Work hard, become a professional, build your career step by step. This sounds like a standard low-risk plan for achieving your goals. But there is one variable here that some of us never have to consider — visas. And yet, for some people, it is their visa status that finally decides their career path.
Imagine two young graduates who leave the university on the same day.
They have the same degree, similar grades, and even comparable work experience. They receive almost identical job offers from a company abroad. On paper, their careers from here should follow a more or less similar path.
But then there is one difference: where they come from.
One holds a passport of the country that gives them direct access to several work visa options and a straightforward pathway to permanent residency.
The other has access to only one visa option – maybe. And that option comes with restrictions, caps, reviews – or follows a lottery system.
Fast-forward several years, and their careers may actually look quite different. Not necessarily because one of them worked harder or is more talented. It could simply be because of their different levels of freedom in making career decisions.
For a highly skilled immigrant, immigration rules can often shape their professional life in a way that would be completely unrelatable to those who never had to navigate them.
"I stayed in my job in Hong Kong for seven years. I work in hospitality. I had a few better offers come my way, but I was afraid to seriously follow up on them because getting a work permit in Hong Kong is really difficult, especially for me (Marina is a citizen of Belarus). I was really afraid to make any moves because I was afraid to be "noticed" by the immigration and have them question my stay here", shares Marina, a Belarusian expat in Hong Kong.
Your nationality can affect every aspect of your life abroad: from big to small. People from certain countries may have trouble opening bank accounts, applying for longer stays, traveling within the region – and lots more. Some, because of events out of their control, end up almost entirely locked out of international banking and visa application systems. A good example of that is holders of Russian passports following the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Maksim, an ex-Russian expat in Türkiye, tells us about it: "We moved to Türkiye in March 2022, and immediately applied for residency. We got it, started building a life. Both my wife and I started learning Turkish. We had some trouble transferring our money here first, but then it worked out. And then in 2024, without any warning, they simply wouldn't renew our residency. And this was only for us, those with a Russian passport. It felt really unfair, even though I understand the logic. But for us in the moment, we spent so much time here, put so much money in, we had a rent for two years, paid half of it upfront… It really impacted us, and we had to move to Georgia with our last bit of savings."
At the same time, there are passports that open doors that others don't. Citizens of some countries can often spend years gaining international experience in Working Holiday and other programs. Within the European Union, millions of people can live and work across borders without a visa. These are very tactical professional advantages that make career moves feel natural and low-risk.
Visa rules and work permit restrictions directly affect international students and their ability to build a career after graduation.
The perfect example of this today is American universities. International students in the United States are a critical source of early career talent for local companies, specifically in STEM fields. But the current changes in immigration policies directly affect this.
After the drop during the pandemic, international student enrollment in the United States went right back up. The 2023-2024 academic year saw over a million international students – but under the current administration, their future looks more uncertain.
There is a clear tightening tendency for student visas, training programs, and work visas. For example, new restrictions have been announced for the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program that allows international students to work in the United States for one to three years after graduation.
There are also reports of longer wait times and higher scrutiny in student visa interviews. Students from countries that have been flagged are experiencing visa delays and additional checks. This has especially affected students from China in fields like semiconductors and AI.
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When your nationality makes it harder to get your dream job
Many HR professionals admit that in the current job market, a candidate's visa status doesn't just affect the cost of hiring. It also determines their risk profile. For a company looking to fill a role, they need to be certain that the time they invest in finding the right candidate will result in a hire. If there is any uncertainty regarding the applicant's chances of getting a work permit or visa, the company is risking wasting valuable time and resources.
“I applied for a teaching role at an international school in Singapore. I have a PhD in early education and previous experience working at a similar school and in a similar role in China. The head of studies was very impressed with my qualifications, and we started moving along with my hiring, but then they learned I am from Lithuania. And as I am not from one of the English-speaking countries like the US or Australia, getting my work permit approved would be more complicated. So, they've decided not to move forward. I still feel that I would have done great work with them, it's a shame the problem was something I could not influence in any way", says Sofija, a Lithuanian expat in China.
Another expat shares their frustrations on Reddit about being the perfect candidate for positions in the US they never hear back from: "It's really frustrating to see my job applications getting rejected solely because of sponsorship issues. For context, I am on an H1B, though the I-140 and PERM process has not started yet as I am currently looking for a change and searching for jobs across multiple websites. My visa has been valid for nearly five years (including the 3-year extension), and my H1B was filed in 2023. I tailor my resume for jobs I am selectively applying for. I check my score with resumeworded.com to see all the keywords. Even though my resume is a perfect fit for the job and I meet all the requirements, I keep getting rejected within just one or two days. Mind you, none of these jobs have listed you as legally authorized to work in the US without sponsorships or cannot sponsor at this time. These are the FAANGs, VISA, JPMC, and other banks and other larger tech companies, etc. It's disheartening to think that my qualifications and experience are being overlooked simply because of sponsorship concerns."
