At a crossroad
Posted by lololol1617@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 5 comments
Hello, I hope you are all well and keeping safe.
My husband(29M) and I (29F) are at a point in our life where we are trying to figure out our next move.
I am Italian and my husband is American, but we have been living in Ireland. I moved about six years ago and he joined me about two years ago. We generally enjoy it here, have made friends and have generally settled in. However the economic situation, my husband's work (or lack thereof) and other things have started to weigh on us and having us consider whether it is time to move away from Ireland and try to live and settle somewhere else. We have also been told that we need to leave our apartment that we rent and so we are wondering whether this is a good time for a change. Moving to Italy or the US are not options, so we are considering either the UK, Germany or possibly the Netherlands.
I work a corporate job in sustainability and think that the UK, despite having to apply for a visa, will be more versatile for me and allow for greater job opportunities. My husband is a musician and a talented audio engineer, working in LA before moving to Ireland. He's struggled to build something meaningful financially here and thinks the UK also would make more sense for him as there is a bigger industry there.
Other than the jobs, the other aspect that we're missing is generally we would like more options of things to do, cultural events or just opportunities to try and see new things, which at the moment we feel are lacking, especially for myself having been in Ireland for six years now.
Long story short, I do not think Ireland, as much as we love it, is somewhere where we could settle down in the long run. But I suppose we are hesitant to make a change - as the saying goes you know what you're leaving but you don't know what you'll find.
We're just really confused at the moment so any words of wisdom would be appreciated. If anyone has other recommendations that would also be great.
ForsakenStick192@reddit
I’m a kiwi living in the Netherlands. I would strongly urge you to consider job opportunities without speaking the local language. There are a lot of international firms here so there are decent opportunities, but you do limit your job choices and integration and general enjoyment by not speaking the language. I have learnt Dutch but it’s super easy to get away with not learning it and I think this really affects people’s long-term lifestyles here too. You might find yourself in the same situation in four or five years looking for your next home again. The Netherlands tends to be very temporary for a lot of people and makes making friends difficult, which in turn makes you want to move on too. It’s like a cycle. I thought I’d stay but I won’t.
ForsakenStick192@reddit
And just to add to the citizenship thing, you can’t hold dual nationality with a Dutch citizenship. You’re fine being from the EU, but your partner would be starting again and if he wanted to stay in theEU then he would have to renounce his American citizenship if he went for the Dutch.
FreeFortuna@reddit
I don’t know what your timeline is, but throwing this out there if you really want to live in the UK:
As far as I understand, you’re likely eligible for Irish citizenship by now. And by the time you’d get it, your husband would likely meet the three-year requirement for being married to an Irish citizen. (Although I have no idea if that still applies if the spouse is a naturalized citizen.)
Irish citizens can live in the UK permanently without a visa, and are eligible for UK citizenship after five years. So basically, extra work now, but you wouldn’t be reliant on a visa.
Subterraniate2@reddit
Worth double checking of course, but I think the spouse has to have been married to an *Irish citizen* for those three years.
Therefore that qualifying period doesn’t begin until the citizenship application process is complete and the status is awarded. This’d mean OP and her spouse might well have a good six years to wait until they'd be visa-exempt for the UK.
RoundAd4247@reddit
Do you both speak fluent German and/or Dutch?