Lauren in Padua

Lauren in Padua: Brexit and applying for temporary residency

Rachel — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 10:59:21 +0000

Reading time

5 minutes

Last September, Lauren decided to move to Padua, Italy to study a masters and we have been following her journey ever since. From finding a flat to catching coronavirus and not being able to return home for Christmas, Lauren has shared it all with us. In this last episode, Laurens tells us about how she had to prepare for Brexit as a UK citizen living in the EU.

Hey Lauren, happy new year! How was your Italian Christmas?

Buon anno everyone! I had a lovely Christmas spent with the family who I stayed with when I did my workaway. I did some midnight yoga and then on Christmas day we ate lasagne, did some dancing, played games and watched films. I even managed to fit in a video call with my family! Boxing day was a bit more relaxed and we went for a walk with Paco the dog. In the evening, I cycled along the river back to my house and enjoyed a lovely sunset. It was nice to have a couple of days free from university assignments and with good company!

I know you were planning to do some volunteering, did you fit that in?

Yes, I did my first shift with the Red Cross delivering groceries and medicine in the local community as well as three nights of online youth training. It was great to end the year volunteering in the European Volunteering Capital for 2020! To bring in the bells, I was at home with my flatmate and we enjoyed watching the videos that were made for Edinburgh's Hogmanay. Here’s to 2021!

That sounds like a lovely end to the year! However, we didn’t just say goodbye to 2020, we also said goodbye to the Brexit transition period. As a British person living in the EU, this was bound to have some consequences for you, what did you have to do in preparation?

I had to apply for temporary residency and I was able to do this at the start of December after being in Italy for 90 days. It would have been a lot more confusing if I had arrived now to study and that's why I'm glad I decided to come to Padua in September even though I could have followed my classes online from home.

How did you find the procedure? What did you have to do?

I was a bit confused to begin with but when I got started, the procedure was fairly simple. In early December, I attended an online roadshow for British nationals organised by the International Organisation for Migration and the British Embassy in Rome. I had a 10 minute interview slot where they guided me through the different steps that I needed to take to ensure I was covered after Brexit. It was really helpful as they made me aware of the different routes I could take. The two routes I could take were registering as a student or registering as “self supported.” Registering as a student would mean that after my studies I would not be able to stay in Italy unless I had a job lined up. I decided to register as ‘self supported’ and this way I would be covered under the withdrawal agreement and won't necessarily have to find a job as soon as my studies finish. This is how I understood it anyway but I was also told it might change!

They said the most important thing was that I sorted it out sooner rather than later as the documents required can differ in different parts of Italy and once you choose which route to take it can’t be changed. I had to make an appointment at the Comune (town hall) and turn up with all the documents required such as my passport, housing contract, health insurance, proof of funds as well as the fiscal stamp and money to pay for the registration. Luckily, the staff there were really helpful so it was all quick and easy. I received my residency certificate and then I had to pay for another certificate (Attestazione di iscrizione anagrafica) in order to be covered under the withdrawal agreement and to continue enjoying the rights as an EU citizen.

How have you found the advice and guidance for UK citizens living in Italy?

I’ve found it all a bit confusing and that’s mostly because some of the people who I spoke to here were unfamiliar with the steps that I needed to take. Some were not sure if I was able to register for residency here as an EU citizen or if I was to follow the rules for citizens from non-EU countries. I made several phone calls and got passed around different people before getting the right advice. The university was also quite slow in issuing general advice for UK students and only sent out information in mid December, which didn’t leave a lot of time for things to go wrong. The most important thing I’ve learnt about official procedures is that you should always leave lots of time for unexpected issues and miscommunication.

The UK Government has published useful guides for those already living in Italy which has lots of useful information and contact details. Although I do think there could be more support in general offered for UK citizens who want to emigrate abroad, especially now.

What do you think you have to do going forward?

I have another appointment later this month to get my residency card and then I have to provide proof of funds every year. The Italian Government has recently said that British nationals can obtain a digital card that will prove you are registered under the withdrawal agreement, so I need to look into that as well. For now I am happy with my certificate until they get everything organised! I need to double check I have followed the right procedure and that I've done everything right now that the UK has officially left the EU.

