South African wanting to teach in Europe

[Nin_Min]

Hi there,

I am a South African and would like to find a teaching position in Europe. Would it be possible? I have read that if an institution offers to pay for your visa then it's a scam. Is this true?

Would I have to apply for a working visa before even considering applying?

[Briona]

Hi there,

The bad news is that unless you have a passport from an EU member state or are married to an EU citizen or are in possession of a valid work/study visa, your chances of finding legal work in Europe are slim to none. Furthermore, employers in the EU cannot just employ non-EU citizens; they first have to prove that there were no EU citizens who could do the job, which is not a very likely proposition.

Since you can't apply for a work visa without having a job offer in place (which you're unlikely to get), your best bet is to apply for a study visa, which will allow you to work for up to 20hrs a week. However, you do actually need to be a genuine student, which means applying for and being accepted onto a recognised course of study and paying the fees upfront.

For more information on working in Europe, have a look at my advice guide: http://toiberiaandbeyond.blogspot.com.e ... urope.html

Briona

[Teacher42]

As Briona mentioned, without first securing a work visa, you won't be able to work in the EU (not unless you're married to an EU citizen!). You will want to check to see if the school you are applying to "counts" for a possible student visa... however once you finish your course you would still need to secure a work visa in order to apply your qualification.