I'll second Corion's post about Germany, I currently live/study/work here, as an American. As a student, finding work is easier than a full time position, but there are definetly some hoops to jump through. I've found that if you have the skills to work here, any company worth their salt will find a way to get you an 'Arbeitserlaubnis' (work permit).

The introduction of a german "Green Card" system recently has made it even easier to find work over here, but they're really after IT workers from India/Pakistan/etc, not so much from the US or Britain because we demand much higher salaries.

As for Perl/Linux/Open Source awareness over here, I've found that the people here are almost MORE into the whole Linux/Open Source movement as back home. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that Freiburg is a university city, but I have yet to run into someone who hasn't at least installed a linux box at home.

And FWIW, I use perl and php exclusively at work.

Mel

(Feel free to email me if you have any questions about my work experiences over here. Germany is an incredible country, I love it over here. =)