Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

My husband and I are thinking of leaving Peru to go to Central or Eastern Europe, or possibly the Middle East. I'm American, but my husband's Peruvian.

For those of you who are married, was it difficult for your spouse to get a visa that allowed him/her to live where you're living?

Also, what do they do? My husband doesn't speak much English, so he couldn't teach it. Have they been able to find jobs easily?

[comenius]

I'm American and my wife is from Colombia.

At least in Istanbul, it was not that big of a deal to get her added to my work visa to be a legal resident, although she couldn't work without getting her own work visa. It was a lot of paperwork as all things in Turkey seem to be, but at the end of the day if you filled out all the forms and paid for your stamps and fees, the process was relatively painless.

I'm sure the situation is going to be very country specific, though, as I can't imagine these types of regulations are going to be very consistent from country to country.

[Glenski]

My wife is Japanese, but we live in Japan, so this isn't an issue for us.

I know a couple of people in a situation similar to yours, though. Of course, it's going to depend on the country you're in, but you should check on the immigration requirements for 2 things:

work visa
dependent visa

If you can get a work visa, perhaps your husband doesn't have to (at first). Maybe it's easy to get the dependent visa. For non-Japanese spouses here, the DV is easy to get, and with special permission (also easy to get), that spouse can work part-time. No permission means working illegally. No DV means the spouse is here as a tourist and has to leave in 90 days.

Of course, a work visa is better, for 2 reasons:

1) your husband can work full-time
2) there is a tax advantage. On a DV, if he makes more than a certain amount, you cannot claim him as an exemption on your taxes.

Your husband doesn't have to teach English. He may be able to find work as a Spanish teacher. I would think there would be more of a call for that in the locations you are considering than in Japan. What are his other skills or experiences? He'll have to rely on them to find other work, whether on a DV or a work visa, but to get a work visa, which will fall into a certain category of work, he may need certain things (degree or years of experience). Look into those once you've settle on a country.

Also, you may have to provide a translated copy of your marriage license, into the language of the country where you are going, for the work visa. Plan ahead.

[spiral78]

You know, another issue in Central/Eastern Europe will be that your husband also likely doesn't speak the local language. It's going to unfortunately limit anyjob options pretty seriously for a while, until he can gain some functional knowledge of the language. Maybe one partial solution will be to study as much as possible in advance of a move...

[Sherri]

Hi
My husband is Japanese and we live in the US (my home country), so getting him a visa was not that hard, more of a hassle. He can speak English pretty well, but we live in a rural area, so there are not that many jobs. He managed to find a niche translating. It is all done from home with an internet connection. Most of his work comes from the US mainland, or other countries around the world so it doesn't matter where we live. Perhaps your husband could do something like that?
Sherri

[helmsman]

In the UAE it is fairly common for female university or college instructors to sponsor their husbands. In fact, some of the happiest people I have come across are these househusbands becuase they have time to work on their own particular projects, whatever they may be. The best option would be self employment, doing something online like trading stocks perhaps. If the husband lacks high qualifications he will have the disadvantage of competing against the plentiful third world labour here.

[sidjameson]

Japan.......as Glenski says is incredibly easy. My partner gets a visa which allows her to work part time. Up to 28 hours, I think. In Osaka there is a real demand for Spanish teachers.

[Gordon]

The dependent visa (which my wife has) allows you to earn up to 1.1 million yen/yr, which is about 9,000 U.S. That would be declared income.

[John Hall]

[danielita]

I am in Mexico with my husband and it was really easy to get an economic dependent visa for him. We just drafted up an letter that says that I will support him and that I am working under visa #XXXX and everything was quick and easy. Now, this was the process in my corner of Mexico in my immigration office however it varies by immigration office around here...

D

[naturegirl321]

[canuck]

[furiousmilksheikali]

[MELEE]

There are a few opportuntities to teach Spanish in Japan, I haven't been there since 1996-7, but then there was no where near a real demand, but there were opportunities. I taught a Spanish class to a group of ladies who were planning a holiday in Spain together. And at that time ECC had one location where they taught other languages, including Spanish, but the teachers were either Japanese, or qualified English-other language bilinguals. There were native Spanish speakers in Japan, mostly from Peru, but some others, but they were mostly cleaning office buildings or working in factories and construction. And the hard honest truth is that without a degree that's the kind of work Naturegirl's husband is looking at. I met latinos in Japan by going to Salsa festivals and Mexican or Peruvian restuarants where they were waiting tables or just hanging out unwinding after a hard day's work. When I told them I was a teacher, many expressed interest in teaching their language, but without degrees doors were closed to them.

I'm married, but we live in my husband's home country. We would entertain the thought of moving, for the cultural advantages, not monetary, contrary to popular belief you can do well finacially in Mexico. The difference is if we ever decided to move, my husband has an MA in mathematics and CAE level English ablities. If you two really want to relocate, your husband better start studying now, there is no easy way out.

[naturegirl321]