Do you have any advice for either UK citizens or EU citizens looking to move?

The best thing to do is to be well informed before moving away as there so many changes and although there are official guidelines to follow, it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone in the country you are going to is well informed. I would recommend checking your rights with a professional so that you are confident about what needs to be done before departing and upon arrival. It is always best to check with different official sources as I have found at times I get completely different responses to the same question and it can be very confusing. It is also vital to be patient as the Brexit rules are new to us all and it will take a while for things to settle, especially with the ever changing pandemic guidance too. Having lots of patience and allowing time for unexpected obstacles during official procedures is key!

We hope you enjoyed reading about Lauren's experience applying for temporary residency. Lauren is going to start her exams soon so we thought we would give her a break. Thank you Lauren for everything you have shared with us, we wish you the best of luck in your upcoming exams!

If you missed any of the previous episodes in the Lauren in Padua series then you can check them all out here and be sure to watch out for our new Brexit series coming soon! We may not have Emily in Paris but we do have Lauren in Padua! Ciao!

Author

Rachel

Communications Coordinator

Blog tags

International Students

International Mobility

Lauren in Padua

Moving abroad

Lauren in Padua: catching coronavirus and celebrating Christmas abroad

Rachel — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:33:44 +0000

Reading time

4 minutes

Lauren, Dialexy Terminologist, decided to pack up her bags and move to Italy earlier in the year to study a master’s degree. We have been following Lauren’s adventures in Padua since then and so far we have heard about how Lauren adapted to studying online and how she found a flat and enrolled at university. This week the journey takes an unexpected turn as Lauren tells us her experience catching coronavirus and not being able to travel back home for Christmas.

Lauren, we are so glad to hear you have recovered from coronavirus! Can you tell us how it happened and what you have gone through?

I was a bit overwhelmed with university work then I started to feel like I had a cold and a bit run down. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for me as I tend to do too much and don't take time to relax. My taste then disappeared for a couple of days so I called the local coronavirus helpline and they advised me to call a doctor and get a prescription for a test. In general I had very mild symptoms such as a sore head and feeling a bit tired but this won't stop me from being careful!

How did you find it booking a test?

It was a bit of a nightmare but fortunately speaking Italian made a massive difference. It involved a lot of waiting in phone queues to book a test as well as calling for results. I had to call the out of hours doctor for a prescription and then I had to go to a local stadium where I had to queue for 2 hours to get a rapid test. This then came back positive so I had to get the normal test and wait for the results a few days later. I ended up hanging about for four hours in total, so quite a long time!

Some of my friends had other experiences, I had a friend who got a test without a doctor's prescription and another friend who had a doctor come to their house! I wasn't offered any of these options, the whole procedure was a bit confusing with different advice being given by health professionals.

How did you find the quarantine?

At first I was feeling a bit down to be back in the house but after a couple of days I changed my mindset and took it as a chance to have a bit of a break, reorganise my time and find a new hobby. The weather was really nice so I was able to study on the balcony. I have university and work online so I was kept busy doing that. I was also doing training online to volunteer with the Red Cross here in Italy and brushing up on my first aid vocabulary in Italian!

Your life seems hectic Lauren, did you have any down time at all during your quarantine?

Yes, I was able to have some down time too. It was nice to be with my flatmate and get to know her better. She is very musical so she taught me how to play the keyboard a bit and also have been helping her with her English pronunciation when she records songs. I was also able to join my Irish dance classes in Edinburgh as they are online so it was nice to still be able to do that and keep in touch with friends from afar. I really can't complain at all as it was a very productive quarantine!

Obviously we’re now in the run up to Christmas, are you planning to go home?

When I came here, I knew going home for Christmas might not be a possibility. I have spent a lot of time abroad in the past, including two Christmases so i’m okay with it. If I went home I would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival and potentially when I came back here, which is a long time especially after having recently spent 3 weeks indoors. I definitely wouldn’t want to put any of my friends or family in danger so I have decided to just stay here. I think it's really important to accept that this Christmas isn't going to be the same this year and if there is a quarantine in place, it is because it’s not safe to travel.

