions related to how to move from the US to Europe, so I thought I'd share some insights. I lived in 6 different European countries and worked for a US company that relocated staff here, so I had the opportunity to know a bit more the process and the steps involved. **First of all**: Europe is incredibly diverse in culture, bureaucracy, efficiency, job markets, cost of living, English fluency, and more. Don’t assume neighboring countries work the same way, especially when it comes to bureaucracy. I saw people making this error a lot of times. Small differences can be deal breakers depending on your situation. Also, the political landscape is very fragmented, so keep this in mind. Platforms [like this](https://movyzen.com/) can help you narrow down on the right country and visa based on your needs and situation. **Start with your situation** This is the first important aspect. Every country has its own immigration laws and visas, which vary widely. The reality is that you cannot start from your dream country, because it may not be realistic for your specific case. Best would be to evaluate all the visa options among all the EU countries, see which one best fits your situation, and then work on getting the European passport in that country, which will then allow you to live everywhere in Europe:  * **Remote Workers:** Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Estonia offer digital nomad visas or equivalent (i.e. freelance visa). Usually you need €2,500–€3,500/mo in remote income required. Use an Employer of Record (EOR) if you're on W2 in the U.S. * **Passive Income / Early retirement:** Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, France offers passive income visas, you have to show a steady non-work income, depending on the country (Portugal around $11K/year, France $20k, Italy $36k etc) * **Entrepreneurs/Sole Proprietor:** Estonia, Ireland, Italy, France, and the Netherlands have solid startup/residence programs. * **Student:** get accepted into a higher education school to get the student visa. * **Startup/entrepreneur visas** available in France, Estonia, Italy and more. Some countries allow self-employed freelancers with client proof. * **Investors:** Investment Visa available in Greece, Portugal, Italy (fund, government bonds or business investments. In Greece also real estate). * **Researchers**: Researcher Visa available in all the EU Countries under Directive (EU) 2016/801. Non-EU nationals with a master's degree or higher can apply if they have a hosting agreement with a recognised research institution. Visas are limited in time but renewable and some countries offer short residency to citizenship (5 years in Portugal, France, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany), others long residency to citizenship (Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Denmark). Note: Italy will have a referendum on June 9th to reduce it to 5 years. # Simple Decision Table: |Work Status|Best Visa Options|Notes| |:-|:-|:-| |W2 Employee|Digital Nomad (with EOR), EU Blue Card|EOR = lets you qualify as remote worker legally| |1099 Contractor|Digital Nomad, Freelancer Visa|Need to meet income requirements for specific country ($2.5K+)| |Freelancer / Sole Prop|Digital Nomad, Entrepreneur Visa|Need to meet income requirements for specific country ($2.5K+)| |Passive Income / Retiree|D7, Non-Lucrative|Income requirement depending on the country| # Alternatively, if you have European Ancestry.. ..you *might* be eligible for citizenship by descent. That means an EU passport and therefore no visa needed. * **More than 3 generations ago:** Germany (if you prove unbroken chain), Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Croatia and Austria citizenship * **Up to 3 generations ago:** Slovakia, Romania, Czech and Bulgaria * **Up to 2 generations:** Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta Note: Italy has recently amended its *Ius Sanguinis* (citizenship by descent) law, now limiting eligibility to two generations. which is a significant change from the previous version, which had no generational limit. There is also a Wikipedia page with all the citizenship by descent options [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis). Most European countries allow dual citizenship with the U.S., including Italy, Ireland, France, Germany (after 2024), Portugal, Belgium and Greece, meaning that one can acquire the nationality without giving up their current one. A few like Austria, Estonia and the Netherlands have restrictions, but even in places like Spain, Americans often keep both passports in practice despite official discouragement. # Most common visa requirements * Proof of income or savings (€2K–€3K/month depending on country) * Private health insurance * Clean criminal record * Address (lease, hotel booking, etc.) * Apostilled and translated documents (birth certs, etc.) # Taxes **- US Taxes while living abroad** You still need to file U.S. taxes even when abroad. Know this: * **FEIE (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion):** Lets you exclude up to \~$130,000/year of foreign earned income. * **FTC (Foreign Tax Credit):** If you pay EU taxes, you can often offset U.S. taxes. **- Key Forms:** * **Form 1040** (basic return) * **Form 2555** (for FEIE) * **Form 1116** (for FTC) * **FBAR** for foreign bank accounts over $10K * **Form 8938** if total foreign assets over $200K (joint filers abroad) \- **Tax Incentives for Expats