Moving To Addis

Hi, I am a single male living in New York. I am planning on moving moving to Addis Ababa, particularly within the city area, and not the province. I would be appreciative if someone could assist me through the immigration process, and with the prospects of finding employment and a budget apartment. I am proficient in Computer Science and Business Development. I am looking to move before the end of November 2008. Thanks in advance, and God bless you! You can email me on vaughn_hutchinson@yahoo.com

AsherOne,

VISA requirements are quite straightforward in principle but in practice can be extremely challenging. If you are US citizen it may be simpler as the Ethiopian government has a special arrangement with the US.

Start off by going to the website of your local Ethiopian Embassy and all of the visa requirements will be detailed there. The application form is normally a 2 minute process.

You can obtain tourist visas on arrival and this is very easy.

Coming to work in Ethiopia is another matter entirely.

For business visas, you will need a supporting letter at a minimum of a business/organisation in Ethiopia who is willing to take the financial risk.

Although your skills in Computer Science are in high-demand, there is not a very big IT industry to go into here. Your best bet could be to start a business of your own.

Procedures are highly beurocratic here and starting a business can take anywhere from 1-3 months due to all of the different paperwork and agencies involved.

If you can find and employer before you leave the states that is the best bet for regular employement. Coming here to look for work on a tourist visa may land you in some trouble and besides, even if you find work here you may have to leave the country and then come back to begin the work due to work permit issues.

Getting a work permit is a non-trivial process unless you are working for one of the government sectors. In theory, work permits are not given unless you have skills that a local Ethiopian does not have. If you have a Computer Science degree then this may qualify you to get a work permit. Before you leave the states you will need to get your certificate authenticated by the relevant government agency. Either the original or photocopy. It then needs to be verified by the Ethiopian Embassy/Consulate in your country. Then, when you get here, you have to take it to a couple of different government offices here before it will be accepted as part of the application for a work permit.

Once you have a work permit though, getting a residence ID is quite straight forward with the Ministry of Immigration.

If you intend to come to Ethiopia to work, I strongly urge you to make contacts with some organisations in Ethiopia that may be able to employ you BEFORE YOU COME TO ETHIOPIA.

There are a couple of business directory listing websites on the Internet where you can find some contact details for some IT related companies in Addis Ababa (actually almost all IT-related businesses are based there).

You can try calling/e-mailing them to see if they are willing to "sponsor" your work permit and/or business visa situations.

I cannot emphasize how non-trivial the whole process you are about to undertake is...or can be. So be prepared for the work and delays to your schedule.

Do talk with your local Ethiopian Embassy/Consulate well in advance of coming. I suspect any such Embassy/Consulate in the US will be very helpful in these matters.

Good luck.

Hi!

We are also moving to Ethiopia from the US in December. I have a twenty month old and was wondering if anyone knows of Ex pat mommy groups, pre schools etc? I grew up in Ethiopia so i shoud feel quite at home in Ethiopia but want to make sure my Son is connected to an American/International community.

I grew up in Ethiopia and am now planning to return in the New Year - any ideas about some inexpensive guest houses or studio apartments in the Bole area?  Looking for short term let initially. Will be working for a charity in the Bole area (Friendship area)

If you still didn't get the nice apartment, I recommend the Hotel apartment/ guesthouse on the road from EU to Worldbank.

Or feel free to contact me, ethiosuave@gmail.com

I am from England with parental origin(well, half) in ethiopia and I am planning to move back to ethiopia for good. while i sincerely appreciate all the above tips, I would like to know what would be an average cost of living a modest life in Ethiopia. please help...