Italy for Christmas! How are you going to spend it?

I am going to be spending Christmas with the family I stayed with when I did my workaway which I'm really happy about! It will be nice to experience a proper Italian Christmas. On Christmas Day we are going to eat lasagna together and play board games. It will be weird to not have any turkey, but when in Italy! I would also like to do some volunteering with the Red Cross and start studying for my exams in January. I’m not sure it will be that relaxing but I like to keep on the go, especially with being away from home. There are many people on my course at university who also cannot go home, so I definitely won’t be alone.

What can we expect from Lauren in Padua in the new year? Do you have any new year's resolutions in mind?

I am currently in the process of applying for temporary residency because of Brexit so I will be able to tell you all about that in the new year! I’ve made it a birthday tradition to go skiing so hopefully I can manage to make the trip to the Dolomites since ski resorts open just in time for my birthday next month. As for resolutions, I’m going to try to manage my university work a bit better so I don’t feel like I’m constantly chasing my tail!

If you have enjoyed following Lauren’s moving abroad journey so far be sure to check back in the new year to hear all about Lauren’s experience with applying for temporary residency and more! Happy Christmas everyone and stay safe!

We may not have Emily in Paris but we do have Lauren in Padua! Buon Natale!

Author

Rachel

Communications Coordinator

Blog tags

International Mobility

International Students

Lauren in Padua

Moving abroad

Lauren in Padua: finding a flat and enrolling at university

Rachel — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:47:54 +0000

Reading time

5 minutes

After living in Spain, France and Canada, our colleague Lauren has decided to move to Italy to study a master’s degree. In the first blogs in the Lauren in Padua series, Lauren explained how she made the decision to move abroad during a pandemic and shared how she adapted to studying online. This week, we’re going to be discussing finding accommodation when moving abroad and different procedures that you might go through.

How did you find researching accommodation?

I find it challenging to research accommodation from outside the country, as you don’t know the place at all. I prefer being in the city and getting to know the different areas first. I’ve had a few bad experiences of flat sharing so I decided this time I wanted to meet my future flatmates before signing a contract to live with them for a year. However, if you are wanting to have somewhere reserved before arriving there are lots of Facebook groups that advertise rooms and also agencies that allow you to book your room before arriving. You just may have to pay a bit more. The university here has also started up a housing service to help students, especially those who have to quarantine on arrival.

So I guess the way you got around this was to do a “workaway”? Can you explain what a “workaway” is?

A workaway is when you work a few hours a day (if even that) in exchange for food and accommodation. There are lots of different types of work you can do, from au pairing to apple picking, and in lots of different countries. So yes, I spent the first 5 weeks of my time in Padova with a lovely family, walking their dog and helping out around the house. This gave me a base and they helped me a lot with getting to know the city, improving Italian and meeting new people. Doing the workaway meant I didn’t feel pressured to rush into renting a room. I’ve now moved into a flat in the centre mostly because the family I stayed with live a bit out of town and the transport into town is not great, but overall it's been a really positive experience which I would highly recommend! I will keep in touch with them and if I can’t get home at Christmas, it will be nice to have them nearby.

Thinking about the whole moving abroad process, what do you think has been your biggest struggle so far?

Well there is a lot of bureaucracy in Italy. Official procedures cost a lot and they take a long time. The simple things like opening a bank account and getting a sim card are complicated and require a lot of patience. I am very glad I arrived 3 weeks before classes started as I think the challenges of setting up a bank account, looking for a flat and trying to figure out how to sign up to all the online classes would have been too much at the same time!

Did you find it challenging to apply to university?

The actual application was relatively straightforward. They accepted my previous degree certificate and academic transcript in English however I had to get them verified by CIMEA (Centro Informazioni Mobilità Equivalenze Accademiche), the National Academic Recognition Information Centre in Italy. This took a while to be processed and I would have been unable to enroll at university without it. Luckily it came just in time!

