I wouldn't bother with Eastern Europe... In fact any Europe besides France and Britain are more or less out of the question... I was once in Germany (a "civilized country") and at the airport the border guard threw my passport back at me with a sneer... they had to let me in though... Think about it... I'm a white man travelling on an American passport... and they still treated me like crap. Fucking krauts...! To think my country still occupies their country and you're still garbage to them. Yeah... So anything east of France is basically pointless to immigrate to... In Europe, your best choice is Britain followed by France...! They're the most tolerant. That's about it...
Does ne need one (working)? In germany it was declared some time ago by a significant court case that trading (your own money) is NOT running a business but managing one's assets. In this particular case some dude was living from trading but legally banned by court order from operating a business - and the court declared that he (working in the german form of an arcade) was actually not doing a business. This would indicate that you could do that on a non-work visa, too. Not sure about the USA
You should also try Scandinavia... (forgot they were in Europe)...! Again, pretty tolerant societies and open to immigration... The downside to living there is the weather and having to speak their attrocious languages! Have you ever heard Swedes talk...? It's almost as if they're retarded... It's all like... Aaaieeeeouiiieeeeeee....!
Comming back to realiy for a sec, if I may .. what's your trading style, to be making a living running about 100K, while paying IB's rates?
I mostly trade the 1 to 3 swings that happen within the day in the 3 mkts i trade. Mostly intraday directional, on occassion holding overnight. i average 300 pips more or less in the euro , slightly less than 200 ticks in the ES, and am fairly new to fesx to compile reliable stats. As to how much I make, as long as the ticks are consistent it's only a question of leverage though I am very conservative in that regard. In a country like Pakistan even a $50000 per annum income is like having 500k in the US, quite a princely lifestyle. As to IB's commissions an fx trade costs me around 1.5 ticks both sides commissions included. Pretty reasonable I say.
For now I'm quite alright here, other than the power outages the internet companies are very professional here but there are a few problems on the horizon: 1. Trigger happy money printing by the central bank causing runaway inflation... I am thinking its going argentina style corralito. 2. Dependence on debt, the bulk of which is denominated in dollars not the local currency. So it can't be easily repaid.In 2007 the exchange rate was something like 60 to the dollar. Now it's 93 and going up. Not only are we still borrowing the existing debt is getting harder to repay. 3. In a possible hyperinflationary scenario, the state owned monopolies would not be able to procure commodities for power generation. Riots follow. More money printing... And strikes by workers. I reckon the tech infrastructure would be rendered non functional in such a scenario. 4. In case things turn this way I would just like to jet off and resume trading. 5. For now the dubai option seems most appropriate. The arcade clears marex. Once you join you get the work visa, similar culture etc. On a somewhat related note neighboring india is apparently going through similar problems as I read on FT. their debt increases by $90B each year, and the central bank lost $25B defending the exchange rate. apparently they've given up propping it. Now Pakistan and india share river water. India is building hundreds of medium to large dams on those rivers to fulfill it agriculture needs. Pakistan is already objecting. A dispute is commencing. Bearing the above factors in mind with both economies struggling the ingredients for a war are already present within the next decade. This here is the worst case scenario for both these countries.
This is your main problem. You move somewhere else, those 50k USD income will NOT look that good anymore Living on that in London is close to a life in Pakistan, so to say (ok, dramatising).
Turkey has no real international trading community AFAIK. This alone would make me write it off as a destination, unless there were other compensating factors (e.g. you know people there). If you relocate, it's good to be able to share a workplace with other motivated trading professionals, it will help you improve your skills, and it also provides a ready network of friends and acquaintances. What kind of prices were you seeing in Turkey? I would recommend NOT buying a home anywhere the first 3-4 years after emigrating, especially emigrating to somewhere outside the first world. The reason is that within 2-3 years there is a good chance you will hate being away from your home country, and if you just bought a place, then you can kiss goodbye to 10-20% of the property value in transactions costs (assuming you don't get rooked on resale because the agent/buyer realises you are a forced-selling expat about to return home). Further problems are that you will have to do maintenance and fix problems yourself, whereas if you pay rent, your landlord and agent are economically incentivised to keep things working (if not, you can just stop paying rent and move out, they can't enforce a lease on a non-citizen who leaves the country). You also become vulnerable to extortion, legal harrassment (frivolous lawsuits etc) or kidnap, since your name will be listed on the land registry and people will assume a foreigner is rich. In every 3rd world country on earth, you can hear stories of foreigners who got screwed by owning real estate. Owning property is inimical to rapid relocation, which is a key factor in being an expat and living in the 3rd/2nd world. Finally, and most importantly for a trader, buying property ties up capital which is better used in your business. If you really want to own real estate, take a holiday to Miami or Vegas, and buy apartments in foreclosure, then rent them out at 10% yields. Then when your US tourist visa runs out, go to Turkey, Dubai, or whatever other place you choose, and rent there for 6-12 months while you get a feel for the place. But my advice is don't buy. Landlording is for people with steady incomes and lots of spare time, who are good at fixing problems and handling moaning tenants who trash the place periodically. What if you have tenant problems when the markets are going crazy? You will be totally fucked.