in Europe** You might be eligible to get tax incentives since some countries have tax benefits programs for individuals: * **Italy: Impatriate Regime:** 50% income tax exemption (5–10 years). * **Portugal: NHR (for STEM profiles):** 20% flat rate on Portuguese sourced income, 0% on foreign source income. * **Spain: Beckham Law:** 24% flat rate on Spanish sourced income, 0% on foreign sourced income, up to €600K (6 years). * **Greece: New Resident Incentive:** 50% income tax exemption (7 years). * **Croatia: Digital Nomad Income Exemption:** 0% on income (1 year). If you combine this with **FEIE** or **FTC**, you can reduce both U.S. and EU tax burdens. There are also some tax programs for businesses: * **Estonia:** 0% income tax. Can be managed quite anywhere. * **Canary Islands (Spain):** 4% income tax, no VAT. Must hire locally. * **Madeira, Azores (Portugal):** 5% income tax. Must hire locally. * **Malta:** Effective tax rate below 5%. # Useful link and resources: (Some are global but include EU countries info as well) * [Relocation tool to match you with the right EU region and visas.](https://movyzen.com) * [List from Nomads of cities w/ filters tailored to digital nomads ](http://nomads.com) * [Personal income tax rates across EU countries](https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/top-personal-income-tax-rates-europe/) * [Jus Sanguinis Laws (worldwide but include EU)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis) * [Jus Soli Laws (worldwide but include EU)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli) * [Abortion Laws (worldwide but include EU)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_law) * [EU Citizenship Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_citizenship#:~:text=10%20years%27%20residence%2C%20no%20criminal,for%20refugees%20or%20stateless%20individuals) * [EU cities cost of living index ](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/region_rankings_current.jsp?region=150) * [EU countries english level index](https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/) * [Education Quality Index (worldwide but include EU)](https://worldostats.com/country-stats/education-quality-index-by-country/) * [Crypto Taxes (worldwide but include EU)](https://coincub.com/ranking/crypto-tax-report-2024/) * [EU Capital Gain Taxes](https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/eu/capital-gains-tax-rates-in-europe-2024/) * [Real estate trends by EU country](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20241014STO24542/rising-housing-costs-in-the-eu-the-facts-infographics) # General notes: * Start with private health insurance (you’ll need it for the visa anyway), but once you’re a resident, many countries let you into their public systems. It’s way cheaper and often better than in the U.S. * European paperwork can be slow and strict, especially in some countries in Southern Europe * Professionals to consider hiring before and after the move:  * **Immigration Lawyers** for complex visas, citizenship cases * **Tax Consultants/Accountants** to optimize FEIE, FTC, local tax incentives * **Relocation Advisors** for logistics and general paperwork * **Real Estate Agents/Mortgage Brokers** for housing * **EOR Services** if you're a W2 employee needing digital nomad access Hope this was helpful to some of you. Again, I am no lawyer nor accountant but just someone who helped some colleagues from the US to move to Europe and who have been through this directly. Happy to answer any comments or suggest recommendations. **EDITS** WOW wasn't expecting all of this! Thank you to all of those who added additional info/clarification. I'm gonna take the time and integrate it inside the post. Latest edits: 1. Removed Germany from the list of countries offering DNV or equivalent, and Spain from Golden Visa. As pointed out by other users, Germany just offers a freelance residence permit but you must have German clients and a provable need to live in Germany to do your work, while Spain ended their GV in April 2025. 2. Changed the Golden Visa into a more general Investment Visa given that 'Golden Visa' was mainly associated with a real estate investment, which most of the countries removed and now only allow other type of investments. Adjusted the ranges for the Passive Income / Early retirement category for France and Portugal as pointed out in the comments. 3. Clarified that the Citizenship by Descent law decree in Italy is currently limited to 2 generations after recent changes. 4. Added a list of countries that allow for dual citizenship 5. Added Germany to countries allowing for jure sanguinis 6. Added Researcher Visa to list of Visas 7. Removed this part "You can even live in one country and base your business in another. (Example: The combo Live in Portugal, run a company in Estonia works well for many)" as one user pointed out the risks. I don't want to encourage anyone to take risks. While I’ve met entrepreneurs using Estonia’s e-residency while living elsewhere, further research shows it’s not loophole-free. POEM rules and OECD guidelines mean that if you manage a company from your country of residence, it may be considered tax-resident there, especially in countries like Portugal. For digital nomads with mobile setups, it can still work if structured properly, but always consult a cross-border tax advisor first. 8. Added Luxembourg to the list of countries offering citizenship y descent up to 2 generations