The main challenging procedure I had to go through was organising my university fee status. In Italy, your fees are decided by your household income. In order to do this I required translations of tax documents, housing documents, bank account details and a family certificate. Since I have moved around a lot and worked in different countries it was tricky to gather all the documents. I had to also include translations of some of my parent’s documents. I then decided to translate my birth certificate and passport as well as I felt it would be useful to have these for any official procedures I may go through in the future. In the end I had around 30 pages to translate! Luckily working at Dialexy gave me instant access to high quality certified translations.

If you’re thinking of moving abroad and need to have your documents translated like Lauren then Dialexy can help you out with fast and easy official document translation. Simply upload your documents to translate.dialexy.com for an instant quote. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. If you're interested in hearing about Lauren's experience with catching coronavirus and her plans to celebrate Christmas in Italy then read the next blog in the series here.

We may not have Emily in Paris but we do have Lauren in Padua! Salute!

Author

Rachel

Communications Coordinator

Blog tags

International Mobility

International Students

Lauren in Padua

Moving abroad

Lauren in Padua: Adapting to studying online and language learning

Rachel — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 12:23:55 +0000

Reading time

4 minutes

2020 has been a challenging year, especially for those of us who live and study abroad. While many put their plans to move to another country on hold, Dialexy terminologist Lauren didn’t let a pandemic stop her and moved to Italy in September to do a master's degree.

In this blog, I caught up with Lauren to find out about how she has adapted to studying online and whether she has experienced any language or cultural barriers. If you want to read about Lauren’s initial moving abroad experience then check out the first blog in the Lauren in Padua series.

I know it’s been a couple of years since you finished your undergraduate degree, how have you found going back into education?

Overall it's going really well! It’s definitely a big change going from working full time to going back to studying so I am still figuring out how to balance studying, working part-time and socialising. I feel like I could spend all my extra hours reading as the course requires a lot of legal knowledge and coming from a linguistic background I am not very familiar with it. I also have 24 hours of classes from Monday to Wednesday back to back, so it's quite intense. Since I work and study at home I think it's important to be able to go out, get some fresh air and chat with others from time to time. I’m just trying to work out how to manage it all!

How are you finding learning online? Do you have any advice for how to make the most out of learning online?

I find learning online definitely has its positives and negatives. The positive side to it is that all of the lectures are recorded, so you are able to rewatch them if the teacher goes too fast or you want to go over a concept again. It also means that people who are studying from a different time zone can watch the lectures at a suitable time of day for them. Another really lovely thing is that people seem to be more confident to participate in discussions and I certainly have participated more than I would have in a big lecture hall.

I do find it tricky staying focused at home, especially knowing that I can rewatch the lectures at any time. Sometimes it's too easy to just have a break or go do some washing during class! I've just started to go to study rooms in the city to follow classes and I've found that works a lot better for me. I sometimes find the chat on zoom very distracting as people write in it during lectures, but a lot of the time the comments are very interesting, it's just hard to focus on the teacher and read them at the same time!

Have you found any language or cultural barriers? I know you have been staying with a family so either with the family, while “at” university or just in general?

I haven't experienced any cultural barriers but this is probably because I have spent a lot of time in Italy before living with families. I guess I knew what to expect, so I immediately felt at ease moving here to do a workaway with a family. Cultural barriers aren’t something you should be afraid of and living with a family is a great way to embrace other cultures.

In terms of the language, at times, there are words that I don’t know but we always find a way to communicate and I have learned many new words in the past couple of months! My course is taught in English, so my course mates speak very good English. It definitely helps to know Italian though when trying to find out information at the university or just in general when in the city.

Leading on from that, how important do you think it is to learn the native language of where you’re living?

I think it’s very important, and coming from a language background, I almost feel rude when I don’t know the language of the country I am in. I wouldn't have chosen to study in a place without knowing the language first, despite my course being in English. When going out with my friends who do not speak Italian, I often find I have to help them to communicate. The university offers a free Italian course for international students, so there's no excuse not to learn the language!

