How possible is it to work without a work visa in Europe (outside of Great Britain, that is)? I'm talking about any location and any kind of work that doesn't involve prostitution or anything nasty like that..hehe.. I speak four languages and have a masters degree. Waitressing, teaching English, farm work, retail shop work, dishwashing, etc.. Im just looking for short term work to pay the bills and move on to the next country... Anyone done it? Can anyone give me info about this? Thanks! : ) UGH, and PLEASE dont talk to me about the famed "Global Financial Crisis". I am well aware of the "crisis" and that employment is scarce. That is NOT the question. Employment without visas will ALWAYS exist, as long as it is more viable for the employer than legitimately hiring a worker and paying all of the corresponding social payments. So please, no answers about "the crisis", blah blah blah.
Other - Europe - 3 Answers
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1 :
Where are you coming from? I am pretty sure you have to have a work visa or be a citizen of a country in the EU. It may be possible to work part time without a work visa, or if you are a student at the same time.
2 :
Well apparently you don't want to hear the truth then, and only want to hear that it is easy to get an job and that employers are queuing up to hire illegal employees The fact is (at least speaking for Western Europe), they are not queuing up for this. Why would they hire an illegal when (a) in this day and age, hiring of illegals is a hot potato and more people report illegals, and more checks are made, with more fines for the employer (b) "Cheap" labour can be found easily with migration of immigrants (legal ones!) in the EU (c) yes, here it comes, people are willing to settle for less and happy to carry out 'lower' positions in the current economic crisis. I disagree that it is 'more viable for the employer than legitimately hiring a worker'. Before the expansion of the EU then this was indeed the case, but those days have long gone. If you have a masters and speak four languages, then why don't you put this to good use, get a good job in your home country, build up experience and then seek to work under the highly skilled migrant programs, or with an International company who has branch offices in Europe and with whom you can transfer based on knowledge There is also the 'working holiday' visa for nationals such as Australians, Canadians etc - maybe this is a good option (you didn't mention your nationality)
3 :
If you have a Masters degree, you don't need to work without a visa. Many European countries have a "Highly Skilled" worker category. You can get a Tier 1 visa for the UK or a Green Card for Denmark if you have a Masters Degree that would allow you to get any job legally Why would any company risk a €10,000 fine for hiring an illegal American, Canadian, Australian, South African, New Zealander, etc. when they can find someone from an EU country like Romania or Bulgaria willing to work legally for less than half of what you'd expect to be paid. Would you really work for only €2.50-3/hour in a bar or restaurant? Because that's what they are paying in Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy etc. That's why even in Southern Europe, most of the people working in restaurants are from the former Communist bloc, because to them €2.50/hour is more than double what they would make at home. If you don't have connections with bar or restaurant owners, it's almost impossible to find work. I have friends who went to Greece last year thinking they could just find jobs when they got there. But the only job they could find was handing out flyers for a club, and they got paid in free beer, not cash.
