U.S. Citizenship means fewer job opportunities?

smeeby · Unread post by **smeeby** » 21 Sep 2009, 03:23

Hi. I am a U.S. citizen, TEFL certified, hold a Bachelor's degree from a top University in the States, as well as a significant amount of work experience after college. This summer I started looking for work teaching English in Spain and Italy. After sending my resume to employers as well as sitting in many personal interviews, I was told that I was very qualified and well-liked, but that I cannot be hired by their school because I am not an EU citizen and it would be illegal for them to hire me. I do not understand why TEFL websites do not warn US citizens before paying and going through the course that there is no way of working in Europe. I have told the employers interested in me that, If I were to be hired, I could start applying for a work visa and they said that it would take too long and that I could not get paid until the Visa was issued so I would be working unpaid and that there was also not a 100% chance I would be issued my working visa. This just seems so unfair to me. I am very qualified and passionate about teaching. Please give me any advice you might have for me. I do not want to give up and go back home to the States but I am running out of time and money!!!

Doogs · Unread post by **Doogs** » 22 Sep 2009, 13:44

Have you considered teaching outside of Europe? It's a shame, but I can understand the reasoning behind it. Europe is awash with European TEFL teachers who need neither Visas nor work permits, so it's easier and cheaper for the language schools to hire them.

The flip side of that is that it is damn near impossible to get a job teaching in Mexico, because many language schools won't entertain anyone without an American Accent. Also some schools in Asia discriminate in favour of American accented teachers. Of course no TEFL course providers are going to tell you in advance that you won't get a job in Europe, they want your money.

It's a big old world out there, and there are vacancies for TEFL teachers all over it. Perhaps it's time to broaden your remit.

RobJames · Unread post by **RobJames** » 22 Sep 2009, 21:13

IS there a way around this visa problem? For example, if you were a student in Spain/Italy perhaps you can still work some 20 hours a week? That seems to be the law in UK for non- EU resident students. In this case you could get a student visa and work, perhaps even do one on one tuition. Being a student in the country has the added benefit that you would get contacts and exposure to other students who may need language help.

Another thing to consider is perhaps your language skill for the countries. Can you improve this? Would you consider getting a job in a bar to improve your language and get your foot in the door and then begin teaching?

I hope this helps, if all else fails then perhaps you could consider a country where there is greater demand and less supply of teachers. I am sure there are lots of UK people who want to work in Spain already, so it wont help competing with them unfortunately.

peter11 · Unread post by **peter11** » 10 Oct 2020, 10:57

It's not always the same case when we say U.S. Citizenship means fewer job opportunities. It depends on the skillset. In general, some government agencies do not consider new US citizens eligible for certain careers or benefits if they do not start the naturalization process within six months of their eligibility to do so.

MTE1369 · Unread post by **MTE1369** » 10 Oct 2020, 14:15

DELETED

nick95 · Unread post by **nick95** » 28 Nov 2020, 07:11

Hi,
US citizenship is not fewer for job opportunities. its depends on your education & skills which help to get job.if you have right set of skills you can easily get job not only in the US.
https://dygreencard.com/immigratio ... -marriage/

MTE1369 · Unread post by **MTE1369** » 28 Nov 2020, 20:27

Definitely fewer opportunities, unless you are goin to "certain countries" for "other reasons" see my original post

tenneray · Unread post by **tenneray** » 03 Dec 2020, 02:10

MTE1369 wrote: ↑10 Oct 2020, 14:15 TEFL is First and Formost about TEACHING!..... Ok Here We Go....(and before the knives. daggers and claws come out, I am British but lived in the US for 32 years (served 22 in the Marines, have lived and travelled all over the world) ... The first and most obvious issue is Visa/immigration Status... EU residents do not need visas nor are they subject to reciprocal immigrations issues/problems. Next whether you are wiling to admit or not US Citizens have a very bad reputation for being, Fat, Lazy, Demanding... the list goes on (The company i work will not hire "Muricans" because in their experience "they are Fat and Lazy", "Can't get their butts out of bed in the mornings" and be at school on time, School start times are not negotiable! Of course there are exceptions; Additionally Muricans are generally not CONFIDENT Travelers and have many problems navigating and getting from point A to B on Public Transit Systems (and require "corporate handholding") , even though reliable public transit is common in most countries in the world (Even in those Third World Shitholes, the "Dump" Talks about). Finally there are TOO many Muricans who use TEFL as an opportunity to SLEEP, F*** and Drink and Drug their way around the world... btw Marijuana IS a drug!, And finally I have forgotten all of the Pedo, Purvert Muricans who will have sex with anything if its legal in that country (Think Asia!... Pedos)... Did I forget something?

Spoken like an arrogant Brit. It is the Brits who popularized the overblown and overrated CELTA and traveled the world pretending to be teachers.
Your diatribe also includes many references to Trump. Trump never won a majority of votes, but Brexit did! And your PM is as clueless as Trump.
It must have been difficult for you to serve alongside lazy Muricans for so many years...
Instead of going off against Muricans, you could have stuck with the facts. There are two key ones. First, American teachers cannot work legally in most EU countries. This is a problem that Brits will share after its silly exit from the EU. Second, the US has done a poor job with the virus, so its citizens are not welcome in many countries right now. (The UK has not done too well with it either.) These two facts are the salient ones, whereas your perception of Muricans is merely your personal opinion.

alamanda · Unread post by **alamanda** » 08 Feb 2021, 18:46

I'm a bit late here, but there seems to be some confusion. It is difficult to get a job in any country without legal permission to work.

Secondly, I am appalled at MTE's response.

MTE1369 · Unread post by **MTE1369** » 29 Sep 2021, 13:51

Calling it like it ACTUALLY IS ....

alamanda · Unread post by **alamanda** » 09 Oct 2021, 19:19

MTE1369 wrote: ↑29 Sep 2021, 13:51 Calling it like it ACTUALLY IS ....

This doesn't make sense as I have yet to find a similar problem to yours. This means you are calling it like it is for you. I would hope you don't teach these over simplifications to people that give you their hard earned money to learn. If so they would be getting the short end.

Marinehendy · Unread post by **Marinehendy** » 31 Oct 2021, 11:37

Although I am not a native American, but when I received my U.S. citizenship I also noticed a little bit of what you describe in your problem. But it seems to me that it also depends on the organization in which you are going to work, because for someone it may be unacceptable to have US citizenship, and someone will be happy to hire you at your skill level.

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