Job Discussion Forums

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Hey, Hec, that's true...but the illegal alien will most likely be billed (ultimately) for any services rendered. There is some justice, after all!

The O.P. would have been outraged at my situation in the Netherlands, where I was residing legally (I'm a U.S. citizen too), but was NOT allowed a work permit. A large, reputable university wanted me enough to make a date for the court in Den Hague to plead for an exception to the EU-only hiring laws on my behalf, but were told by the authorities not to bother; there was no chance of an exception. I ultimately did score a work permit, but only thanks to big business (my spouse's company) swinging a deal to cover all spouses of their staff.

The moral of the story is that it's just not possible in many/most cases to get legal work permits for EU member countries if you are not an EU member citizen.

Moore · Joined: 25 Aug 2004 Posts: 730 Location: Madrid

All that said, there is a reasonable chance of you getting sponsored by a school after you've been here for a bit: my flat-mate who's been an illegal for a couple of years has got here school to sponsor her visa: she's that happy to be able to get into the system legally that the price of a return ticket to the US seems like a pretty good deal to her. When you compare it with the mad hurdles we have to get over to get a work permit in America there's not that much room to complain.