hey ada, as i understand it there are a good number of people here who are living in the EU and making art or doing art-related activities. so i have a question for them.
i've been travelling around the EU (Austria, Portugal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands), meeting lots of artists in different situations, playing music and writing code and drinking wine and talking open-source and the end of the world and the NZ accent from the point of view of the displaced, and have becoming very attached to the whole experience. i'm currently in Portugal, which i appear to have fallen in love with. the hitch is that i have recently had it confirmed that i need to leave pretty soon to make my obligations under the Schengen 90/180 rule less flagrantly broken (90/180 means i can stay at most 90 non-consecutive days within the Schengen area as a whole, out of every 180 days, despite the 3-month agreements signed between NZ and every Schengen state). yeah, i'm a little nervous about this, but that's another story. this makes me sad, because i want to keep up this life, longer term. i'm exhausted from travelling and thoroughly sick of not having a home, but despite that i want to stay here, doing something like this, for longer. so my question is, what might be my best options for doing this and remaining legal? ideally, i want to find a country that will grant me a short-term (2 year or so, extendable) resident+work visa to be self-employed, set myself up as a tax-paying sole trader with that country, and then work from there as a travelling freelance programmer/musician/artist. (would Schengen 90/180 rules still apply in this case, or would i effectively become a citizen of the EU/Schengenland as a whole?). i've developed the networks to begin to support this, but convincing immigration that a career as a freelance artist is Good is another story, i'm sure. are there places where this is easier? alternatively, i find a country that will grant me a short-term residence-without-work visa, and do the same, but receiving 'stipends' and/or 'accomodation assistance' for 'project-related residencies'. there might be a chicken/egg situation here wrt proving sufficient finances when applying, is the problem. i've asked several immigration offices in several countries about the logistics of arranging something like this, and i've discovered they get very grumpy very quickly when they realise what i want to do doesn't fit neatly into one of their categories, so have had little luck getting any usable information. Portugal in particular asks for proof of 'investment registration' which, i think, is where i have to deposit an unspecified amount of capital, somewhere, so the byzantine Portuguese beaurocracy can officiate it. ???? other alternatives i've considered: - as a fifth or sixth generation New Zealander i can't claim any EU ancestry. - i've been offered full time work with Ars Electronica, but declined based on stories of really bad experiences there, minimum wage (€10.50/hr), and the fact that if i'm going to work full time without creative control i'd rather be earning pounds, to make it less painful. bad decision? perhaps, but after i left the games industry i swore i'd never be an exploited programmer again, and i'm sticking with that. - working holiday visas (1) - can I get a working holiday visa for eg Germany, and then travel freely in Europe? meaning i could 'live' in Portugal. yes, i've been to Berlin but am not so into it, not enough sunshine and too many trustafarians. - working holiday visas (2) - when my German working holiday visa expires, could i then get a Danish or Dutch working holiday and repeat? is this going to cause questions or denial, longer-term? i'm 26. - Schengen 90/180: i can leave Portugal to go to the UK for three months, then come back to Portugal when the 180 days are up, and stay legal. how many times do you think i can repeat this before UK or Portugal starts complaining? and, lastly, would you recommend going back to New Zealand, and taking care of it all from there, before coming back? for example, a lot of countries list travel insurance as a requirement for longer term visas. i don't have travel insurance, and it doesn't seem to be possible to buy travel insurance when you're not at home, which seems ridiculous, but there you go. really i'm a little wide-eyed, a little lost, and more than a little naive; i should've done more research before i came here, rather than just jumping on a plane and assuming it would all work out (it has so far, beyond my highest expectations, but as it stands this doesn't look to last). so i'm really just asking for general advice as to how to make this lifestyle work, practically, based on experience from people who've done it or are continuing to do it. hopefully you'll understand something from my ramble and will be able to give me some advice. any and all is appreciated. thanks d _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
