About 2countryliving

Currently Lives:

Citizen of:

Some Forum Posts:

Italy: Residency and moving with the EU:

Bentleje, I live in France and have my 10 Year Titre de Sejour here and looked into moving to Italy. It can be done but there's just the matter of all the paperwork. As long as it's an EU country, you should be able to do it if you don't have issues like no income to support yourself, criminal history, etc. Contact the correct authorities in Portugal to get the info. One country that I found to be an exception is Ireland. Even though they are EU, they don't recognize my Titre or residency - I would have to apply as an American. I think the Netherlands and the UK have some similar issues. Portugal should be okay though - they aren't even that hard to move to as an American. Good luck.

Italy: Looking for friends in TURIN:

There's a huge English speaking Meet Up group in Turin that has lots of meetings going on all the time. meetup.com/Turin-Friends-over-English/ There's also an Internations group, I think: internations.org/

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Cross-country banking:

Ive searched the banking posts but I don't see any answer to my question. If I open a checking bank account in Ecuador in dollars, can I write checks in dollars to pay my bills in the US? I'm going to make the assumption that you can't do cross country check writing but I wanted to know for sure from those of you who have bank accounts in Ecuador and know the laws. Thanks in advance.

Italy: Retiring to italy:

Hi, CodyBrandy, I was ready your note to another forum member and was very happy to see your detailed description of moving to Italy. I'm American too but I live in France and have my French residency there (I was married to a Frenchman). But Italy remains my first love having lived there years ago, speak decent Italian and love the people. I would like to retire there in 7 years and can transfer my French residency there and use my French license. The thing that is stopping me is that Italian income taxes are insane (at least for self employed people) and I can't find any info about giving breaks to over 65 pensioners. Other countries do that - France charges pensioners only 8% for income taxes and medical care cotisations so it's affordable to retire there. But I haven't found any breaks like that in Italy. My income, primarily SS, will be about $27,000/yr at retirement. Do you what tax rates (and/or medical care/pension taxes) would be? What kind of percentages are you paying on your SS, if you don't mind me asking? Are there any pensioner tax breaks? Thanks a lot in advance!

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Cash limit to carry out of country:

Actually, the US just passed a new law. If you owe the US IRS $50,000 or more, they take away your US passport. Big problem if you're not a citizen of another country with a passport! Appalling.

Ecuador: Cats:

Did you talk to your vet about drugging them esp for such a short flight? My vet (and articles I've read) said that meds can interfere with their breathing and have adverse effects at high altitudes. I take my cats in soft carriers on the flights to Europe (23 hours door to door) and they do fine and I don't drug them. Even if they cry during take off and landing, they settle in and sleep the rest f the time. Just take an eye dropper and give them water every couple of hours, paper towels to clean up the carrier if they pee, and a tiny bag of cat chow (one will eat, the other won't). You also want them seeming alert and healthy at customs if they end up getting examined by someone.

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Crime in Ecuador:

I just read this article put out by OSAC. It says that crime has reach 'critical' point in Ecuador, with Americans being the primary target. And that much of this crime is violent. Being a single older woman who would be living alone, this got my attention. Could you folks living in Ecuador weigh in on this, please? I haven't really seen this addressed on the forum - at least not recently. Thanks. https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=13476

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Bus or car rental?:

Steved14, could you give me the contact info or link of the driver you used for a week, please? It looks like I'll be coming alone to see Cuenca and the coast between Bahia and Salinas and I don't want to rent a car and do all the driving alone. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate what you paid for a week. If you know about the vans I keep reading about and how they operate or how to find them, I'd also appreciate that info. Thanks. PM me, if you prefer. 2countryliving

Ecuador Welcome Forum: Finding Communities in the Cities:

I just read 9 pages of the forum and didn't see my topic so here I am. I am going to Ecuador with friends in late July to investigate the country for possibly living there half-time. I'm American but have been living in France for 7 years with regular trips for business to the US. After divorcing my French husband, I had to expand my business in the US and need to be half time+ on the US time zones now, and can do the other half in France. I have no interest in living in the US anymore so I'm looking at Ecuador. From my life in an isolated small town in France, I learned that at age 57 and with little hope of ever becoming fluent in Spanish, I need to have a community of international friends wherever I live (not necessarily American). So far it seems that Quito, Cuenca and Bahia de Caraquez are good possibilities because of their expat communities. Are there other cities on the coast or inland that I should visit that have large expat communities? How can I connect with these communities while I'm there in July? I saw a Quito Meetup but not much on Internations for Ecuador, and not a lot on Facebook. These, with expat blogs, were ways I found expats in France. Other suggestions? Other cities I should check out? I'm not interested in party towns but other retirees or soon to be retirees would work. While I would need a bank account in Ecuador, I'm okay with just doing 6 month Visas (however, I may not be able to get a bank account without residency unless I can find a facilitator who can work magic with that - would love a referral if you know someone with bank contacts/recommendations). Thank you in advance for your help. There's no better place to get info than from the people actually living in the country (and not trying to sell anything). Thanks.

Ireland: Retired to Ireland, NOW GIVEN 7 DAYS TO LEAVE!!!:

I'm American but having lived in France 7 years, also have French residency. With that I can move to supposingly any EU country, except Ireland (maybe UK too - I haven't looked into that). It took me calls and emails to several France and Ireland embassies, the official EU website, Ireland forums and experts, etc etc. and no one could give me an answer of whether I could move to Ireland or not. When I finally realized that the decision is basically made by the local police dept where you are living in Ireland, I emailed the police dept in Limerick and he promptly wrote back that Ireland does not recognize my French residency and I would have to apply as an American with no special rights. Amazing that one or two countries in the EU can be allowed to 'exempt' themselves from the laws everyone else has to follow. So, until I get my French citizenship, which is 5 years away, I won't be going to Ireland either.

Date Joined:

3/23/2016

Total Posts:

41

Posts/Day:

0.11