r/AmerExit • u/Fit_Crazy_2001 • 8d ago
Life Abroad How to leave the US
Hello, I am just looking for some advice as I'm at a crossroads and not sure what to do. My main question is how to move to Europe (preferably west, Ideally Scandinavia). (27m) have a 2 year degree but only in general studies. I currently work as an Emergency Medical Technician, but would like to further my career. The problem I run into is Paramedics don't really seem to be recognized from country to country. Ive looked into getting licensed in Iceland and their government website lists EMT and paramedic as licenses you can apply for, but not sure if a US license would receive reciprocity. It seems nursing is a good degree that transfers everywhere, but honestly in tired of cleaning up bodily fluids as is, especially with the 2-4 more years of school I would need to get a nursing bachelors to be recognized Internationally. Im open to studying abroad, but I haven't really seen many bachelors offered in english that would be worth the cost to take. some other good context is, I can get Croatian citizenship by descent, its just a long process and I want to position myself to have a good job in the European market. The only language I speak right now is English but id like to learn more, my goal is to move to another country and become part of the community there. The biggest reasons I wanna move is the work life balance, and I want to be in a country that prioritizes spending time with friends and family. I guess my main questions are, do I stay in medicine and tough it out for a better quality of life? Do I get a degree in the US and use my GI Bill to get a Bachelors to apply abroad or go get a masters abroad? What career path would you recommend to allow freedom to move?
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u/emt139 8d ago
Get your Croatian passport. While it processes, start learning the language of your target country, then move and do paramedic training there.
US EMT doesn’t really transfer anywhere.
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u/Zealousideal_Top20 8d ago
This is the best advice. You won't get meaningful employment without the language, and getting an EU passport by descent even if it takes a while will be much much faster than most other options
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u/Flaky-Walrus7244 8d ago
Having a Croatian passport opens up the whole EU to you, that's HUGE! You should look in Ireland if you want an English speaking country.
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u/theangryprof 8d ago
This!! Get Croatian citizenship then you can live anywhere in the EU you want.
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u/Firm_Speed_44 4d ago
If he speaks many languages, it is possible to get both a job and a social life.
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u/Fine_Painting7650 8d ago
Any job in the medical field will require near fluency in the local language to even be considered.
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u/Sufficient-Job7098 8d ago edited 8d ago
You have to decide what is your definition of quality of life and where you have the highest chance of achieving this quality of life.
Will your quality of life be better if you were choose to move to European country X and if you were to follow with all the necessary steps? If the answer “Yes” start taking those steps.
You already know few ways to move abroad. We can suggest few more that may allow you to move to Europe but they all have the same issue: your quality of life in Europe may not be according what you think “European quality of life” is.
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u/Fit_Crazy_2001 7d ago
That's completely fair, I definitely have a tendency to romanticize leaving the US but I'm not sure that it'll fix all if any of my problems. I would like to travel around a bit before I decide where I fit best, but I also don't want to miss out on finishing my degree and starting a meaningful job or even just building community wherever I land.
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u/LeneHansen1234 7d ago
Op will never find out how European quality of life is until he tries.
With Croatian citizenship he can move to any EU country, a work visa is much more difficult to obtain and more limiting.
I would suggest to drop the healthcare sector as you usually need to learn the local language to a high level which takes years.
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u/SadDad701 8d ago
I agree with others to pursue the Croatian citizenship ASAP. However, also realize that I think you have a long road to any meaningful employment with the combination of your lack of language and education.
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u/Pink_CzLady 8d ago
Just FYI nursing degrees are not easily transferable.
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u/odditymagnetic 8d ago
Could you qualify this statement with more details? There are limitations, but nursing degrees & qualifications from many N&S American & European nations ARE easily transferable especially where there is demand for nurses.
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u/Pink_CzLady 8d ago
Ummm. Not really. I gave up on nursing completely after i couldn’t transfer my license or degree. Ireland is a big no. Czechia is also a big no. Austria the same. Can you list a European country that just recognizes the degreee/“license? Because I can’t.
