Teaching English in Slovakia (part 3)
In the previous two blogs about teaching English in Slovakia, I talked about the following:
- what kind of certification is needed to teach
- how does one go about finding a job
- is it possible to secure a position if you are still in your home country and haven’t left for Slovakia yet
- what is a “typical” salary in Bratislava and other parts of the county, and how does this compare with the cost of living
- what is the difference in salaries between public and private schools
In this last blog, I’d like to talk about:
- work visas and long-term stay visas: how to get them and how long is the process
- how does Slovakia’s membership into the Schengen Zone effect people who come to Slovakia with tourist visas hoping to find work while there.
Before I begin with an explanation on visas, it’s important to have a clear definition of each type of visa.
- A tourist visa is for a limited period of leisure travel, no business activities allowed. US and Canadian citizens can stay in the EU for 90 days on a tourist visa. And though the word visa may give you the impression that it is a separate document, this isn’t the case. Most countries do not issue a tourist visa; it comes into effect when your passport is stamped.
- Both the long-term stay visa and the temporary residence permit serve the same purpose. The difference between them has to do with where they are issued. A visa is issued at a foreign embassy in your home country while a permit is issued within the foreign country when you are already there.
If you are planning to live and work in Slovakia, you will need to apply for both a long-term stay visa (to legally reside) and a work permit (to legally work). A work permit is not valid unless you have the long-term stay visa, so start collecting the necessary documents for the long-term stay visa first. To see a list of requirements, check out the Slovak Embassy Web site in your home country. (US requirements are here.)
It is possible to begin the visa process in your home country and finish the process in Slovakia, but there are some documents that you can only get in your home country. For example, when I was applying for my long-term stay visa, I needed to show that I had no criminal record in the US. That meant that I has to get fingerprinted at my local county sheriff’s office, and then submit my fingerprints to the FBI to get a confirmation letter stating that I had no criminal record. I don’t know how one would get around this requirement if someone was already living in Europe.
Note: A work permit is issued for a particular job. If you change jobs, you will need to apply for a new work permit.
The timing is important when you are collecting your documents. Some documents cannot be older than 30 days when they are submitted along with the application. The process to collect all the documents may take time, especially waiting for the confirmation of no criminal record, so plan accordingly. If you are unclear about a requirement, call the Slovak embassy in your home country. Don’t feel like you are imposing on them to answer your questions. That’s what they are paid to do.
I wanted to make some comments about the Schengen zone and working “black”. Before Slovakia joined the Schengen zone (Dec 2007), it was rather easy for foreigners to come to “Eastern Europe” on a traveler’s visa, and if they wanted to stay longer than 90 days, cross over the border and back to a Schengen zone country like Austria or Germany to get a new stamp in their passport, which would renew the traveler’s visa for another 90 days. Since this is no longer possible, it is much more difficult to stay in any Schengen zone country longer than 90 days without a long-term stay visa. Now, visa restrictions are tighter and employers are generally not interested in taking on anyone working “black”. Not only could the employee be deported if caught, but an employer also faces hefty fines.
All in all, moving and working to a foreign country takes a lot of thought and organization. Meeting all the requirements may be time consuming – and frustrating at times – but if someone is determined, it’s definitely do-able. I completed the application process for both the long-term stay visa and the work visa twice, from scratch, and completed renewal processes for both (a somewhat easier task) also twice. And it was all worth it living abroad for those years.
