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Thinking of immigrating to Italy - am I insane? (lemmy.world)

submitted 5 days ago by AHamSandwich@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Hi all! This is an alt for anonymity. Please be gentle, this is a hard topic for me to discuss.

I'm a progressive United States citizen who is looking to get out. I'm of Italian descent so I'm working on getting Italian citizenship through jure sanguinis, but it's going to take some time, if it works at all (gotta substantiate some relations) and won't extend to my husband until he completes a citizenship test, which he can do after living in Italy for two years.

Here's my big question: is moving to Italy even a good idea?

I know there's a significant element of fascism there, but that seems to be the case to varying extents throughout Europe. I've visited a few times as a tourist and everyone was very kind. I also have a US cousin that lives there as a permanent resident near Napoli and she is very encouraging, saying people will be welcoming. We don't want much, just to make a living and maybe have a kid.

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[–] Wahots@pawb.social 35 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Progressive here too. We're staying on the blue coast.

Take a trip to Italy, as long as you can, and do a ton of research before you commit. That is a very large commitment, and you should have the language down pat, enough savings for a year, and a job lined up, or very strong prospects. If you are missing any of these things, I wouldn't recommend going.

For me personally, I wouldn't move unless there was significant danger. The grass is always greener. There will always be benefits and tradeoffs. I couldn't see my family moving to Italy, even if we were straight. Their slide is not too far off from our own.

[–] frank@sopuli.xyz 17 points 5 days ago (1 children)

US ex pat here:

I agree with a big decision, but I strongly disagree with needing the language down pat before you go. You should know some for sure, and mostly have a willingness to learn it. You're going to learn so much faster while there than you will studying in the US.

Just need enough language to get by at first

[–] chobeat@lemmy.ml 11 points 5 days ago (1 children)

anywhere outside Milan you won't be able to rely on English for anything. Bureaucracy and services are going to be a nightmare without conversational Italian.

[–] frank@sopuli.xyz 6 points 5 days ago

Totally. But "down pat" and conversational are a bit different.