When your residency affects your remote work options and pay
Remote work is generally considered exceptionally inclusive. But even here, location restrictions and visa requirements can often impact access to opportunities and good pay.
A lot of remote positions, though technically global, often come with the fine print that candidates must reside in a specific location. The reasons for that may be legal compliance, data protection, and taxation. In some cases, companies may simply prefer to hire people in locations where their payroll structure is already set up.
As a result, two equally qualified candidates may have access to a very different pool of opportunities. A software developer living in Germany or Portugal could be eligible for dozens of remote positions that would be unavailable to a similarly skilled developer in Nepal or Nigeria.
Your legal residency status can also affect how much you are getting paid. A lot of remote employers use location-based pay models. In such models, salaries are adjusted based on the employee's location rather than the nature and quality of their work. So, someone located in San Francisco, Singapore or London would probably be paid a higher rate compared to someone located in Algiers or Bangkok.
This creates an interesting paradox for professional remote workers. Some are happy to relocate for a better remote position — but most countries do not provide any legal framework for them to do so.
When you stay in the job longer than you want to
A lot of work permits, visas, and residency programs require you to have a sponsor — the employer who hires you and handles your relocation paperwork. This ties your move abroad to a specific position and company. And if you decide to leave the company, your visa will also be revoked. This makes perfect sense as your employer is the one “inviting” you into the country and responsible for you during your time here.
For some expats, the sponsorship keeps them "locked" in one position for years, preventing them from exploring other employment options.
Alina, a Ukrainian expat in China, shares: "I changed jobs a lot. I wasn't sure what career to settle into. But every time I met expats like myself, everyone was really surprised that I had such an active work history. Most of them stayed with the same companies for years as switching wasn't easy. I was married to a Chinese citizen, so I was less worried about my visa status; I could always switch to a family visa. But I only recently realized what a big role this played in my career".
Visa rules may not just affect where you work and for how long. Sometimes they may even influence what you do for a living.
Some countries actively encourage professional immigration in specific fields. A good example of this is Australia. The country has a number of skilled immigration programs to manage labor shortages in areas like construction, healthcare, engineering, and a few others. And applicants in these fields are given priority treatment. Because of this, some migrants actively work on getting additional qualifications to follow these professional pathways.
While some countries have targeted programs for professional immigration, in others the preferential treatment for certain professions is more subtle.
"I have a degree in engineering and another in computer science and spent close to a year applying for different jobs in Hong Kong, where I used to live. I had replies from a few companies, but when it came to handling my visa, all of them backed out because it would be too complicated to prove they needed me, a foreigner, with so many engineers already in Hong Kong. I ended up applying for a teaching position and got my working papers with that", says Stefan, a German expat in Hong Kong.
The need to be exceptional
This takes us to another career-altering consequence of visa restrictions. In many work permit applications, the employer needs to prove to relevant authorities that they cannot find equally skilled professionals locally. This puts the foreign applicant in a very specific position: they need to be exceptional to have their work visa approved. As supported by Kayina, a Czech expat in France, "When my company applied for a work visa for me, they used my YouTube channel with 50k subscribers to prove that I was exactly who they needed for this role, as I understood how to run a YouTube channel in a specific niche. Otherwise, I don't think I would have been approved. There are plenty of marketing professionals in France."
When visa restrictions become career opportunities
Sometimes visa obstacles turn into opportunities.
For a number of immigrants, visa restrictions have pushed them to explore other options, often leading them to open their own businesses or switch to more ambitious career paths. But this alone doesn't suggest that visa barriers are beneficial. Most people, given the option, would gladly follow a simpler and more predictable immigration process.
But what we do see here is that career paths are rarely linear, especially when they involve relocation.
When we talk about careers and success, we often talk about talent, education, networking, experience… But for millions of people, there is another important variable: immigration policy. A visa lottery can determine if someone gets to stay in the job they love and are qualified for. A passport can decide if an employer wants to hire you, if you can switch jobs, how long you can stay – and sometimes even the profession you choose.
Natallia holds a degree BA (Honours) in English Language and Simultaneous Interpreting and worked as a writer and editor for various publications and media channels in China for ten years.
