For a long time we have not published guest posts on our blog. Yes, yes, sometimes we do it. The last was from my mom about her independent travel to Thailand. Today I offer your Attention to an article from one of our readers, Elena Rezanova, tested on her own experience how to live a whole year in Europe without a residence permit, and decided to share general information on this topic.
I remember that morning a year ago. Our first morning in Paris, where we arrived with a one way ticket. We walked along Capuchin Boulevard with a croissant in one hand, a paper cup of coffee in the other, walked, because they could not sit in a cafe. The wind blew out of our heads remnants of project deadlines, rallies, presentations. And the remnants Moscow air, which we breathed yesterday.
Moscow on the eve of departure
breakfast in the Tuileries garden
Stop. Well you are not reading this in order to warm our memories. Surely you want to know how you can go to Europe, spend a year there with an adequate budget and not fall the death of the brave in the paperwork. Maybe? Yes.
Important! We are not talking here about immigration to Europe, but about opportunities to spend half a year there. And then we will see.
For a year in Europe without a suitcase of money and a residence permit
Based on our experience, I offer you two options:
- Tourist
To come on a tourist visa, to save to settle in provinces, travel from Schengen (this is necessary) to budget countries Europe is the same (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and others). All this easy combined with remote work / study on the Internet.
- Student
Come on a student visa, learn a language or something else, live in city, travel only in free time. Requires more time to prepare documents, it is more difficult to get a visa, less flexibility in movement. But then you have a year without the need go somewhere.
Now more about visas:
The first and easiest option (my daughter and I done): get a tourist visa, Schengen annual multivisa 90 days This means that every six months you have the right to stay in Schengen 90 days, and the remaining 90 you need to spend outside the zone Schengen.
Pros: The procedure for obtaining a tourist visa is simple, and even the lack of help from work does not bother everyone. For example, the french cheers accept a certificate from the bank, and this is enough for evidence of finance. Another plus that the availability of funds in the bank much less than a long-term visa is required – from 500 Euro.
Cons – you have to plan trips and entries, but if you wanted to travel, and not just sit in one country, then it is quite convenient. We originally conceived it. And besides Schengen visited in Croatia, in the Seychelles, and in Mauritius.
The second option is a long-term visa. I got it my husband, who went to Paris to study at the chef. Exercise this time consuming and nerve-consuming, but doable. Consider for everyone adult you must show at least 17,000 euros on your bill. it France. Other countries may have other requests.
Pros: The most obvious plus is that you can be all year round exactly in the country where you want. The second plus is student visa can be extended on the spot.
Cons: a package of documents obscenely impressive. It is better make all this while you still have a job. So you prove that You are a reliable friend. Another minus: if you are applying for a visa training, and training is only necessary nominally, for a visa, (for example, a foreign language), you still have to learn. If you stop attending classes, school must report where necessary, and you cancel the visa. And another minus: at the time of registration visas, and this should start in three months, you will need to show contract for housing, and in Europe this is not fun. Respectively, if you want to change the apartment, pay the owner a penalty – at least month rent.
About visa subtleties, we wrote in detail in our blog, in one The article does not put them, but I outlined the overall strategy.
Roma cooks in the class Le Cordon Bleu
Seychelles
Travel to Brittany, September
we are in Lyon
About money
The formula for the minimum budget = housing + food + transport. Plus study if you are going to study. In each category, you can select the mass options – from the budget to the suite. Depends on requests.
Housing. Our most affordable suite was to live in. the center of Paris in the studio for 1550 euros / month. Then we moved to 15 dvushku district for 1250, then went to Savoy, in the Alps, and there already you can find a studio of 400. If you live in any capital, lay for housing not less than 1000 euros. This is the minimum.
Our first Parisian studio in the center (1550 / month)
our apartment in the 15th district (1250 / month)
District 15 – a quiet non-touristic place.
Alps
Food – hypermarkets and markets at your service. If you cook at home, the budget for two adults per month is about 300 Euro. Of course, depends on your preferences.
Restaurant trips are a separate item of expenditure. I think until you get rid of the vacation symptom, you will walk there often. When you feel local, expenses will crawl way down.
Transport. In Paris, a car for rent is not needed. There is a metro and a convenient bus system. Pass on all costs 60 euros. In the provinces, on the contrary, one cannot do without a car. From 700 for month.
And now attention, trap. If now you do not live in conditions budget, then get ready – get used to the budget life will not be easy. And it will happen every time: in a restaurant, shop, on trips. You will choose hotels, food, clothes such accustomed to. There are two ways out – either budget with a margin, or tightly control your daily expenses. Can to train now.
Preparation: we have been preparing for nine months. Behind Six months warned the employer. I guess it can be faster, but if you leave your family, then everything must be clearly planned.
Of course, the most intense were the last three months – all pack and transport to the warehouse, sell the car, go to the visa center, find a decent room in Moscow for an older son, something dolechit, prepare parents and so on. Question apartment in Moscow we, fortunately, did not stand, because we lived on a removable. Dogs hamsters did not start.
So, the year in the good old Europe. If it was your duty a dream – may well become an objective reality. Proven on own experience. Well, croissant?
Elena Rezanova (www.life-is-now.org).
Life hacking 1 – how to buy a good insurance
Choosing insurance is now unrealistically difficult, therefore, to help everyone travelers, I make a rating. To do this, constantly monitor forums, I study insurance contracts and use insurance by myself.
Insurance Rating
Life hacking 2 – how to find a hotel 20% cheaper
First, choose a hotel on Booking. They have a good base offers, but the prices are NOT the best! The same hotel is often possible find 20% cheaper in other systems through the RoomGuru service.
Discount hotels
