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The irony… I am a senior software engineer trying to get a Canadian visa :D Last year I tried to immigrate to some European countries (Germany, Norway, Czech R

The irony… I am a senior software engineer trying to get a Canadian visa :D Last year I tried to immigrate to some European countries (Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Spain) without success. While I could ace the interviews with multiple startups and medium/big companies, none of them wanted to sponsor the immigration considering the lack of formal education. One of my coworkers suggested to get a business visa either in Czech Republic or Germany because these two countries offer a straight-forward paperwork process that only requires some money, generic documents and a translator. He incorporated himself, got health insurance, a long term rent, did some generic paperwork and in a couple of months he got the letter of acceptance from the immigration office. I was going to do the same but in Germany, considering that 5 different startups were interested to hire me, I was honest with them and explained my situation and they were okay, but I would need to get the visa by myself. The German government has a visa called "Residence Permit for the Purpose of Freelance or Self-Employment" [1] the page explains very well what you need to get the permit, you can live in the country for two years (one year + renovate for 6 months two times), then you can apply for the blue card which grants you the same rights of a regular citizen. [1] https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/305249/en/ https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/305249/en/

notjosh 9y ago
Careful, the blue card won't let you move around Europe as a citizen. They're issued by individual countries, so you'll have residency rights in that country, but standard "90 in 180" freedom of movement within Schengen beyond that: > If you hold a residence permit or a long-stay visa issued by a Schengen area country, you will have the same freedom of travel as a Schengen short-stay visa holder. https://web.archive.org/web/20180108183307/http://ec.europa.eu/immigration/do-i-need-a-visa/do-i-need-a-short-stay-visa_en https://web.archive.org/web/20180108183307/http://ec.europa.... (the main website is down, but here's a wayback snapshot)
- raul_duke 9y ago
  Well that is true in theory. But it's also the case that there are no border checks within the Schengen area, so you should be able to move around as much as you like in practice.
  - derriz 9y ago
    That’s potentially dangerous advice. I’ve seen police go through a train asking people for papers passing between Schengen countries. Just because the chances of being caught are small doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do something illegal wrt to immigration.
    - SyneRyder 9y ago
      Yep, Sweden & Denmark were doing passport checks on the train between Malmö and Copenhagen for a while: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35222015 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35222015
  - diggan 9y ago
    > it's also the case that there are no border checks within the Schengen area While this was true before, it's increasingly not like that anymore. The border between Spain-France has historically been easy to pass without proper checks, they are checking more and more individuals crossing the border. As I've been told, the increase is happening across other borders (in EU/Schengen) as well. While sometimes they don't check at all, it's possible they do random controls. So keep in mind that you might not be able to pass the border without proper identification.
- jaclaz 9y ago
  But there is a long list of countries which citizens need NOT any Schengen Visa, and - namely - Canada, as an example for the OP, is among them: https://web.archive.org/web/20171003065628/http://ec.europa.eu:80/assets/home/docb_en.docx https://web.archive.org/web/20171003065628/http://ec.europa.... So it really depends on where you are from originally.
  - notjosh 9y ago
    Regardless if you need a visa or not, you cannot (legally) stay more than 90 days every 180 days outside of the country you have a visa for. Even as a permanent resident of Germany, I have no special rights within any other Schengen member states that grant me any ability to stay. (Though, there is a permanent residence category called "Daueraufenthalt-EU" which does grant additional rights through other Schengen(/EU?) states.)
    - jaclaz 9y ago
      >Regardless if you need a visa or not, you cannot (legally) stay more than 90 days every 180 days outside of the country you have a visa for. Sure, you remain - until you become an EU resident/citizen - a foreigner and you don't have the same rights of an EU citizen. What I was trying to say is that a Canadian citizen can come and stay up to 90 days in any EU country within the Schengen group without any need of any Visa. The "Daueraufenthalt-EU" you are referring to is a sort of "intermediate status" that you may gain after having legally resided in Germany for 5 years, I presume there are similar provisions in other EU/Schengen countries as well.
brailsafe 9y ago
Where are you coming from and why are you interested in Canada?

notjosh 9y ago

Careful, the blue card won't let you move around Europe as a citizen. They're issued by individual countries, so you'll have residency rights in that country, but standard "90 in 180" freedom of movement within Schengen beyond that: > If you hold a residence permit or a long-stay visa issued by a Schengen area country, you will have the same freedom of travel as a Schengen short-stay visa holder. https://web.archive.org/web/20180108183307/http://ec.europa.eu/immigration/do-i-need-a-visa/do-i-need-a-short-stay-visa_en https://web.archive.org/web/20180108183307/http://ec.europa.... (the main website is down, but here's a wayback snapshot)

raul_duke 9y ago
Well that is true in theory. But it's also the case that there are no border checks within the Schengen area, so you should be able to move around as much as you like in practice.
- derriz 9y ago
  That’s potentially dangerous advice. I’ve seen police go through a train asking people for papers passing between Schengen countries. Just because the chances of being caught are small doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do something illegal wrt to immigration.
  - SyneRyder 9y ago
    Yep, Sweden & Denmark were doing passport checks on the train between Malmö and Copenhagen for a while: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35222015 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35222015
- diggan 9y ago
  > it's also the case that there are no border checks within the Schengen area While this was true before, it's increasingly not like that anymore. The border between Spain-France has historically been easy to pass without proper checks, they are checking more and more individuals crossing the border. As I've been told, the increase is happening across other borders (in EU/Schengen) as well. While sometimes they don't check at all, it's possible they do random controls. So keep in mind that you might not be able to pass the border without proper identification.
jaclaz 9y ago
But there is a long list of countries which citizens need NOT any Schengen Visa, and - namely - Canada, as an example for the OP, is among them: https://web.archive.org/web/20171003065628/http://ec.europa.eu:80/assets/home/docb_en.docx https://web.archive.org/web/20171003065628/http://ec.europa.... So it really depends on where you are from originally.
- notjosh 9y ago
  Regardless if you need a visa or not, you cannot (legally) stay more than 90 days every 180 days outside of the country you have a visa for. Even as a permanent resident of Germany, I have no special rights within any other Schengen member states that grant me any ability to stay. (Though, there is a permanent residence category called "Daueraufenthalt-EU" which does grant additional rights through other Schengen(/EU?) states.)
  - jaclaz 9y ago
    >Regardless if you need a visa or not, you cannot (legally) stay more than 90 days every 180 days outside of the country you have a visa for. Sure, you remain - until you become an EU resident/citizen - a foreigner and you don't have the same rights of an EU citizen. What I was trying to say is that a Canadian citizen can come and stay up to 90 days in any EU country within the Schengen group without any need of any Visa. The "Daueraufenthalt-EU" you are referring to is a sort of "intermediate status" that you may gain after having legally resided in Germany for 5 years, I presume there are similar provisions in other EU/Schengen countries as well.

brailsafe 9y ago

Where are you coming from and why are you interested in Canada?