I've had no issues living in Norway for the past 5 years and I'm not sure if I've ever been asked if I were a terrorist. I certainly haven't been asked for my social media information. Not only that, but I could visit Europe for 2 months without a visa. No paperwork, nothing. I had passport control in Copenhaven, but nothing whatsoever in Norway. In contrast, a Norwegian citizen must fill stuff out to have the same luxury in the US.

I'm pretty sure you can't simply "get" a 5 year visa without paperwork, fees, and other such things either. IT isn't that you can't get them in other countries, it is simply that they are called different things - usually something that alludes to being a resident (which is correct).

You don't go through passport control in Norway unless you are departing or arriving from a non-Schengen country. So flying between Copenhagen and Oslo, for example, doesn't involve passport control.

Work permits in Norway used to be 3 valid for 3 years at a time, but they've had to shorten this to 2 years due to EU requirements. If you get permanent residency you also have to renew it every two years by making an appointment and visiting the police station. Luckily they don't charge you for renewals of permanent residency, just the initial application.

> If you get permanent residency you also have to renew it every two years by making an appointment and visiting the police station.

Not any more.

Oh really? I found it relatively straight forward to study, live, and work in the Netherlands. 5 year visa, too.

Which visa was that?

Highly-skilled migrant. Then, after that, permanent resident also renewable every 5 years.

So... easy to get a visa if you're a highly-skilled migrant.

That's not everybody.

That's not most people.

As someone in America on the "highly-skilled migrant" visa/green card, I can guarantee you that even that is not straightforward here. It's exactly as stress-inducing and risky-feeling as every other US visa, just with a slightly higher chance of success if you fulfill enough criteria.

So even this is a noteworthy point of distinction between NL and here.

Sorry...where did I imply that anyone could get one? Most anyone who graduates and finds a job sure can; and from what I gather it's a far easier and less Kafkaesque process than in the US, too.

I was primarily responding to the point that 5 year visas are unheard of in Europe (which is plainly false).

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say.

I was responding to "relatively straight forward".

It was "relatively straight forward" because you are a highly-skilled migrant.