If you enjoyed reading about Lauren’s experience studying abroad then be sure to read the next blog in the series here where we talk about finding accommodation and the different procedures that Lauren went through.

We may not have Emily in Paris but we do have Lauren in Padua! Alla prossima settimana!

Author

Rachel

Communications Coordinator

Blog tags

International Mobility

International Students

Lauren in Padua

Moving abroad

Lauren in Padua: Moving abroad during a pandemic

Rachel — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 15:21:22 +0000

Reading time

3 minutes

Moving abroad, whether to study or work, can be exciting but nerve wracking and the current global pandemic can add a whole other element of anxiety to the moving abroad process. Should I wait until all this goes away? Will it go away? Will the experience be worthy if I take the plunge? What if everything gets worse? Thousands of questions run through our head before we make the big decision. If you are thinking about moving abroad during this uncertain time then you are in the right place.

Our very own Lauren, terminologist at Dialexy and expert globetrotter, had the same doubts during the first lockdown and finally made the decision to move to study in Padua, Italy. Would you like to hear her story? Follow us every week to learn about her experience of moving abroad in general and during Covid-19.

Hey Lauren, welcome! Can you give us a quick introduction to yourself?

I’m Lauren, I'm currently a Terminologist at Dialexy. I did my undergraduate degree at Heriot Watt University in Applied Languages and Translating and since then I have worked and volunteered abroad, which allowed me to gain experience in various different fields. About a year ago, I decided to go back to my language roots and joined the Dialexy team as a Translation Project Manager. I worked as a Project Manager for a year before moving to Padua, Italy last month to study a master’s in Human Rights and Multi-Level Governance.

So why did you decide to pursue your master’s degree abroad?

I like living abroad and experiencing different cultures while getting the chance to improve my languages. I have fond memories of my Erasmus year spent in France and Spain so this encouraged me to apply for a master’s degree abroad.

Why did you choose Italy?

I already speak the language, I have many Italian friends and I spent time staying with families whilst working here in the past. I really enjoy the pace of life which Italians have and in my opinion they have the best food! Having already studied in the UK, I wanted to find out more about how university life is here!

Did you find the moving abroad process was different this time because of the pandemic?

Yes, there was a lot of uncertainty about whether or not I would be able to go with flights being cancelled in the run up to me leaving. Normally I wouldn't be nervous about moving abroad but I was definitely more hesitant this time. I was worried about being stuck in my room on my own due to all my lessons being online but this hasn't been the case at all! All the international students are in the same boat, we just have to make more of an effort to meet up safely while we can since we don’t get to meet each other during lectures.

Other than through your university classes, how have you met people? Did you find it harder because of the pandemic?

I haven’t found it particularly hard because of the pandemic, I just think you have to make more of an effort to get out there and meet people as you aren’t naturally meeting them in your classes. I did a workaway for the first 5 weeks, where I helped a family out by walking their dog and running some errands in exchange for accommodation. This was a really good way to meet some locals and they also introduced me to some of their friends. ESN Padova (Erasmus Student Network in Padua) has been great too as during the first week before classes they arranged events every night so I met people at those events too.

Do you have any advice for anyone looking to move or study abroad at this time?

I believe you should just go for it, as long as you are willing to be adaptable and understanding of the situation right now. In the end if you are really interested in studying, this will always be available. Universities are adapting to the ongoing situation meaning that studying is becoming a lot more accessible and flexible. I certainly don't regret coming to study here and the way I look at it is that at least if there is another lockdown I can put all my focus on studying and working! I’ve learnt that we can’t put everything on hold, we just have to adapt our way of life and accept that things will be different. The situation doesn't always need to be seen in a negative light. Although there are a lot of people who have suffered in the past months, you can’t let fear decide your fate!

If you have been inspired by Lauren’s experience then be sure to read the next in the series here when we discuss adapting to studying online and language learning.

We may not have Emily in Paris but we do have Lauren in Padua! Alla prossima!

Author

Rachel

Communications Coordinator

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