Hey all, hoping you can help.
I live in South Africa at the moment. I’m 18 years old and I’ve just finished my final year of school - I receive results in Jan 2024.
I’m hopefully going to be studying in Amsterdam next year (although won’t know until I receive results) but I will definitely find a place to study abroad.
I’m very fortunate to have an EU passport. The situation here in South Africa, is relatively bad. The chances of me getting a job here are quite limited.
For this reason, I’m hoping to immigrate to Netherlands next year (anywhere in Europe would suffice though) - I plan on finding part time work - waitering/bartending/tutoring/babysitting/cleaning etc… and starting to earn some cash (which I’ll invest on the side).
I just don’t even know where to begin. I’ve got enough money to get a plane ticket and afford 1/2 months rent while I look for a job but other than that, going with pretty much nothing.
Just looking for tips and advice:
- where is the best student life? Where are the best opportunities for international students when looking for work? Any agencies I should contact? Personal stories of similar circumstances etc…
If anyone has any tips or advice, please post on this thread. Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Just a little reminder that every EU country is different when it comes to allowing you to reside there.
For example, in Belgium everybody with an EU passport is welcome. However if you want to stay for longer than 3 months, you have to be able to show that you are going to be working (or have sufficient funds otherwise). Furthermore, finding a place to live isn’t going to be easy if you don’t have a job arranged or 6 months rent saved up.
I don’t know what the exact situation is in the NL, but it’s worth investigating.
You also want to learn Dutch asap. If you already speak Afrikaans, you’re three quarters of the way there :)