Ask HN: What countries allow foreigners to work immediately upon arrival? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What countries allow foreigners to work immediately upon arrival?

3 pointstokenadult4 comments

I see an interesting discussion of United States immigration policies related to visas with work permission in another thread. How do other countries compare in regard to this issue? I am an American who has lived abroad, working abroad, for about six years of my life (in two separate three-year stays, with some visits in between). I didn't find it remarkable or onerous that I had to apply for visas with work permission when I lived overseas.

What countries make it easiest for foreign residents to work in the local economy? Is there any country where any foreigner fresh off the plane may immediately start working at any kind of job? What countries are the easiest countries to work in for

a) people from India

b) people from China

c) people from the United States

d) people from [insert arbitrary "Third World country here]

who have newly arrived and desire professional employment with high salaries in terms of the local economy?

If you are an EU citizen you can work anywhere in the EU (with some temporary restrictions in Austria & Germany if I recall correctly). So for example a Latvian citizen can fly to the UK or Spain & apply for any job without additional paperwork.

How readily can a non-EU citizen work in any of the EU countries?

That is lots of paperwork. Think of 4-6 months at least.

Based on my research if you're an Indian citizen (which I'm), there's hardly any country where you can just get off the plane, look for a job, get a bunch of job offers, and start working no matter how awesome a hacker you're.

USA is the worst in this regard - their H1B quota is so small every year it effectively ends up being a lottery. I've an Indian friend whom Google wanted to hire for their Mountain View office. Since getting a H1B is impossible, they sent him to their Zurich office - he worked there for a couple of years and then finally got a L1 transfer visa and moved to Mountain View.

EU is slightly better because it is not a lottery at least. But the process is ridiculously long for a non-EU citizen.

Australia and Canada - They're slightly better I think. They've point-based system to get permanent residentship without being tied to a particular employer?

Singapore - Singapore welcomes immigrant workers (I'm a permanent-resident of Singapore). Even though there's still some amount of paper-work and waiting time, it's fairly straight-forward.

Do add your experiences with other countries.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com