126: Which visa Is right for you? Europe visa options explained

One of the biggest questions people ask when planning a move abroad is: Which visa should I choose?

The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all—it depends on your situation, your goals, and how you want to live once you’re there.

In this episode, I break down the most common visa options for Americans moving to Europe so you can understand what’s available and what might fit you best. This is a high-level overview designed to simplify your options—not legal advice, but a clear starting point.

We’ll walk through the five main visa paths most people fall into: work visas, student visas, digital nomad visas, freelance visas, and ancestry-based options.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

•  The 5 main visa options for moving to Europe 
•  The pros and cons of each visa type 
•  Which visas offer more flexibility vs stability 
•  What each option requires to qualify 
•  How to narrow down the right visa based on your situation 

Instead of trying to understand every visa in detail, this episode will help you eliminate what doesn’t fit and focus on your best next step.

Start with the path that aligns with your situation, and build from there.

👉Take the free quiz: Which European city should you move to? 🤔

Grab my free guide: 5 exact steps to move abroad

Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

Transcript

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So I would just use the process of elimination and don't let yourself get overwhelmed by all the Visa options, but just start narrowing it down by saying, yes, I know I don't want that one, and that one, and that one. This is a starting point for you to decide which Visa really is the best path for you in your decision to move abroad. Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. For today's episode where we are talking all about visas, which visa is right for you? Europe, visa options explained. So one of the biggest questions that people have is, which visas should I choose? I think that visas are one of the biggest questions for people wanting to move abroad because it's not a one size fits all answer. It really depends on your situation, your work experience, and what you're really looking for out of your experience abroad. So thinking of this question about which visa should you choose, that is what we're really talking about in today's episode where we are breaking down the most common visa types in Europe and the biggest pros and cons of each one to hopefully help you make that decision about. Which Visa might be the best path for you. So in giving you this high level breakdown, I hope that by the end of the episode you understand your visa options, not necessarily in legal advice and all of the nitty gritty details about the Visa and how you get it and all those details. But as a starting point for you to decide which Visa really is the best path for you in your decision to move abroad. Because it's one of the biggest decisions that I think holds a lot of people back from moving forward, especially because visas are very new for us. If you have never moved abroad before, I think the Visas a little bit like what even is it and what's the process? And I think there are a lot of questions around the visa process, but as long as you can pick the right visa for you, then you can look into the nitty gritty of that specific visa. Instead of looking at all of the visas and getting really overwhelmed with the process and the eligibility requirements for each, you can look at one specific visa and say, okay, what is the list of the eligibility criteria for me? What does the process look like? What does the timeline look like. And all those other things that have to do with that specific visa instead of looking at like five different visas and getting completely overwhelmed and then shutting down and not working towards moving abroad. So because I remember being that way, I remember being completely overwhelmed with different pathways to move abroad, figuring out how to do it, and my biggest tell to question whenever I was wanting to move abroad was the visa. So if you're in the same boat, then that's great. This episode is for you. So let's go ahead and dive on in. So I want to provide some quick framing for us as we start to think about different visas. So a lot of Americans that move to Europe fall into one of these visa categories. There is a work visa, which is where you get a job and a company abroad sponsors you. which basically means that they tell the government, Hey, government, don't worry. We have this person covered. We're going to be paying for them. They have a reason to be here. You're like, don't worry, we've got them covered. So they're basically taking care of you. They're going to be paying you to make sure that you're not gonna be just on the streets causing mayhem in that country. The company is basically taking care of you. So that's what the work visa is. Where you get a job and then the company sponsors your visa and a lot of times they pay for that visa. So that's what the work visa is. It's if you have a normal like 9-5 job. The next category is a student visa. The next one is a digital nomad or remote worker visa. Then there is the freelance or self-employed visa. And then the last frequent category that people get is the ancestry, visa, or EU citizenship pathway. So those are the main visa categories. So we'll talk about a lot of the pros and cons of each of those. Now, I will give a quick caveat because there is always a bit of a caveat and that is that there are other visa types. So I will be transparent. Every country has really similar visas, like pretty much every country is gonna have a work visa, a student visa. These are the typical visa categories and the main ones that people typically get. These are like all of your American friends, all the American people that you know brought. They probably have one of these visas. However, there are other visas that are possible. For instance, there is a visa called the global Talent Visa in the U.K and it's for very specific work experiences that people have had. So like in tech at a software company. Or in some countries there is a job seeker visa where you specifically