We actually have no intention of ever "living" here again. While we are currently nomads, and don't see ourselves settling down in the foreseeable future, it's impossible not to have a residence address somewhere because you need to for banking and tax purposes.
But what we would like to do is to have our residence address somewhere other than Canada. We're going to be spending a lot of time in Europe the next few years and so we think it makes sense to officially move there.
So that's what we're going to do!
But there are a lot of considerations. Despite all being part of the European Union, the different member countries each handle immigration and visas their own way. So there's a lot of research to be done, and I've been in the process of doing that research for the last few weeks.
There are 26 countries in the Schengen visa zone. So it's very time consuming to read and understand all the immigration rules for the various countries. But, we can zap some of the countries just due to their weather. In some situations, we might find ourselves spending a full year in just one country. In that case, that country would have to have weather that is conducive to spending a full year there. Spain and Portugal both meet that requirement. We are leaning towards Spain simply because it's a larger country and we are more familiar with the language. However the visa procedure for Portugal is easier.
We also still have not ruled out Germany. It would be more expensive on an overall basis, but the location is more central. And of course that is where Max is registered. In any other country, we would have to go through the hassle of transferring Max to that country. And, Germany is one of the few countries that you can do the long term visa application while already in that country. Spain and Portugal both require you to do the application at the embassy or consulate in your home country.
Another thing for us to consider is the new "digital nomad" visas that some countries are issuing. These are designed for anybody who can work online from anywhere in the world. A few countries (over 20 so far) have realized that there is an economic benefit to having someone come and live and spend their money without affecting employment in that region. Apparently Spain is working on one, but details have yet to be announced.
Most of the countries that have announced digital nomad visas limit them to a one year term, so you have to apply every year. Or, move to a different country once per year. But, some of these countries also have favorable tax laws, and many have tax treaties with Canada to avoid double taxation.
Another possibility is Czech Republic. My grandmother was born in Czech Republic, and they have a program whereby you can declare Czech Citizenship by descent. There are some guidelines, but as a grandchild of a former Czech citizen, it looks like I fall within these guidelines. It's a complicated application process, but to become a citizen of an EU country would make our future life a lot less complicated by being able to live anywhere in the EU. So there is that possibility.
And while we would no longer be residents of Canada, we would still be Canadian citizens. It's not easy to become a citizen of another country, and even then we would not voluntarily give up our Canadian citizenship because there would be no benefit to doing so. And there could be a benefit to being a dual citizen, as many Canadians are.
The research will continue over the winter, but we will be in a position to do something about it by next spring.
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The top of the line Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Oven is at a record low deal today.
And in Canada...
Albania's Covid cases are getting bad. It's good that you were there at a much better time.
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Albania’s health authorities reinstalled new tough restrictive measures and warned of a possible obligatory vaccine shot for some categories in their effort to prevent a further spread of the new Delta virus variant.
Health minister Ogerta Manastirliu said that “soon we shall start the application to passing over to a new stage of the vaccination campaign, making obligatory the vaccines for some categories on behalf of the right of the other people not to get infected.”
Albania has noted a significant rise of the daily cases this month to more than 900 from about 100 times less a month ago.
August and September have been open months for vaccines for everyone over 18 years old.
There were two deaths and 768 new cases on Sunday and about half of Albania’s 2.8 million population has had at least one shot of the vaccine.
Yes, I've be watching the daily cases grow over the past couple of weeks. But, we wouldn't hesitate to return and we hope to do so in November.
DeleteHmmm my brother in law is Czech. His parents and grandparents immigrated to U.S.A to live in Texas. My nieces and nephews are half Czech. My family is like united nations, South Africa, Mexico, Czech, Spanish, Asian, and Native American.
ReplyDeleteIt nice when you have relatives from different countries, it makes family gatherings and pot lucks interesting. Also if they still have family in these countries there is always somewhere/someone to visit.
DeleteI’d say go the Czech route! The freedom of travel and no ongoing red tape would be awesome, though it does sound like a hassle initially. Roger and I have submitted paperwork to the Mexican embassy in Seattle for temporary residency in Mexico. Mainly we’d like to leave a car down there, but also not having the 180 day limit would be nice. Miss you guys. xo
ReplyDeleteWe will do further research to see which is easier and most beneficial to us. The only problem that we would have with the Czech route would be the winter weather should we have to stay there for any particular reason.
DeleteGood to hear that you and Roger are working on temporary residency for Mexico. Mexico is still our first option but it wouldn't help us with the Schengen rules at the moment but we aren't ruling out living there some day.
Miss you guys too! Remember that if you ever want to do some RVing over here in Europe to let us know and maybe we can work something out with you using Max while we go off somewhere else. :-)