Can someone tell me what exactly a work visa is and how to get one? Is it different depending on the country you are coming from/going to? Is it difficult to obtain? Do you HAVE to designate where you want to work (country). Like what if you wanted to work in Europe but didn't care if it was in France or Amsterdam? (I'm thinking England is different thatn the rest of Europe).

If I understand correctly, each country has different rules for citizens of each other country. It all depends on where you want to work and where you're from. And sometimes what kind of work you're qualified to do. You'll need to research each place you'd like to work and their rules for americans.

If you're already a citizen of a European Union (EU) country, you can work in any other EU country, I believe. But I don't know if they offer "generic" EU work visas.

CarrieMpls said:

True on all that. Is there a chance you could claim dual citizenship? That's how I'm able to work in Germany without any special visa. Contact the Embassy(s) of the country you're interested in and they can help you further.

I'm not sure.

Somebody answer this now!!!!!

More specifically...going from here and working in England.

superspaceboy said:

I looked into work visas in england a coupla years ago myself. It's really difficult.

Basically, you have to have a company there hire you and they do the visa for you and the job specifically. If you find a better job while you're in the current one, the new company can transfer the visa to themselves. But unless you're highly skilled in a specifc area, it's kinda hard to get, as the company has to prove they couldn't find someone in their area in a reasonable amount of time to fill that position in order to grant a visa for an american worker.

CarrieMpls said:

WOW! So I guess that's pretty much out. I wonder how Natisse did this. I think she did office work but didn't seem specialized. Casey is looking into doing this as his place of employment opened up a branch in London.

superspaceboy said:

Natisse is Australian, so the rules are different. At the time she went, she was on a youth working holiday visa for commonwealth countries. I don't know if they still offer them. At the time if you were a citizen of Australia or Canada (or any other commonwealth country, I don't know what they all are...) and 30 years old or younger you could get a visa to work there for 2 years only. I asked her when she was there all about it and was devastated when I realized it wouldn't be so easy for me.

superspaceboy said:

If his place of employment is hiring him or sending him there it should be fairly simple, I would think. But you getting a job to go with him, yeah, that's the hard part.

CarrieMpls said:

Damn those Aussies and Canada people! Always finding the loopholes! Thanks for the info. It's not going to be that easy then...unles his workplace does it for him.

I cannot answer the question for Europe. In the US, in order to obtain a work visa, you must have a petioner. That petioner must file a labor petition after it has been established that there are no qualified US workers. Then a visa is applied for you. Once you have the visa, you make entry into the US. The visa is processed and you are issued an I94 for the duration of your visa or petition.

I will save you my opinion on the matter.

jbchavez said:

That's so xenophobic. SOmetimes, the uSA sucks ass.

Imago said:

I am just telling you how the process works. Honestly, there is fraud on all levels of the work visa. There is fraud on the H2A (agricultural workers) to the H1B (professional worker). It is a club.

Imago said:

Most countries do the same.

the rules for the UK are changing a lot this year- currently you can try to get in under a highly-skilled migrants visa, which has a points system that takes into account your age, level of education, income, etc, and once you exceed a certain amount of points you're allowed to come in and work, to my understanding. superspaceboy, that might work in your case? http://www.workpermit.com...gram.htm

& dan, the UK kinda does the same to anyone who's not in a commonwealth country- even if you did find someone to employ you, they also have to prove (i'm not quite sure through what means) that there isn't anyone in the UK who could fill the job. you can't apply for a visa until after you go through this, and have the work permit.

frankly i think it is ALL FUCKING SHIT and the UK and US shouldn't be such closed fucking bastards about letting people in who want more than anything to come and work and pay taxes in the damn country.

evenstar3 said:

Agreed!