# immigrating to spain?



## future expat1 (Jul 26, 2013)

im a young male from London england, i originally wanted to go to the US but since there immigration policies are so ridiculously strict its retarded i have been considering Spain, im not sure about my future career, i was thinking social work, sociology, anthropology, mental health, business, marketing, human resources, management etc. 

or i was thinking about saving up some money and open a small bar or hotel or shop or some sort of business, im not really sure lol please suggest a better business idea or career if you know of it? how much money will i need realistically?

how how likely are my ambitions ? how long will it take etc

i don't mind at all where in Spain, but preferably not around lots of other british people, so that probably means not the south, but i don't mind if its extreamly rral or a large city or a semi-rural town 

heres the bad thing, i don't have any money and i can't speak any spanish, but i'm willing and ready to learn

thank you in advance


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sorry to bring sad tidings but...to live and work in Spain, you need to register with the authorities after 90 days. You need to show you have approximately 600 euros a month paid regularly into a Spanish bank account. I think you also need proof of contracted employment.
Unemployment is running at 28% in Spain..the highest in Europe.
I'd say getting a job in those areas you mention, even if you spoke fluent Spanish, are slim to non-existent.

As for running a bar/cafe...there are hundreds of thousands of bars/cafes for sale in all areas of Spain.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

future expat1 said:


> im a young male from London england, i originally wanted to go to the US but since there immigration policies are so ridiculously strict its retarded i have been considering Spain, im not sure about my future career, i was thinking social work, sociology, anthropology, mental health, business, marketing, human resources, management etc.
> 
> or i was thinking about saving up some money and open a small bar or hotel or shop or some sort of business, im not really sure lol please suggest a better business idea or career if you know of it? how much money will i need realistically?
> 
> ...


:welcome:

not great news I'm afraid.............. 


Spain has unemployment heading rapidly for 30% (genuinely - by 2014 that's what they are predicting) so finding work would be a challenge to put it mildly..

you really need to save up rather a lot of money & learn Spanish.. think of it as a very long term plan & then when the situation in Spain improves :fingerscrossed: you'll have a headstart


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

It says you are ex-pat in Mexico which I think could be difficult as you don't speak Spanish. If you have no money then you really mustn't think Spain has the answers for you. Best thing is to visit a few places here where you think you might like and see what it's like. BUT whatever you do, right now is definitely not the right time to take on a bar especially if you have no experience of running one. You will almost certainly fail because the bars for sale are generally the ones that are making a loss. Spain can still offer people a wonderful lifestyle but they tend to be folk who come here with guaranteed work or retired or with a large pot of money from the sale of a house. Come and have some holidays here. If nothing else you will have some fun!!! Remember, many places in Spain have unemployment for under 25s as high as 50%.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Also, you mention saving up some money to open a business. Not a bad idea at all, but first make sure you know how to run that particular business. Depending on the type of business you want to run you will need from €5000 (some franchises sell for this little) to €250,000 plus and in addition you will need around 2 - 3 years of money to live on whilst you build up your business. Perhaps you could do it on as little as €20,000 but that will depend on where you choose to live. Also, remember that many Spanish folk have little or no money at all. That doesn't mean it is all doom and gloom but you do need to be very very careful in your decision making. Ask questions on here and people will try to help but don't be upset if it isn't always what you wanted to hear.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Unemployment at 30% next year????
That's seriously scary


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

TS, if you really want to leave the UK and make something out of it, try Oz, New Zealand or Canadia.

Even if you somehow don't manage to be "financially successful" in these countries, at least you'll have a better quality of life. They are also easier to get into than the US.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Unemployment at 30% next year????
> That's seriously scary


sometimes I wish I couldn't google


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> TS, if you really want to leave the UK and make something out of it, try Oz, New Zealand or Canadia.
> 
> Even if you somehow don't manage to be "financially successful" in these countries, at least you'll have a better quality of life. They are also easier to get into than the US.


You reckon??? I owned property in Canada but didn't meet all the required conditions to be granted residence.
Don't know about Australia or New Zealand.


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## Sirtravelot (Jul 20, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> You reckon??? I owned property in Canada but didn't meet all the required conditions to be granted residence.
> Don't know about Australia or New Zealand.


It'll be easier than getting a green card in the US.

And to be honest, I don't think all that effort is worth it. The US is overrated.


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## mickbcn (Feb 4, 2013)

Other option is marry one rich woman..) I m joking sorry.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Sirtravelot said:


> It'll be easier than getting a green card in the US.
> 
> And to be honest, I don't think all that effort is worth it. The US is overrated.


Well I can't speak for Canada or NZ but given that the OP admits to not having much money or a defined skill set getting residence in Australia will be very hard. Not impossible but it is expensive just to get your visas, if you can even get one in the first place.

Gone are the days of easy commonwealth migration and the 10 pound poms.
Not trying to be offensive here with that term, just in case here is a link.
Ten Pound Poms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Working in the USA is easy enough so long as you have a skill they need, so pee or get off the pot and decide on a career path, go and train then get some experience and off you go to the USA and the same applies to Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

"_social work, sociology, anthropology, mental health, business, marketing, human resources, management_ " maybe not good choices as they will have an abundance of people trained in those types of areas. Get a degree in Mental Health Nursing (or general nursing) and you should be fine to move overseas after you have some ward experience under your belt. Forget degrees in the likes of Sports Science and Media Studies too, waste of time degrees to be honest.

