Working while studying abroad: what are the options?

The following list, and a marvelous one it is, was originally compiled by Lisa Brown (Center for International Affairs, Case Western Reserve University) and distributed through the SECUSS-L listserv for education abroad professionals on 21 August 2012.

Included is information on countries that allow students to work on visas appropriate for study abroad. In addition, Ms Brown noted that she had been told that it was possible (read: legal) for students to work in both Spain & Thailand but had not been able to find any verification/confirmation for either. I haven't had any luck confirming either -- only discussion threads indicating the equivalent of "oh, don't worry, everybody does it!!" Maybe, but...

Here are the details Ms Brown so usefully pulled together:

In Australia, students are able to work up to 40 hours per fortnight on a student visa if they apply for permission. Someone reported that there is an extra fee for this permission, but I was unable to verify this. Source.

In Denmark, students are able to work up to 15 hours per week as long as they apply for a work permit. Source.

In France, student visa holders are permitted to work 964 hours over a 12-month period. This is 60% of the 35-hour per week legal limit, which amounts to 1,607 hours per year. Source.

In Ireland, US students can work up to 20 hours a week when their academic programme is in session or up to 40 hours a week when their program is on an official school holiday. However, this only applies to programs of an academic year's duration or more. Source.

In Italy, those with visas and permesso di soggiorno can work up to 20 hours per week. However, note that processing times often make this impractical for study abroad students. Source.

In the Netherlands, students can work 10 hours per week with the appropriate permit. Source.

In New Zealand, most students can work up to 20 hours per week. Source.

In the United Kingdom, students who enter the UK on an actual student visa (not as a student visitor) can also work part-time (up to 10 hours or 20 hours depending on the program). Source.

Are there other possibilities that are missing from the above? What was your experience working -- outside of the program opportunity -- while studying abroad? Let us know!!

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More on the UK tier system...

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a lot of good news on this front. I have yet to find any clear, concise explanations of the system generally and questions (and answers) continue to shoot back and forth on a number of listservs about whether this or that student needs a visa or a particular sort of visa (and there is considerable confusion on this last point) and...

Well, there's no reason that sometime in the future, near or far, once schools, providers, staff, and students & workers are acclimated to and more familiar with the new system it won't seem easy and streamlined.

But for the time being? It's something of a mess.

For example, here's the explanation the UK Border Agency provides in a publication titled UKBA Student Visas: Step By Step Guide for US Passport Holders (pdf):

Steps to entering the UK as a (Non-PBS) Student Visitor

As a short-term student entering the UK, you may enter without a visa. However, you must be prepared to show the Immigration Officer at the airport (or other port of entry) that you have been accepted on a course of study by:

a) An Accredited Educational Institution

b) An institution that holds a Tier 4 Sponsor Licence, or

c) US Institution of Higher Education which is delivering only part of its program in the UK and holds its own national accreditation and awards degrees equivalent to those in the UK (eg study abroad programmes). In order to meet the requirements of being an overseas Higher Education Institution offering programmes at an equivalent of a UK degree, the institution should be recognised by NARIC.

You will do this by showing an original letter from that institution which confirms that it meets one of the requirements above, provides details about you, that you will be enrolled in classes and will include details regarding the start and end date of the course.

· You will be asked to show the Immigration Officer that you will have the necessary funds to pay for your course fees and support yourself for the entire period you intend to stay in the UK. This can be in the form of scholarship, grant or other financial aid award letters as well as bank statements in your name which are dated no more than one calendar month before you arrive in the UK.

· You will demonstrate your willingness to leave the UK once your course of study is complete by showing return tickets or an itinerary with your name and information on them.

· You must present a valid US Passport that will not expire while you are in the UK.

· You will receive a student visitor stamp/endorsement in your passport when you present your documents.

· If you travel outside the UK during your course of study, show the Immigration Officer your Student Visitor stamp/endorsement (code 5N) and the institution letter when re-entering the UK.

· Students arriving in the UK through Ireland should actively seek out an Immigration official upon arrival in the UK to ensure that their passport is stamped with the student endorsement.

Holy smokes!! And this doesn't even address whether or not to apply for a Tier 4 (General) Student Visa. Notice the nuance -- enter as a "Student Visitor" or on a "Student Visa".

The UKBA does have available a visa wizard which is a great concept. Unfortunately, the "explanation" of the yes/no determination are links to a host of web documents about the various possible visas you could be entering under. Not the best possible solution (the language and intricacy of the new system is mind-numbing; and discouraging) but it is a start.

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The land of milk and honey: not so sweet and nourishing anymore?

Interesting but in many respects unsurprising is a recent column by Vivek Wadhwa on BusinessWeek.com titled "Why Skilled Immigrants Are Leaving the U.S." Wadhwa and a team at Duke University have done some research showing that foreign workers coming to the United States (and students who come to study and stay to work) are increasingly heading home.

There is, of course, the much lamented and discussed wait period to secure the necessary permits and visas (the dreaded H1-B) to blame. But Wadhwa also points to another factor in many instances: the fact that these workers can enjoy a better quality of life in their home country than they currently enjoy in the United States.

Now, milk and honey is not slurped uncut anywhere anymore:

It isn't all rosy back home. Indians complained of traffic and congestion, lack of infrastructure, excessive bureaucracy, and pollution. Chinese complained of pollution, reverse culture shock, inferior education for children, frustration with government bureaucracy, and the quality of health care. Returnees said they were generally making less money in absolute terms, but they also said they enjoyed a higher quality of life.

But, still, in surveys Wadhwa and his team found that:

Eighty-seven percent of Chinese and 79% of Indians said a strong factor in their original decision to return home was the growing demand for their skills in their home countries.

This certainly points to expanding labor markets (these expansions might not hold through the current downturn -- what expansions are? -- though one would imagine as the world economies pick back up these expansions will as well). It's not at all clear, however, what corollaries or lessons we can draw for US students interested in working abroad. I doubt that these labor markets are, in most instances, developed enough to begin to absorb excess labor (as the US economy has done -- has depended upon -- for years and years).

One thing that it does mean, for every graduate of any particular US institution of higher education (and perhaps mostly especially for those larger schools like the UW-Madison which have tremendous international student populations), is that there will be more and more alumni of your alma mater in country with whom to network.

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