LebGeeks

user

Member

working abroad, info needed

Hello,

I wish there was a comprehensive tutorial somewhere about how to leave Lebanon. I've always found it a bit confusing. What is required to work abroad? Do you find a job first then apply for a work visa? Or do you apply for a work visa then apply for jobs? Do you need visas to work in arab countries? How hard is it to get work visas to the US/Canada/anywhere in europe?

Any and all info are welcomed. I searched a lot on the internet and immigrating feels like this impossible thing to do with all the requirements, but then I see thousands of less qualified people have managed.

jsaade

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

Hello,

I wish there was a comprehensive tutorial somewhere about how to leave Lebanon. I've always found it a bit confusing. What is required to work abroad? Do you find a job first then apply for a work visa? Or do you apply for a work visa then apply for jobs? Do you need visas to work in arab countries? How hard is it to get work visas to the US/Canada/anywhere in europe?

Any and all info are welcomed. I searched a lot on the internet and immigrating feels like this impossible thing to do with all the requirements, but then I see thousands of less qualified people have managed.

It is actually very well documented, you need to go to each country's specific immigration website.
To sum it up for you:

- US: you need an H1-B visa which is lottery based, and recently companies just stopped hiring a lot from abroad unless you are a very rare talent as it will cost the company a lot to maintain your visa and there is a chance that you do not get it (it is lottery based).
The best way to currently go to the US is to go do a Masters or a BS degree, you get an I-20 visa (you cannot work while on i-20) but at the end when you graduate you have an OPT visa which means you can stay in the US for 1 year, so you have a year to find work and get an H1-B work visa. But with OPT you cannot leave the US, once you leave you cannot return, you will lose the OPT status.

- CA: They have recently changed their immigration system but it still sucks a bit. Usually you would want to go work in Quebec, and that is the only state where the reform did not change. So mainly the best way in is to apply for a n immigration (it would take 3 to 5 years) and once you have the papers, you can apply to any job and wait for an offer.

- EU: It is country dependent. Currently a lot of EU (mainly Germany) tec. companies are hiring. They will do your work visa.
Living in EU is good, but do not expect to get rich, there are a lot of taxes on income (up to 45% in Hamburg).

- UAE: Same as EU, the only difference is that:
a- you may get a good salary (no taxes, but not all companies pay well)
b- you will always have a work visa, it is impossible to actually become UAE resident.

Hope the above helps.

Last edited by jsaade (May 27 2015)

rtp

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

- CA: They have recently changed their immigration system but it still sucks a bit. Usually you would want to go work in Quebec, and that is the only state where the reform did not change. So mainly the best way in is to apply for a n immigration (it would take 3 to 5 years) and once you have the papers, you can apply to any job and wait for an offer.

I advise you apply for the Federal Skilled Worker and not Quebec (specially if your main language is english), last year it took around 1 year to get your immigration papers. With the new system, it is suppose to be shorter.  To be realistic, you have to live in Canada to apply for a job.  Note that even if you apply for Quebec immigration, after you get accepted you can live anywhere in Canada.

user

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

I don't want to make money, I just want to live somewhere I can feel like belonging. I think germany is my best option from what I can tell above.
And yes after I looked up germany immigration it turns out they have a huge shortage in IT, sounds perfect.

The information is there, my problem is I don't know what to look for exactly. Anyway thanks guys, that was helpful.

mikasa

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

search for Immigration Law Matters page  on facebook . they need IT professionals.

MAS

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

what about Australia? any idea?

rolf

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

I wish there was a comprehensive tutorial somewhere about how to leave Lebanon.

I think what is needed is a comprehensive tutorial on how to search the forums for old threads before posting a new one.

Regarding your question, I want to add that many countries have a "track" to work there through their educational system.
You would for example, as a student, have a limited right to work, during and after your studies for a limited time.
This is supposed to help you get into the work market and from there you can actually find permanent work especially if you are qualified enough.

This is the general idea, but in general it is always much harder for "foreigners" to get in the work market, in "developed" countries, no matter how they make it look and how much "help" you can get.

That is why so many immigrants end up starting their own (usually small) business.

Also, beware, the "skilled IT workforce shortage" is in big part a myth, I am guessing that this myth is encouraged by Microsoft and others (Facebook, whoever) so they can have much more cheap, fresh, desperate graduates to choose from, and so that the government will allow them to import more cheap labor from India.

If you see "thousands of less qualified people who have made it", keep in mind that there are many factors that can affect immigration:
- Many immigrate illegally
- Family immigration laws and political asylum and other special cases - it is much used
- Countries "open up" their immigration once in a while and accept many more persons. Canada is now for example facilitating fast track immigration - or so I read. But it is just an example, and I think it happened more in the past, like 20 years ago!

Finally, it is a traditional and classic thing in immigration that immigrants would be working in lowly-paid, mostly low skill, manual jobs (construction, whatever). Not sure why (that's another topic anyway) but it seems to be a phenomenon that manifests itself across different times and different places.

I'm sure there's more to it but you get the idea.

Last edited by rolf (May 28 2015)

user

Member

Re: working abroad, info needed

A friend and I decided to try and immigrate to Australia. It seems feasible, we need to accumulate enough points for immigration, to do that we basically have to score a near perfect grade in english...

vegetaleb

Banned

Re: working abroad, info needed

Which websites of job openings we should try for UAE?
Bayt is giving good results?