I have a question

[desert_fox 32]

If you live in a European country that is a member of the economic union....what does that mean?? Can you freely travel, can you just go to a another member country and just live there without having to go thru some immigration proceedure?? Can you just go there and begin to work if you choose???

What exactly can you do now that you couldnt do before???

Thanks

[Welshcookie 17]

In my understanding an EU citizen can live in another EU country without any kind of immigration process....when we were looking into moving to Germany I would have had to inform a local govermnent office and that was it....if you are not an EU citizen then normal immigration processes would apply....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you live in a European country that is a member of the economic union....what does that mean?? Can you freely travel, can you just go to a another member country and just live there without having to go thru some immigration proceedure?? Can you just go there and begin to work if you choose???

What exactly can you do now that you couldnt do before???

Thanks

Good question. Back in Britain a lot of folks weren't all that clued up about the practical benefits of Europe - European issues were often viewed with suspicion (legislation by the back door kind of thing).

As far as I know a citizen of an EU country can study or work anywhere in the EU, without having to deal with immigration for a work permit. You can indeed travel freely, and I think you can live anywhere in the EU without having to deal with immigration for a visa, though there might be some sort of registration process.

[pax 0]

Freedom for citizens of its member states to live and work anywhere within the EU with their spouses and children, provided they can support themselves (also extended to the other EEA states and Switzerland).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

[Satisfaction 1]

"Travelling in Europe has been simplified with the introduction of the Schengen visa. As a visitor to the Schengen area, you will enjoy the many advantages of this unified visa system. Generally speaking, with a Schengen visa, you may enter one country and travel freely throughout the Schengen zone. Internal border controls have disappeared; there are no or few stops and checks. This means that internal air, road and train travel are handled as domestic trips, similar to travel from one US state to another. Those who traveled in Europe before Schengen know the difference.

The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.

A Schengen Visa is applied for at the Embassy or Consulate of the Schengen country which you will be spending the most nights on your trip to the Schengen Space. If you are only visiting one country on your trip then you apply for your visa at the Consulate of this Schengen country."

http://www.theschengenoffice.com/explained...engen_visa.html

N.B.

A Schengen visa will not allow you to visit certain EU territories, i.e. my home in French Guiana. To give you an example, French territories located outside the mainland - i.e. French Guiana (South America), Tahiti (Polynesia) - have their own immigration policies and visa requirements. Perhaps the same is true of British territories? Those territories can be compared to Puerto Rico or Guam. Foreign nationals who wish to travel there may obtain a separate visa to visit.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Free movement which includes working without having to procure a permit. The freedom of workers to move between EU-countries is however limited for workers from the seven eastern EU-members (except in Britain and Ireland).

I have no idea how it was before this agreement took place, but I do remember having to flash my passport every time I crossed a border. I assume that it used to be more complicated and virtually impossible to migrate within Europe before that, however, based on the fact that many Southern Europeans migrating to Germany in the 1960s needed a work permit through a guest worker program; otherwise they weren't allowed to move into Germany.

[Satisfaction 1]

If you live in a European country that is a member of the economic union....what does that mean?? Can you freely travel, can you just go to a another member country and just live there without having to go thru some immigration proceedure?? Can you just go there and begin to work if you choose???

What exactly can you do now that you couldnt do before???

Thanks

A Schengen visa will allow you to visit any EU member state for a limited period of time, but will unfortunately not allow you to work there. You may apply for a working permit through employment, marriage and so forth, just like in the US. I wouldn't advise you to violate the terms of your tourist visa in Europe, because strict immigration policies may make you face deportation.

PS: England is not signatory of the Schengen Treaty.

[almaty 19]

what's up with the brits on this?

[Sister Fracas 5]

Fox, are you talking about living in an EU member country as a citizen of that country or just as a resident?

what's up with the brits on this?

Island mentality and wanting to keep a distance from "the continent"....same reason they haven't changed over their currency.....................yet.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

what's up with the brits on this?

They're frightened...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If you live in a European country that is a member of the economic union....what does that mean?? Can you freely travel, can you just go to a another member country and just live there without having to go thru some immigration proceedure?? Can you just go there and begin to work if you choose???

What exactly can you do now that you couldnt do before???

Thanks

A Schengen visa will allow you to visit any EU member state for a limited period of time, but will unfortunately not allow you to work there. You may apply for a working permit through employment, marriage and so forth, just like in the US. I wouldn't advise you to violate the terms of your tourist visa in Europe, because strict immigration policies may make you face deportation.

PS: England is not signatory of the Schengen Treaty.

What on God's Green Earth has the Schengen Visa to with the Fox's question?

The query clearly starts: "If you live..." and not "If you visit...".

[brtlmj 0]

The freedom of workers to move between EU-countries is however limited for workers from the seven eastern EU-members (except in Britain and Ireland).

Also in Sweden... and soon in Spain.

Bartek

[Fischkoepfin 1]

The freedom of workers to move between EU-countries is however limited for workers from the seven eastern EU-members (except in Britain and Ireland).

Also in Sweden... and soon in Spain.

Bartek

Didn't know that. Thanks for clarifying.

[desert_fox 32]

Its seems to me that this might a drain of ppl from less properous countries to countries that are more properous, taking jobs. Could lead to big time problems where citizens cant get a job because some "foreigner" are willing to work for less. Just a guess.

I know that Spain is having these kind of problems now with illegals there from poorer parts of Africa.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Its seems to me that this might a drain of ppl from less properous countries to countries that are more properous, taking jobs. Could lead to big time problems where citizens cant get a job because some "foreigner" are willing to work for less. Just a guess.

I know that Spain is having these kind of problems now with illegals there from poorer parts of Africa.

Well, it exist to allow people from less prosperous or economically successful countries within the EU to live and work legally in another EU-country. It has actually reduced illegal labor in those countries that allow any EU-national to work and has led to stable rather than decreasing wages whereas those countries that bar certain EU-nationals have more issues with inter-EU illegal labor working for less than standard/minimum wages. There is in some countries a movement to introduce a minimum/living wage for all workers so as to reduce the likelihood of foreign nationals working for less.

The African migrants are not legal workers and they don't have many chances to enter into the EU legally, thus creating the typical illegal labor problems. However, since that would be outside-EU migration, there isn't a real connection between the two.