The questions Americans actually ask about moving to Europe.

It depends on the country and the visa. Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy now offer digital-nomad routes built exactly for this. Other permits, like France’s visitor visa, prohibit French employment and leave US remote work in a gray zone. Do not build your life on a tolerated ambiguity; choose the route that makes your situation explicit.

Usually yes. Most permits expect the country to be your real base, and long absences can block renewals or a later permanent status. The other side matters too: enough presence can make you a tax resident, which must be planned, not discovered. The Blueprint sets your calendar around both thresholds.

Yes, through years of legal residence: commonly five in France and Portugal, seven in Greece, ten in Spain and Italy, each with language and integration conditions. Rules shift, so if a second passport is the long-term goal, we build the residence route around it from year one.

No. Holding a European residence permit, or even a second citizenship where allowed, does not touch your US citizenship. What follows you is the US tax system, which taxes citizens wherever they live. That is a filing reality to organize, not a reason to stay home.

Some do, because US citizens create FATCA reporting duties for banks. It is a known, solvable problem: in every country we work in, specific banks accept American clients readily when the file arrives complete. Banking and FX setup is part of the Blueprint, so you are never improvising at the counter.

Yes, every year, wherever you live. Add the FBAR declaration once your foreign accounts exceed $10,000 in total. Filing is not the same as paying twice: treaties and credits usually prevent double taxation when the move is sequenced properly. EPO brings the expat-tax specialist in early and coordinates that work with the residence, banking and property timeline.

Yes. French, Spanish and Portuguese banks lend to American buyers, typically financing 50 to 70 percent for non-residents, at rates that often surprise Americans pleasantly. FATCA narrows the list of willing lenders, so the work is knowing which banks say yes and preparing the file they expect.

On a property purchase, the exchange rate can move the real price by several percent between offer and closing. Forward contracts and staged transfers exist precisely for this, and they are arranged before you commit, not after. FX strategy is part of the Blueprint’s banking work.

French law does reserve a share of an estate for children, but under the EU succession regulation you can generally elect the law of your US state to govern your estate, if your will says so correctly and in time. Estate taxes follow separate treaty rules. We put a cross-border estate specialist on this before you buy, not after.

Major European cities have established international and bilingual schools teaching in English, with tuition typically a fraction of comparable US private schools. Seats in the best ones are competitive and run on local calendars, so school applications are planned into the move timeline, not left to arrival.

Yes, and without quarantine in the countries we cover. A dog or cat needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination at least 21 days old, and a USDA-endorsed health certificate issued shortly before travel. Airlines add their own rules on crates and breeds, which is usually the harder constraint.

Social Security follows you: payments continue to Americans living in Europe, by direct deposit. Medicare does not; it covers almost nothing outside the US. Your European residence route determines what replaces it, between public systems and private cover that typically costs far less than US premiums. The full retiree sequence is covered in the retire-in-Europe guide.

For daily life in the cities Americans choose, very little. For the administration, a real one: notaries, tax offices, banks and contractors work in the local language and on local logic. That layer is exactly what a private office covers. Vetted local partners handle it in their own language while you stay in English.

It depends on your state. France exchanges licenses only with certain US states; move from the wrong one and you sit the French driving test, in French. Deadlines apply, often within the first year of residence. It is a small detail that ambushes many Americans, so we check it against your state early.

A documented primary-residence move generally enters duty-free, provided the inventory and residence paperwork are done properly and within the country’s window. Budget several months door to door for a full container. The paperwork, not the packing, is where moves go wrong, and it is coordinated as part of execution.

The honest answer is: it depends on how well you already know the place. Renting six to twelve months buys certainty about the neighborhood and the winter. Buying early captures a market you already understand. This is exactly the kind of decision the Blueprint settles with evidence rather than instinct.