The easiest thing for me to say is Don't Come Here To Live, if you don't have an income independent of the economy here. You will find it almost impossible to have a business here unless you speak the language fairly well. The market here is saturated with people - few ideas have not already been tried here by now, and the competition is tough. I you are non-EU, then you will find it worse.

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Hi,
Welcome to the forum. Posts are reviewed before being posted, hence the appearance of being 'eaten'.

If you want to move to Lithuania, the most valuable possession is a local girl(boy)friend to intercede for you at all sorts of offices and institutions. A simple friend is not goiing to be reliable because it is a neverending process. A girl(boy)friend is interested in seeing that you stay here. Even if you speak Lithuanian, you are probably not going to know simple rules that natives know. Such a friend can spare you a lot of grief. Make sure this person is literate because pretty much all the info in available on the internet or by phone, but if the person has trouble reading and researching legal documents, the help is going to be limited.

Leave your morality and mores at home. If your girlfriend says to pay a bribe, bring a gift, send a note, do it. One can only hope you do not associate with members of the underworld who want to kill someone. (LOL)

Be prepared to accept work beneath you. As a beginning translator, for example, you are going to get lots of weekend work at low pay. It's called paying one's dues.

On to Rikmo's comments. They are correct. Pretty much everything has been tried here. If you have a good idea, you still have to have big bucks to realise it. We have a water park in Vilnius now that seems to be making it. When I came here in 95, I saw that it was a possibility but I didn't have the funds to realise it. A few local companies did it on a more limited basis without water. Some are out of business, none are doing fantastically well.

In 98, when I started translating, there was not that much competition. Now it is fierce. Back then you only needed to know the language. Now you need to know how to do research and maybe even how to use Trados or a similar programme. It is sudden death - one mistake and you are out of there.

I don't know of any EU country that encourages immigration. They have removed the barriers for EU citizens so if you can get dual citizenship in any EU country, take it.

Real estate prices are nearly the same as in Sweden. Rent (including utilities) can easily cost you 500 dollars a month in Vilnius. Food easily 100 dollars unless you know how to economise. (eat lots of porridge and little meat)

Minimum wage is about 350 dollars a month. Contract labour and freelance can earn less than that.

Vilnius will give you better service at the Migration Department; the other places are cheaper to live in.

So many foreigners have had culture shock and left abruptly, deeply in debt and without fulfilling their obligations, that people are reluctant to hire foreigners. And then the foreigners that come are usually people who cannot find work at home. Some are hopeless cases, others just need the right opportunity. People have met too many of the former to hope for the latter. And then foreigners are not usually able to work in accordance with local rules - they try to tell the locals how to do it right. Do you want a Lithuanian coming to your country and telling you how to build buildings?

In engineering, you have to be careful of people who will abuse you. Most likely that is the only entry level positions open. They will pay you a pittance and work you hard. If you can master the field (pick the right employer as most will not make any effort to teach you), learn the language, and make contacts in that time, then in 3-5 years, you might be able to get a decent job.

In short, if you want to live here (and I have found many reasons for wanting to stay myself - I never lived this well in the US), you are going to have to make an investment and show people that you are willing to work and stay the course. But the same is probably true of any country.

If there is anything I can do to help, you are welcome to contact me through my website.

Good luck

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