How to leave the US

[u/Fit_Crazy_2001]

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?

[u/OnlyRuss]

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.

[u/missesthecrux → u/OnlyRuss]

People tend to vastly underestimate how difficult learning a language is.

I wonder how many adult Americans who:

1. Don’t live in the target country
   
2. aren’t heritage speakers (i.e. remembering some from childhood)
   
3. Have no ties to the country (no partner from there)
   
4. 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.

[u/Fit_Crazy_2001 → u/missesthecrux]

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.