Looking for amateur open wheel racing advice

Hi everyone,

I always wanted to do open-wheel amateur racing, but don't know anything about the world of amateur motorsport. I am looking for some guidance and will do in in depth research on them. At the moment, I have no idea where to look what to read so I have a couple of questions that I want to ask, any answer and comment is appreciated.

1. Do I have to get some kind of a certificate to be able to compete in amateur races or tournaments?
2. Which European country is the best for amateur openwheel racing in terms of availability of races and affordability? Or is the US better?
3. What classes are there for open-wheel amateur racing, like Formula Vee?
4. Lastly, but most importantly, can you guys recommend any websites/forums for me to check out for further inquiry?

I would also love to hear your experiences if you have, open/closed-wheel, doesn't matter.

Thanks for all the help in advance :).

Basic questions:
1./ What country are you in?
2./ What budget have you got? Racing is costly.
3./ Have you the mechanical skills to prepare your own car?
4./ Have you considered karts as a starting point? Many countries have some form of karting.
5./ What languages do you speak? It will always be easier to race somewhere that you can understand what people are telling you.

Having said that, I think you need to read a few copies of "Motorsport News" and "Autosport" and equivalent publications from other countries to get an idea of what club racing there is available in them.