Find work abroad without an offer letter: UAE, Austria, Germany offering Job Seeker Visa to Indians

Countries like the US, UK, and Canada have since long been popular choices amongst people to relocate for work and hence receive a huge amount of applications for work visa availing which is a tedious process both in terms of eligibility and documentation. In March this year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services stated that it reached the cap for the number of US H1B visas that can be granted for the financial year 2024.

Most countries have stringent conditions for the same, one of the first ones being the availability of an offer letter. However, due to the pandemic, a lot of countries including Germany, UAE, and Austria have expressed their shortage of labor force as well as skilled specialists, to fulfill which they have decided to issue Job Seeker Visas to Indians to search for job opportunities overseas.

Job Seeker Visa allows a foreign national to enter the country, search for jobs and carry out activities for a specific period of time. Once they find a job, they need to obtain a Work Permit to be able to stay in the country. Germany, Austria, Sweden, UAE, and Portugal are currently issuing Job Seeker Visas to Indians.

Germany

Germany offers a job seeker visa where individuals can reside in the country for six months and look for a job. If you procure employment by the end of six months, you’re provided a German work visa.

Eligibility: The visa is only open to individuals who have five years of experience, financial resources to support their stay in the country, and proof of completed academic or vocational training. Individuals also need to hold a degree recognized in Germany.

Additionally, individuals from the following countries can’t apply for a job seeker visa — EU/EEA (European Union/European Economic Area), Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Canada, and the USA. For more details, refer here.

Portugal

Portugal launched its job seeker visa in June 2022 which allows its holder to remain in Portugal and look for a job for a period of 120 days i.e. four months. The visa is renewable for another 60 days i.e two months and allows only one entry into Portugal.

Eligibility: The minimum requirement is a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Additionally, apart from a completed visa application form, documents including a passport valid for three months after the estimated date of return, proof of no criminal record, and sufficient financial resources is required.

The visa fee is €90 or ₹8,062. You can find more information here.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

UAE offers a job seeker visa with a validity of either 60, 90, or 120 days i.e. two, three, or four months. The visa allows holders to search for new job opportunities without a sponsor from UAE, but only for one trip.

Eligibility: The individual must hold a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, and show proof of a financial guarantee. Additionally, individuals should have either graduated from the best 500 universities in the world according to the classification approved by the UAE Ministry of Education within the last two years of applying.

Alternatively, they should be at the first, second, or third skill level as per the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) professional levels of jobs, which are – legislators, managers and business executives; professionals in scientific, technical and human fields; and technicians in scientific, technical and humanitarian fields.

Austria

Austria offers a six-month-long job seeker visa but only to individuals that it recognizes as “very highly qualified workers”. These individuals need to achieve a minimum of 70 points according to specific criteria based on different factors such as qualification, work experience, language skills, age, and study experience in Austria.

For instance, graduation form a 4 year degree amounts to 20 points, PhD qualification amounts to 40 points. For more details on the point system, visit here.