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Comment by nodemaker | Hacker News Reader

Similar story here. Indian citizen with a US masters degree. Left after working in the US for a year, travelled around SE Asia ,and then moved to Amsterdam! Can choose to work four days a week, have side projects and take 26 days of vacation a year.

H1B is totally a sucker's game.

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How did you move to Amsterdam ? Is it like fulltime work or did you sponsor yourself with an EU Blue Card ? I'm always interested in learning about the various possibilities engineers have around the world! :)

I applied to a few companies, got an offer and moved with a Dutch residence and work permit. The whole thing took about a month. There is a huge demand for skilled engineers in the EU.

Indeed there is, I have a friend (Java developer, early 40ties) who moved to Amsterdam with his wife and two kids. It's pretty easy for in-demand jobs.

How hard is it to obtain permanent residency?

An interesting option for Americans looking to move to the Netherlands (or their territories) is the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAFT_(treaty)

Interesting, i know a lot of americans go to Berlin but German laws make being a freelancer quite tricky. Interesting to see it's easier in the Netherlands.

It was quite easy for me to get a German visa as a freiberufler. Basically I just needed health insurance and to show that I had past income as a freelancer. It's been renewed each year without a problem.

Akaik it's harder to get a fixed job because the company must prove there are no locals who could do the job. It's just more paper work for them.

That's cool! I was born in India but was brought up near The Hague. Any chance you might be able to share where you're working at the moment? Interested in know what opportunities there are in and around Amsterdam and Rotterdam. If you'd rather not post publicly, feel free to shoot me an email: me@kartikkumar.com. Thanks!

layar and Booking.com are intersting companies in Amsterdam.

Thanks for that! I was curious because Booking.com is the only company that I know of. Layar looks really awesome! I actually interviewed at Booking.com and got a job offer as Data Scientist. After a lot of deliberation I accepted a postdoc position instead but I'm going to keep my eye out for opportunities in Amsterdam for when my postdoc is done. Hope Layar is still doing awesome things when I check again!

There are also a lot of other companies like markplaats, ice etc. (LinkedIn is your friend)

Also, virtually anyone in Amsterdam or the rest of The Netherlands for that matter speaks English. Weather sucks though :)

I did the opposite: Studied for Masters degree in Amsterdam. Worked for Dutch company. Left. Travelled around SE Asia. Moved to Los Angeles to work for start up.

I think if I wanted to I could easily work for 4 days; much easier than in Holland, but that was bigger company. Also, there is no limit on the vacation I can take.

You both mentioned being able to do side projects. Do US visas prohibit that?

Yes, it does. With H1B visa, you cannot work for more than 40 hours and it has to be with a single employer.

Yes, at least the H-1B does prohibit earning income from any other 'projects' other than your sponsored job, with the exception of capital gains/interest from holding assets.

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