go to the country to look for a job. But I'm telling you that these. Ones that we're talking about today are the most common visa paths. So I think that this episode is helpful to talk about what majority of people get. I would say 90% of people are going to be falling into one of these categories, so don't freak out or waste too much time and energy looking into the other ones, however. If there is one specific country that you know that you want to move to, then I would recommend looking into that country's visa options and just look at the list and see if there are any interesting ones that might be a little bit of a different path that might be 10% of people go for, but might actually be a really good fit for you. So I don't want you to miss out on an opportunity for a Visa. That we're not talking about today or is not typical, is not a part of the 90% that most people get, but maybe you fall into that 10% where there is an interesting visa that's a little bit different. So what I'm trying to say is we're talking about the most common visas today, which I think is the most important, and what you really should be focused on. But whenever you're looking into the visa options in your country, like let's say that you want to move to the uk, I would look at all the Visa options that are in the UK to make sure that you're choosing the best one that really fits you. If you're also considering saying, you know what? I want to consider a move to the U.K, but I'm also considering Germany, then maybe you look at both of those countries and just do a high level overview of what those visa options are. Do not go into the nitty gritty because I think that's whenever we get really overwhelmed. But just to see like, oh yeah, Germany does have a job seeker visa. Is that something that I'm interested in? Because I was wanting to get a work visa, but I'm off work right now for a bit. I'm in between jobs. Maybe I can go there for a little bit and look for a job in person so I can network and blah, blah, blah. I wanted to give back a quick caveat. I hope that doesn't come with feelings of overwhelm for you, but am saying that because I don't want you to miss out on that 10% opportunity. But today we're talking about the 90%. So these are 90% of the times you will end up going for one of these visas. So let's talk about all these visa categories and how to decide what the best pathway is for you, and talking about the pros and cons of each. So let's go ahead and jump on into the first visa type we'll be talking about today, and it is the most common visa type that people end up going for, which is the work visa. This is the employer sponsored visa that we talked about a little bit. So in terms of steps, first, so you get a job offer from a company that is within that country. Let's say that you want to move to Germany, for instance, and there's a company that says, we really like you. We're giving you this job offer. Like, here's your offer letter. So they've offered you the job at that point. Once you like sign the offer, then they would sponsor your visa. So the pros of this visa it's if you're used to having a normal nine to five job, it's something that's more common. It's something that we're a bit more familiar with. If you've been working for a nine to five job for a company, or maybe it's not exactly nine to five, but maybe it's something along those lines. If you are employed, this is probably the most common visa that people try to get whenever they want to move abroad. Pros of this visa is that it does provide you more stable income. You know exactly where your income is every single month. It's a little bit more straightforward legally, so a lot of times companies will completely take care of the process for you. You do not even need to worry about the legal process. So that's really nice. A lot of times they pay for the visa they pay for the lawyer. The lawyer takes care of it for you, so you don't really have to worry about the legal situation. Whereas a lot of the other visa paths, you do have to pay attention and make sure that you're taking care of the visa for yourself, whereas this one, the company takes for care of it for you. This is also a path to long-term residency. That's a plus, because not all visas lead to long-term residency, if that's a goal of yours. Some cons are that it is harder to get from abroad. So the truth is it is a little bit more difficult because if a company has, let's just say they have a hundred applicants. Of those a hundred applicants, maybe there's 10 that are actually qualified for the job. And of those 10, let's say that three of them are from abroad, and let's say you're one of those three people, for instance, or maybe there's even one. Maybe you're the only one that's coming from abroad. It doesn't really matter. The point is if there are. Seven to or nine qualified people that can fill that job role. More than likely they're going to go with the local person because they already are living there. So they don't have to worry about them leaving. They don't have to go through the legal process as an employer. So I do think that it's a little bit more difficult to achieve. However, if you are later on in your career, if you have really strong work experience and you know that and you have a very specialized work experience that you know would fit a very specific job, and there are not many people that could fill that job, then you're probably in a good position to get a job abroad. Also, sometimes it just depends on if they like you. If you do have good work experience, like it's definitely possible to get sponsorship abroad, but I do think that it takes sometimes a little bit more convincing for the hiring manager, and I think it depends on how competitive the job market is in that place. So for instance. I know somebody that got to move to Munich, Germany recently, and he just applied from another country and ended up getting the job offer and he did not apply to that many jobs, but they just liked him. They liked his work experience and they were happy to provide him sponsorship. So it is absolutely possible. There are many people that do this all the time. There are millions of Americans that live abroad. If they can do it, then you can do it. This is the most common