Job Discussion Forums

[themeda]

I have previously worked in Italy as an english teacher, on a working holiday visa. I am looking to return to italy at the end of this year but am unsure about my options. As I am australian, qualified ESL teacher but I do not have an EU passport. Does anyone know which schools provide work for non-EU teachers or provide visa sponsorship? Also I have read that you can convert a student visa to a work visa after a certain period of time, if you have an employer prepared to take you on. does anyone know what the period of time is and whether studing italian at a language school counts? Finally is freelance teaching an option for a work visa? Ive spent a few days now surfing the net trying to get some answers to these questions but its still a bit cloudy.

thanks

mat

[spiral78]

The short, general answer is that it's nearly impossible to land a working visa for Italy as a non-EU member citizen. Italy has very tight visa laws covering this. '

Language schools can't sponsor non-EU member citizens because they can't legally argue that no EU citizens are available to do the job. Italy's a desirable destination, and the shortages just don't exist.

You'll never find a loophole teaching free lance.

I have worked to help connect newbie teachers with good schools throughout Europe, and it's just 99% impossible to overcome the non-EU membership thing in France, Spain, and Italy. Spain has significant numbers of teachers who are illegal and it's generally shrugged off, but Italy is quite a lot tighter.

One American woman I know well tried for four solid years to find a loophole somehow. If anyone were qualified, she was it. She lived and taught in Rome (legally) for two years as a post-graduate student, speaks Italian fluently (at a level that allows her to make most of her income as a translator), and has two professional post-grad degrees. She finally packed it in as an impossible situation, after four years of working without contracts, being laid off without notice, living without health care coverage. She landed a contract with an American-based firm once, but even they were unable to sway government regulations to allow her legal working permission.

I suggest that you contact the Italian Embassy in Australia and ask some serious questions. Perhaps you'll find some sunnier information than what I can offer.

[SueH]

Well, there are some schools that seem to be forever recruiting new teachers, but then you have to ask yourself why that is. Obviously not the sort of schools who would go to any lengths to recruit or retain staff or sponsor visas..

As an EU resident who spent the morning making 6 visits around town to renew some paperwork I can confirm that bureaucracy is alive and well. But I also understand why you'd want to come back. Hope you find a loophole.

[Jetgirly]

I worked at a school that hired some illegal Americans. I don't know where the pressure came from, but those teachers were dropped with ZERO notice after working in the school for more than a year. You've got no hope of getting legal work, and if you do go the illegal route you've got to be prepared for anything at any time.

[Vince]

I'm a non-EU person and have been researching ways to work in Italy. It seems that unless I get citizenship via lineage (doesn't look possible), happen to marry an Italian, or land a job with an American company or military installation, I simply have no legal way in. I don't consider working illegally an option.

Out of curiosity, would an American professor of American history or American studies qualify, or would EU citizens who specialize in these fields be preferred?

[spiral78]

The EU citizens who specialize, for sure.
And, remember, there are a significant number of native-born North Americans who CAN work legally in the EU through the avenues that you mentioned (marraige, citizenship by ancestry). They'll get the few postings focused on North America.

One example I know of personally is a British woman who was hired by the Italian government to translate and provide explanations for the whole process the US Congress went through leading up to the Iraq war. It was not thought necessary to have a US citizen carry out this study, just someone educated, with general political credentials, and a strong command of both languages.

[Vince]

Thanks for the info, Spiral. I looked into getting citizenship through my Italian-born grandfather, but he was naturalized before my father was born. My only remaining possibility is through my mother. I don't know if her parents were Italian, because she was adopted and the records sealed. But she looks Italian and was born in an area with a lot of Italian immigrants. Since she was born in 1946, my only chance of citizenship by lineage is if her biological father was Italian when she was born. It's a long shot and would be difficult to research and document, but that's the only thread of chance I have. I'll pursue it when I have time, but I'm not going to knock myself out over it.

[spiral78]

good luck! these things are long-shots, but do work sometimes.

[rfx24]

So it is one hundred percent impossible to find a job if you are non EU? You cant get a student visa and work part time, as in the case in France? Are there teaching assistant positions? There are many good teachers from the US who are culturally sensitive and are interested in going there. Its just a shame that they can't.

[spiral78]

You can work illegally.
Getting legal work is highly unlikely, regardless of your cultural sensitivity and desire. Really, I agree with you that it's too bad. But this is (seriously) the case as the laws currently stand.

[bejarano]

[csfek]

There are teaching assistantships through the Fulbright commission, but there are only 15 for the whole country. Here's the link: https://us.fulbrightonline.org/program_country.html?id=54#italy

Also, I think if you have a student visa, you can work up to 20 hours a week. Schools will hire illegal workers, but like someone said before, you have to be prepared for anything. You'll have no job security and no rights if anything goes wrong. Even so, people do it, particularly in the South.

Good luck!

[meggerz]

I found this quote,

Western Europe is also a very popular destination to work. We have numerous contacts for English language schools all throughout Europe so you'll have plenty of countries to choose from. Non EU citizens will have better luck finding work in the major cities in Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

on this website

http://www.teflworldwideprague.com/Teaching-English-Abroad.html

and I am wondering why the above site is stating that it is possible to find work in these countries yet everyone here says 99.99% you can not.

[SueH]

Well, you _could_ argue that we're all protecting our own patch, but that would be a little unfair as most of us posting here are pretty established (or in my case lazy and retired ) and are on the ground. On the other hand we aren't in the business of selling our product, so I think your question is probably answered by a little common sense. Other opinions welcomed.

[Jetgirly]

I could type up a big list of schools in Italy, France, Germany, etc. and give it to you... that wouldn't make you legally eligible to work in those places. All they're saying is that they have "contacts", which really is probably just a long list of addresses. It could be that they have contacts with schools that are known for hiring workers illegally, but honestly I doubt it. As said above, they're just trying to sell you the course. When I did the CELTA at IH Barcelona they warned me during the phone interview (BEFORE I was accepted into the course) that as a Canadian I wouldn't be eligible for legal employment in the EU (I guess they didn't see the "-German" after the "Canadian" on the form).