Buying a car in Europe with an American drivers license

I assume that you are already a citizen of an EU country otherwise you can only remain in the EU for a period of 90 days. My findings is that you cannot buy a car in Italy unless you have an Italian driver license. Not sure of the rest of the EU. Let me know if you are able to buy a car elsewhere

I’m not a citizen so I guess I’ll have to apply for a visa instead.
What’s the process of a US citizen becoming an ex pat in Europe?

Sorry to say: it's a headache.  But I can only talk about Italy ( although the process  is not as bad as  obtaining a US citizenship). Let me tell you about my experience, which was less painful than some other I have read about it. I was born in Italy but lost my citizenship when I became a US citizen. I started the process to reacquire my Italian citizenship in 2015 by going to Italy after I was advised in Rome in 2014 by an immigration official that I could start the process by beginning a year long residency anywhere in Italy. However when  I tried to do so in Verona , I was told that I had to  start the process with my consulate in the US.  So, I returned to the US  after a 90 day stay and, almost immediately upon my return, I scheduled an appointment with the consulate. It took me 15 months to get an appointment and, when there,  I was informed again that I could have started this process in Italy. Ridiculous.  But, I have learnt few things since then: a) you cannot rely on one official's position ;b) bureaucracy is rampant ; c) if you want things done,  is the old say"who you know not what you know". Point and case, it should have taken one year to regain my citizenship  based on what is stated on the consulate website but , since I engaged a local lawyer , it took less than 3 months. So, be prepared to wrong advice and interpretation of the laws and bureaucratic ordeal. Having said that, I cannot wait to retire in Italy hopefully by early next year. My experience although irritating and frustrating at times was well worth it to get me at this point.
I see you are a medical doctor . You could possibly use that experience to  obtain some type of visa. Additionally, I have read that it may be easier to obtain visa in Portugal, where they are trying to attract retirees by offering low  tax incentives. If you are still thinking of residing in Italy , I could give you a couple of Facebook sites that deal with moving to Italy  . Good luck

There is a way around it, stay in the EU for 90 days, then leave the EU for 90 days and so on, that way you will not have to bother with a Visa as that is covered on your passport.

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I can't think of many European countries that offer specific retirement visas; if you intend to stay longer than the 90 days permitted by the Schengen scheme, then you need to qualify for either some kind (and I'm using these words loosely) of ancestry, investor or working visa.

My advice for suitable places to check out would be Portugal and Spain; both countries have large Expat communities and I think look more benevolently on retiree ex-pats.

You might want to wait until the Coronavirus has had its wicked way with us though.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Yes thank you

You also can't buy a car in Italy unless you are a permanent resident.

We are kind of in the same boat as you.  Here is what I know so far and I have been corresponding with some immigration attorneys in Italy.  Not sure if other countries are similar.

There are (as far as I know) 3 visa possibilities:
1.  Student visa
2.  Retirement visa (elective residence visa)
3.  Self-employment/independent contractor visa

Obviously, if you acquired a job in Italy your employer would have their own channel toward a visa but I don't think that applies to you and it doesn't apply to us, either.

Retirement visa is income dependent and you cannot work at all (not even online).  You need to prove you have a certain monthly income and reserve funds plus your own healthcare.

Self-employment visa is subject to the Italian "decreto flussi" which is a quota of immigrants they allow in per year.  Normally, that quota number, usually just over 30,000, would have been announced by now but I've heard it may be October this year.  The lawyer said it's not an easy process.

I think nos. 2 and 3 can take a year to get through.  Also, each consulate evaluates per their own discretion so it can differ wildly for everyone.  I've read a lot of frustrating stories!  The same income can get you approved with one consulate and another will reject.  Go figure.

This is a very rough guideline but hopefully it helps a bit.  Good luck!

My experience:

No registered address, no car.

And you need to have your actual permesso card (not the receipt!) to register your address. Took me nearly six months after arriving.

License is not required to purchase, but you can only use your International Drivers License for 12 months before obtaining a local license. And you cannot just exchange an Aussie or US license, you must go through the whole parlaver (including the compulsory lessons, and the traffic regulation test, in Italian )

I initially took a long term tourist lease on a french vehicle which worked for me. I presume the same scheme is available in the US. Check "tourist lease" on the peugeot or renault web sites.

As others have said, you do need a registered residence first.  You do not need an Italian drivers license.  Also unless you have a real burning desire to buy a car, just do a long term lease*.  Unless something has changed since January, 2019, I think you can lease a car up to about 180 days.  There are a couple companies that do the long-term lease.  Renault USA /Eurodrive is the one I leased from.  It came with bumper to bumper no questions asked insurance.  I thought it was a real bargain for my needs.  I was considering doing another 6 months, but I ended up buying a car instead.  If you do another 6 months, you'll have to use a different company, though. 

By the way, I'm a dual citizen (USA/Italy) and moved permanently to Italy, but took my time in establishing a legal residence because I wanted to travel around a bit first.  That's why I leased a car first.  If you're coming on a visa, that's a whole other pile of grief.

*This was for Italy, but they lease cars for other countries as well.  You may have other options outside of Italy.

I actually got an Elective Residency visa through the Los Angeles Italian Consulate. I had to have a codice fiscale, a bank account, a contract for an apartment for the time period of my planned visa (1 year) and proof of income. I went online last October and scheduled an appointment for December. My appointment at the consulate had to be within 90 days of my planned arrival in Italy. I had all the paperwork together for my appointment, I left my passport at the consulate with a prepaid FedEx envelope and the next week I received my my passport with the visa stamped in it. I consider myself lucky because I made it over to Italy before the COVID crisis. It was not fun, but we didn't run out of toilet paper in the grocery stores in Italy.

I expect that you are as of now a resident of an EU nation else you can just stay in the EU for a time of 90 days. My discoveries is that you can't accepting a vehicle in Italy except if you have an Italian driver permit. Not certain about the remainder of the EU. Inform me as to whether you can purchase a vehicle somewhere else

xenialou wrote:

I expect that you are as of now a resident of an EU nation else you can just stay in the EU for a time of 90 days. My discoveries is that you can't accepting a vehicle in Italy except if you have an Italian driver permit. Not certain about the remainder of the EU. Inform me as to whether you can purchase a vehicle somewhere else

Sorry but you are competely wrong. You do NOT need an Italian drivers license to buy a car but you MUST have a registered address. A car from elsewhere in the EU can only be used for six months and then registered in Italy. This is definitely a major PITA!