visa path. However, sometimes it's a little bit harder to get a job offer from abroad because you're not living there and. I think that sometimes it takes a little bit more convincing from the hiring manager, but it is definitely possible. So I would just have a little look into the job landscape and just start applying and just seeing how many bytes you get from potential employers. So the cons are that it's a little bit harder to get from abroad. It does require an employer sponsorship, but I actually think that can be a positive thing because they're paying for your visa, which is great. It's also less flexible. So your visa is completely tied to your job, and if you want to move to another job, you have to find another company that's willing to sponsor you there. So those are some of the cons. And this is really best for people that are in demand fields. These are for people that want structure and stability. I think that this is the visa that a majority of people get. It is absolutely possible to get job sponsorship from abroad. I think that a lot of times it's. Potentially easier if you're there, you're able to meet them in person, you're able to network in person. I think that sometimes it gives you a higher likelihood. Is it the most important thing? No. Especially in today's world where so much is digital, where a lot of people work half remote, half in the office or fully remote. I think the people are more and more used to having online meetings and online interviews and it is absolutely possible to get employer sponsored visas like this one, a work visa. This is, again, the most common visa. There are literally hundreds of thousands of other Americans who have done this before, you who have work visas abroad. If they can do it, then you can absolutely do it. So that is the most common visa that people typically get. It. The second most common visa that people typically get is the student visa. This is a visa where you have to enroll in a university or program in Europe, and then once you get accepted, then you can apply for the student visa and the student visa process is. Very straightforward. The pros is that it is one of the easiest entry points to be able to move abroad to Europe. I would argue it is the most easy path if you want to move to Europe because you just need to get accepted into a university, and then you automatically get the visa and you can automatically go move there. So some pros is that it's the easiest. You also have built in community. The people that are in programs abroad are able to meet people a lot easier, are able to build community quite easily. A lot of people are also just moving there. There are a lot of. People from other countries that go to study abroad. So you'll be able to have built in community and feel like you're a part of something a lot faster and be able to settle in a lot faster. I believe as well, the time to adjust to the country is short, like I just alluded to. So I'd say that's another pro. So cons is that you obviously have the tuition cost, so sometimes this might be high, sometimes this might be low depending on the program that you're going to, the country that you're going to. But you do have this cost, so you have to be aware of that. A lot of times you do have limited work options, so you might be able to work to up to 20 hours per week, but you're not going to be able to have a full-time income. So that could also be a con. And another con is that this is temporary unless you plan to transition to another visa, which I honestly think that this is one of the easiest visa paths to be able to move abroad because a lot of times you already have a foot in the door in the country, you can get this visa quite easily. Once you graduate, you hopefully have been able to have part-time work. So maybe that company is willing to sponsor you. If they're not willing to sponsor you and get, give you a work visa, you at least have the experience in the country. So in finding another job, it's a lot easier because you've already had work experience in that country. Companies already know that you still light there, that you are already settled there, that you can start work immediately because you already have housing and you just have a subtle life there already. So I think that it's a lot easier for employers to say yes to you. I also think that it's easier to find a job after graduation because a lot of times after you have a student visa, countries provide you with another sort of transitory visa where you can work for up to a year or be able to find a job for up to a year or two. So I think the countries are. Quite giving when it comes to student visa. So after you are a student, you have the ability to still stay in the country, still be looking for a job and be able to be employed even after you graduate. So I think that is a really big gift with the student visa and why it makes it such an easy foot in the door for moving abroad. But a lot of people don't wanna go back to school or don't want to pay for school. So I think that it's not necessarily for everyone, But if you want to make a really big career change, if that's you, if you are a younger person and you're open to studying, I think that a student visa could be a really solid option, especially if you don't have very much work experience. I think that it's harder to move abroad when you don't have a lot of work experience, but if you do have a lot of work experience in your later on in your career. You're probably less likely to want to do the student visa and you probably don't need to do this step as much because you've had stronger work experience and can probably get a job a lot easier. The jobs that companies would want to sponsor for, because it's harder to fill those roles rather than an entry level position where there are a hundred candidates that all have. A similar work experience, if that makes sense. So I think it kind of depends on your situation, but that's the student visa and it's probably the second most common visa that people get if not tied for the normal work visa. The next visa we'll be talking about is the digital nomad visa. This is a visa where you are living in another country while working remotely for a non-local company. So for this visa, you do not need to have a