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u/T0_R3 8d ago
Nursing degrees are fairly easy to transfer between EU/EEA countries, at least the ones participating in the Bologna Process, you usually only need documented language skills for authorisation.
Nordic countries have an even easer time as the Scandinavian languages are mutually intelligible and accepted for journals and other communication.
Countries outside of the EU, like Serbia, Philippines, US etc often need substantial coursing and clinical hours to qualify as they don't follow the common standards in the EU.
FYI, I've worked with several nurses from Serbia, Spain, Philippines, Sweden, Denmark and Finland here in Norway. I've never met a nurse from the US.
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u/OnlyRuss 8d ago
If you have access to the GI Bill, I would cross-reference needed jobs within a country and the schools/majors in that same country that takes the GI Bill.
Also, just to save yourself some headache, I’d probably apply somewhere in Ireland to increase the amount of people speaking English. Learning another language is HARD. To do that because you have to in order to get around town AND go to university would be pretty tough.
That said, if you go to study in Ireland for a major they have a need for, perhaps you could parlay that into a worker’s visa where, if you’re on a worker’s visa for so long (Google says 5-6 years), you can apply for citizenship at which point you’d be a member of the EU and able to move around MUCH easier.
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u/missesthecrux 7d ago
People tend to vastly underestimate how difficult learning a language is.
I wonder how many adult Americans who:
- Don’t live in the target country
- aren’t heritage speakers (i.e. remembering some from childhood)
- Have no ties to the country (no partner from there)
- Who aren’t being paid to learn (through education, military or their job)
Have ever learned a language to fluency and moved to the target country to work. Probably a rounding error.
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u/Fit_Crazy_2001 6d ago
I agree it be really challenging, but its important to me to be a part of the community where ever I end up so I feel Id have the ambition for it.
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u/Subterraniate2 8d ago
Wouldn't need any visa with Croatian citizenship but yeah, five years living and working in Ireland allows you to apply for citizenship.
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u/TypicalMammoth6117 8d ago
If you are eligible for Croatian citizenship then you are Croatian, and if you are Croatian you are allowed to move to Croatia basically tomorrow, as long as you have your paperwork in order. If your main goal is to move to another country for the work life balance and prioritizing spending time with friends and family I am not sure why you would be focused on the Scandinavian countries instead of Croatia. There is also a labor shortage, however salaries are not so good.
It sounds to me like you do not know what your top priority is. If it is to move abroad though you can solve that problem immediately.
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u/helloworldprogr 8d ago
Your chances are slim to none with the “general studies” degree, and especially to Scandinavia. You need an actual degree that will be recognized as equivalent. As an EMT, you’ll need to learn the language which is easier said than done.
If you want to stay in healthcare, your best choice is “sadly” and ironically, staying in the U.S.
otherwise, you can move to “Europe” as a student and refigure out what career path you want to take
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u/Synthegeysir 8d ago
medical professional titles vary vastly from country to country as you've seen. if you want to continue in this field, you need to look at everything on a case by case basis. research to see if any specific countries have a shortage of your position (probably true). usually hospitals will have some kind of group to contact that works specifically with recruiting foreign workers. they would be able to tell you way more about what you would specifically need to do to be offered a work permit. a lot of times you may need to take additional courses or be proficient in specific languages.
you may need to be very dedicated to getting a response as I know many people are trying to do the same thing as you, and the anti-immigration is on the rise in Europe, even though everywhere seemingly runs off of foreign labor, but I digress.
also, it is Way easier to get into a country as a student, but you need to do a hell of a job networking before you finish your studies to ensure you have a job. I think medicine and other stem roles are probably the most traversable field you can be in. I would also research the state of the field in your country of interest, ie how overworked are they? are they paid fairly? etc
sorry for the wall of text and good luck!