Focus and train young man.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

bob_bob said:


> Working in the USA is easy enough so long as you have a skill they need, so pee or get off the pot and decide on a career path, go and train then get some experience and off you go to the USA and the same applies to Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
> 
> "_social work, sociology, anthropology, mental health, business, marketing, human resources, management_ " maybe not good choices as they will have an abundance of people trained in those types of areas. Get a degree in Mental Health Nursing (or general nursing) and you should be fine to move overseas after you have some ward experience under your belt. Forget degrees in the likes of Sports Science and Media Studies too, waste of time degrees to be honest.
> 
> Focus and train young man.


Mental health training maybe a good idea to gain access to an English speaking country, but I doubt it would help someone who wants to come to Spain, (and I believe even Australia and New Zealand have their own immigration issues nowadays!) First you'd need the language to a pretty high standard I would think (hope!), and not every one does. Then you'd need to get the qualification recognised here. Then you'd have to find a job!!
IT and working in ecology are the only 2 areas that I know of that are moving a bit ATM.
PS No degree is a waste of time, IMO. You might not get a job out of it, which is another matter.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Sirtravelot said:


> It'll be easier than getting a green card in the US.
> 
> And to be honest, I don't think all that effort is worth it. The US is overrated.


I don't know about the US but Canada has -or had- a points system.....points for having a close relative in Canada, points for having a needed skill or profession, points for speaking French, in Quebec at least.


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> I don't know about the US but Canada has -or had- a points system.....points for having a close relative in Canada, points for having a needed skill or profession, points for speaking French, in Quebec at least.


They still do. You get extra points for each one of the coofficial languages you speak. Points for education. Bonus points for working in one of the fields in which they need skilled professionals.

I went to uni there and just make the cut. 

You can find the points calculator online. I am on the forum app now, so I cant provide a link.

If you are a young (under 30-something) adult, Canada has youth mobility agreementa with loads of other countries that are worth looking into!


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

Sirtravelot said:


> It'll be easier than getting a green card in the US.
> 
> And to be honest, I don't think all that effort is worth it. The US is overrated.


It was going to take my husband 8 months and many hundreds of dollara to get a green card. It took me weeks and under a hundred euros to get the Spanish equivalent. Guess where we are staying?

I do, however, feel let down by the broken immigration system in my country


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Getting into Australia can be seriously difficult with their points system...


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Pesky Wesky said:


> Mental health training maybe a good idea to gain access to an English speaking country, but I doubt it would help someone who wants to come to Spain, (and I believe even Australia and New Zealand have their own immigration issues nowadays!) First you'd need the language to a pretty high standard I would think (hope!), and not every one does. Then you'd need to get the qualification recognised here. Then you'd have to find a job!!
> IT and working in ecology are the only 2 areas that I know of that are moving a bit ATM.
> PS No degree is a waste of time, IMO. You might not get a job out of it, which is another matter.


I agree 100% but the OP posted the same question in many different country categories here.

You need good language skills in all nursing but your right, you really need to understand the language and slang in mental health nursing. Even with the degree I doubt you'd get a nursing post in Spain as the country has a glut of nurses.

I'm not all that impressed with a lot of degree's these days. I completed a degree not that many years ago and either I've got brighter as I aged or the degree level ain't what it was. I found the nursing degree no harder than the diploma I did years ago. My wife needed to recruit a fizzioterrorist assistant for one of her (mental health) teams and was inundated with Sports Science graduates...why do a degree if there is little chance of you working the subject you studied. I.T. is still growing and my lad got a job before he qualified as a network engineer but some of his friends are still without work a couple of years after graduating...times are hard. I lost a lot of my nursing team before retirement who up sticks and went off to Australia or NZ (very straightforward) and a couple to Canada and the USA.

Look at the OP's posts and it looks like he's on a wind up IMHO.


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

One of things I like about this forum is the way people bend over backwards to help others but does anyone else think that this is not a serious posting? 

Expat in mexico
young male 
no quals (or non claimed)
open a small bar or hotel or shop or some sort of business
how how likely are my ambitions ?
not around lots of other british people
extreamly rral or a large city or a semi-rural town
i don't have any money 
i can't speak any spanish, but i'm willing and ready to learn

Perhaps no chance will suffice!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mickbcn said:


> Other option is marry *one* rich woman..)


or two!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> or two!


But not simultaneously.....


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

elenetxu said:


> They still do. You get extra points for each one of the coofficial languages you speak. Points for education. Bonus points for working in one of the fields in which they need skilled professionals.
> 
> I went to uni there and just make the cut.
> 
> ...


If only.....


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Is it worth mentioning the original poster is no longer with us lol!!

Jo xxx


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I have two wives; isn't that big of me....

I have two Arab husbands; there they are dancing Sheik to Sheik

Sorry....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> But not simultaneously.....


Why not? Do you remember that Alec Guinness film of the ship's captain who had a stiff starchy wife back in Gib and much livelier one in a Moroccan port? Can't remember the name of the film now. - Yep got it "Captain's Paradise"


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## rikm (Jul 17, 2013)

But who banned our erudite friend ? Looks like he's been asking the same questions for every country on here...


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

rikm said:


> But who banned our erudite friend ? Looks like he's been asking the same questions for every country on here...


Well he made 31 posts but there are only 9 left so he must have done something pretty wrong


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jojo said:


> Is it worth mentioning the original poster is no longer with us lol!!
> 
> Jo xxx


Is that a euphemism for 'dead'? If so, what happened?


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thrax said:


> I have two wives; isn't that big of me....
> 
> I have two Arab husbands; there they are dancing Sheik to Sheik
> 
> Sorry....


So you should be...


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

They came from the old jokes home...

they get worse, promise...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> Is that a euphemism for 'dead'? If so, what happened?


I dont think he's dead ??? But he has posted on lots of our forums, many of which have been deleted and he's been banned - so he mustve done something wrong ???

Jo xxx


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