local job. This Visa is increasingly popular and accessible for people. It's quite easy to get this visa, honestly. You just need to prove to the government that you have a work option where you can work remotely for another company abroad, or you can also have some freelance work abroad as well. You just need to be able to prove that you have work abroad from another country and you can provide a certain salary for yourself or certain income where you can take care of yourself. So this Visa is really great for flexibility and I think that this visa is really great for people who are remote workers who have freelance work with stable income as well. And I think that this visa is really beneficial because. It's quite easy to get. Most countries, the visa process is not difficult. A lot of times you just need to prove that you have a certain amount of income and have steady income and honestly, it's quite easy to get. So I think that this visa is a great option if you're looking to move abroad for a shorter period of time, or just wanna give it a test drive for a year or two. Some cons about this visa though, is that it does have income requirements, so that'll be the same thing for. a freelance or self-employed visa as well. So you have to make sure that you're taking care of yourself for this digital nomad visa. And oftentimes it can make you feel a little bit less settled because you can only have this visa for typically one year or two years. So a lot of times you won't be able to stay for many, many, many years. But if you're looking for a temporary job where you are just living abroad for a year or two, or maybe you do that for a year or two and then you find a local job there or you find a different visa path for you then that might be a good option for you. But. It's often temporary, which means that it's also not a part of the long-term path. So what I mean by that is a lot of times the digital nomad visa do not work towards permanent residency. So if you want to have permanent residency in a country or be able to get dual citizenships, you'd have citizenship in your home country and in the country abroad. Then this visa option. Might not be the best path for you, but I think that it's a great short term option if you want to live abroad for a year or two and be able to have experience living there and working there, and maybe transition to another visa type later if you wanted to, or have a bit of fun bouncing around different European countries. You could get a digital nomad visa in one country. For a year or two, and then move to another country for a year and then move back home if you wanted to, or figure out the next visa category that you want. So I think that this could be a really good visa option for you, depending on your lifestyle and what you're looking for. The next visa, which is quite similar and I think often confused with the digital nomad visa, is the freelance or self-employed visa. This is a visa where you work for yourself with clients businesses. Freelance, this is where you are a bit more independent. And I think the biggest difference of the freelance self-employed visa versus digital nomad visa is that the digital nomad visa is a lot easier to get than the freelance self-employed Visa, where normally there's a few more eligibility requirements and it might take a little bit more proof. The self-employed Visa, Since it does work towards your permanent residency a lot more times than the digital Nomad Visa. It takes, like I said, more paperwork, a bit more of a process to get it perhaps than the digital Nomad Visa, which is a lot more, it's a lot easier and is just kind of handed out a lot more often. So I think it just depends on if you really want to have that long-term. Option for permanent residency and years towards that, then the freelance self-employed Visa might be a better option. Also, it allows you to have local clients a lot more times, so if you want to have local clients work for local businesses or do consulting work for local businesses or whatever that would look like, then it provides that option. So you could have outside. Freelance work and freelance work in that country. So I think it does provide a bit more flexibility perhaps, but it really depends on what you're looking for. If you want ease, then the digital nomad visa might be a little bit easier. So in digging into this freelance self-employed visa a little bit more, like I said, you work for yourself, you have clients, you work for other businesses, you do freelance work, you're a consultant. All those things, it's like you are the business basically working for other companies. Some pros of the freelance self-employed visa is that you have independence. You can build a long-term life there with a freelance, self-employed visa. It's also available in many countries abroad. So if you are looking for freedom, flexibility, working on your own terms, then this visa option might be a really good option for you. The cons side does take a bit more paperwork than the digital nomad visa. And I also wanted to quickly explain that the digital nomad visa, you can have that visa if you have a full-time employer from another country abroad. And it only works if you have clients from abroad with a digital nomad visa, whereas the freelance Visa, you can work for local companies. You can have clients that are in the country or outta the country. So you just have a lot more flexibility probably, but it does take more paperwork to get, you also need to prove your income and your business viability a lot more. It might be a little bit more confusing to navigate, but it's nothing we can't figure out, and it's not like it's that crazy, but it just is a little bit more paperwork than the digital nomad visa. This is best for people who want to be freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs. So if you put yourself in one of those categories, then this Visa type might be a really good option for you. And last visa, but certainly not the least, is the ancestry visa if you qualify for this visa through family heritage. So a lot of times it's if you have a grandparent that was born in that country or has a tie to that country. Then you can probably get that visa. So you'll want to look into it and if it is possible for