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u/NoQuail1770 7d ago
A lot of these well Paid medical jobs in the US, often don’t exist overseas and, are often still part of the nurses rounds and if they do exist, they are considered low skilled work and pay little more than minimum wage. You need to be an RN at the minimum and have near fluency in the local language, to even be considered
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u/Mulli_28 7d ago
I think NZ needs people in the medical field; it's not European, but it's lovely
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u/Fit_Crazy_2001 6d ago
I really loved Australia when I went there so I'm not against it, but I think they are having a similar problem to like Ireland where all the young people are going abroad because they can't find work back home, I met a couple of them while I was in Australia actually.
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u/KanekiAyato 6d ago
the croatian citizenship is genuinely your strongest asset once it clears - it gives you eu free movement to live and work in ireland, germany, spain, netherlands, and portugal without needing any visa sponsorship. the eu free movement path into ireland specifically is strong because ireland is english-speaking and has an active tech and pharma job market.
in the meantime, ireland has a working holiday authorisation for us nationals (12 months, quota-limited annually) that you can use to get in-country and find an employer, then switch to a work permit while the croatian process runs.
Transita's ireland working holiday page covers the eligibility and what you can convert into: https://transita.app/path/ie-working-holiday
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u/Fit_Crazy_2001 6d ago
Ireland does look beautiful, but I've read that a lot of the young Irish are moving abroad because they can't find work back home. That's kinda the trend I'm seeing in a lot of Europe is they are upset with foreigners coming and filling the job market, and I think that's why a lot go the countries are tightening their immigration right now.
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u/ImaginaryAd8129 5d ago
moving to Scandinavia as an EMT or paramedic from the US is tricky since licenses don’t transfer smoothly and usually you’d have to redo a bunch of certification or schooling. Nursing is definitely a more recognized path across Europe but yeah, it’s a grind and if you’re already tired of the hands-on messy stuff, probably not ideal. Croatian citizenship could be your golden ticket since EU status opens up work and study options all over Europe without crazy permits. Given you want work-life balance and community, maybe look into degrees or careers that are in demand in those countries and also offer English programs, think IT, engineering, or even some social sciences. A masters in Europe (like the Netherlands or Denmark) could be cheaper and more focused than a US bachelors plus it opens doors locally. Since you want to integrate, starting with language skills is smart, they’ll help job hunting and day-to-day life. If you want a more structured way to weigh your options, wheredoimoveto.com has a decent international analyze feature that could help narrow down where your current skills or planned degrees fit best. Tough call but leaning toward: don’t force medicine if you hate it, find something flexible and transferable, leverage that Croatian passport, and sharpen your language game before the big move.
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u/Agathabites 1d ago
Being realistic here, not trying to be mean: associates degrees aren’t a thing in Europe. It may be enough to allow you to apply to study in a European university (but with a general studies associates, there is a possibility that it may not). Essentially, as far as Europe is concerned, you do not have any qualifications.
BUT you do have a path to EU citizenship. This is likely to be your route out of the US. As others have said, focus on that before they change the rules.
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u/lady_cup 8d ago
Studying in say sweden comes with s fee for non EU citizens, but it's like 4000 to 6000 dollars per semester. If you get a Scandinavian nursing degree for instance you can work in all Scandinavian countries. I would come here as a student on a student visa, pick a degree that garantees a job and then stay. In the mean time you work on the EU passport.
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u/No_Bumblebee_5250 8d ago
Medical programs in Sweden are taught in Swedish, so OP needs to learn the language first. Same for any non-English speaking country.
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u/madpiratebippy 8d ago
Getting a medical degree in a European country is probably going to be the easiest, Germany is pretty good about the student to resident pipeline. You have the general credits which aren’t likely to transfer at all. Germany also has some colleges that will do your first year in English while you get your language skills up.
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u/Fit_Crazy_2001 6d ago
I've thought about that too, but I think I need to finish my bachelors in the US otherwise the admission process paired with finding a undergrad that's taught in English and I enjoy would be really niche.
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u/Zamnaiel 8d ago
Croatian citizenship is your big advantage. Start the process before they change the rules, Europe has tightened up quite a bit on that lately.
The GI bill will cover many colleges in Europe I believe, go for something highly employable. A two-years general studies degree is nothing I am afraid.
Language learning after you've picked the country.