

Ask HN: Moving to Spain from the USA, any tips? - yellowbox

I'm moving to Spain in the next few months and I'm trying to figure out what to do for a job. The type of visa I'm getting does not let me work locally for 1 year. I'd really like to be able to join a U.S. based startup and work remotely. Unfortunately, it seems like nobody is hiring remote operations/systems engineers.<p>Any tips?
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NonEUCitizen
1\. <http://www.tecnoempleo.com/>

2\. <http://www.computrabajo.es/>

3\. [http://www.amazon.com/Living-Working-Spain-Survival-
Handbook...](http://www.amazon.com/Living-Working-Spain-Survival-
Handbook/dp/1905303653/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304644282&sr=8-2)

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kposehn
Out of curiosity, why Spain? I ask as the nation has undergone quite a vicious
economic cycle and their next door neighbor, Portugal, is in quite bad shape.

That said, I'm sure there is plenty of opportunity around. What sort of
companies have you approached so far? There may be other firms looking to hire
or you could go after some remote contract work too.

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yellowbox
My wife has always wanted to move.... I'm along for the ride. It's a beautiful
country and I'm very excited to move there. We have some money in savings so
we could last a few years even if the economy is crappy.

I've approached lots of startups and nobody is really interested in remote
employees. I'm starting to think I should try to approach big companies but
that will probably be just as difficult to break into.

There do seem to be lots of local jobs in Barcelona and Madrid but I'd rather
not wait a year to get a job.

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NonEUCitizen
In theory, the EU Blue Card goes into effect June this year, and Spain has
opted in:

<http://lexuniversal.com/en/news/10787>

Maybe you can work for a local company sooner than one year via that visa.

Which part of Spain are you moving to, and what kind of visa does your wife
have?

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yellowbox
Thanks for the EU Blue Card link... I'll look into it.

We're thinking of moving to Madrid or Barcelona. We prefer Barcelona, but
there seems to be a lot more work in Madrid, we'll see what happens.

Both of us are in the process of applying for a non-lucrative visa. We haven't
actually submitted our application yet, which will take 3-5 months to be
processed, because we're waiting on the FBI background check which takes 6
weeks.

It's quite the process to move to Spain but it'll be worth it!

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dstein
Spain is probably hovering around 20% unemployment, and you won't like the pay
they're offering. You'd think with all the startups doing mobile/cloud
computing there would be more of a market for telecommuters. I'd keep looking
and try to line up something before you leave.

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dmarinoc
I'm from Spain (and glad to help) :)

If you hace general questions ask them here, or ir they are more specific feel
free to drop me a line (diego -at- ducksboard.com)

The spanish startup scene is becoming more mature. I know dozens of them with
with 20+ employees. Also, due to the general lack of English knowledge here, a
native developer is always more than welcome.

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yellowbox
Anyone looking for awesome operations/systems engineers? :) Is there any
particular city where the startup scene is better?

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pablosho
Hi Yellowbox, Do you have an idea where best to base yourself for employment
in Spain? Do you or your wife speak Spanish? There is a free guide about how
to successfully move to Spain, that might help you on this blog.
www.mymovetospain.com

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yellowbox
We're thinking Madrid or Barcelona..... Madrid has more work I think. My wife
speaks pretty good Spanish and I'm trying to learn in my free time. Thank you
for the link.

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fabiandesimone
I'm in Madrid. Drop me a line if you need anything.