you, but if you have the ability to get the ancestry visa, it is 100% the easiest visa pathway if you have the ability, you should absolutely go for that path. It provides the most freedom where you can live and work anywhere in the EU. You have no Visa restrictions once you obtain this. It's a long-term solution so you can live and work there and you can be unemployed. You can start a business if you want. You can become a student if you want. It just provides a lot of flexibility for you and whatever lifestyle you really want. The cons are that it's not available for everyone. It can take time and quite a lot of paperwork to get this visa, but if you have family members with European ancestry, I think that this is the best visa option for you. And I would absolutely go for this path if it is possible for you. So if you know that this is already not possible for you, then. You know, just skip this visa. But if you do have family that you know you have ties to in a European country, I would definitely look into this visa path above all the other ones, because it will provide you the most freedom and flexibility and long-term security. So in wrapping us up for this episode, how do you really choose the right visa? How do you choose the right one for you? Really, the decision comes down to. Like instead of trying to understand every visa, start with your situation. I think you can have this framework of do you want to work locally? Then you would want to get the work visa. Do you want flexibility and be able to work remotely? Then the digital Nomad Visa is going to be the best one for you. Are you open to studying? Where you probably have the easiest foot in the door, then a student visa might be the best option for you. Are you self-employed? Like do you have freelance clients already? Then probably the freelance visa is going to be really easy for you to get. And lastly, do you have an ancestor that was abroad and you think that you might qualify for the ancestry visa? Then start there first and see if that's an option. And if not, then you can look into some of the other ones. Eliminate what doesn't fit and use that strategy to evaluate everything equally. So if you know that you really, really do not want to be a student, or if you know you don't have ancestry or if you know that you want to have a remote job, then maybe the digital nomad Visa is the best one for you, just as an example. So I would just use the process of elimination and don't let yourself get overwhelmed by all the Visa options, but just start narrowing it down by saying, yes, I know I don't want that one, and that one, and that one. So it kind of leaves me with this option. And what I said earlier in the episode, I do believe that these visas cover 90% of cases. 90% of the time it is going to be that you will get one of these visas, but there are a few random visas. Like the global talent visa in the U.K. that's the only country in Europe that provides a visa like that. Most countries have the same visa categories. 90% of the time you're going to fall within one of these categories and you're going to move to any European country, and they will have all these visa categories. However, what I would not do is look at all the visa options in Italy and all the visa options in Germany and all the visa options in Portugal, and just let yourself get overwhelmed and then not take steps forward. I would not recommend that. But if you know that you want to move to Italy already or you know that you want to move to Spain already, then just look up all the Visa options in Spain to see if there's one that you would say, oh, actually, like I know we've been talking about 90% of the time people fall within these categories that I was talking about today. Ooh, there's this random visa that I actually think might be a really good fit for me. So maybe you fall into that 10% that we've been talking about, but most likely you will fall into the categories that we talked about today. So I think that by process of elimination. You can figure out the best visa for you. So homework, or let's not call homework because that sounds negative and brings me back to elementary school trauma. But let's talk about next steps. So what is the best next step for you and listening to this episode and try to figure out what the visa option is for you? What I would recommend is. First of all, if you know what country you want to move to, then what I would say is look up all the visa options that are within that country and work through what the best option is for you. So maybe you already know you want a full-time job and you already know that you want to move to. let's just say Germany, then you know that you're gonna get the work visa. You know that's the visa that you really want. But what I would do is look at all the visa options that are in that country. If you know you want to move to a certain country, and if you don't know, if you have no idea, and you're just saying like, I just wanna move to Europe right now, and you have not started narrowing it down. First of all, I would actually recommend taking the quiz. There is a free quiz. It takes under two minutes and it will help you identify a really good fit for the best country and city that might be a really good fit for you. So if you want to take that quiz, it's actually the bottom of the podcast description. You can just click on the link there or go to Jordangiberson.com/quiz and then it will automatically give you your quiz result. So if you don't know what country, then I think that's a great next step. But also if you don't know what country I would. Just take some time to think about these visa categories we've talked about today and figure out which one you think that is the best fit for you. Do a little bit of reflection, maybe a little bit of journaling. Write down maybe what your top goals are or what's really important to you in your lifestyle to help you determine the best visa fit for you. And then start narrowing it down with the country and figuring out, okay, these are the two countries I'm juggling between, and look at the visa options and take it from there. that's everything from today's episode. So thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week. same time, same place. I'll catch you then.