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Denied jobs because of location?

PaladinoDosBoliN
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PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
Hey! I'm an Environment Artist From Brazil.

I've recently been denied a couple of positions abroad receiving the feedback that: "It's hard to sort out visas for Brazilians" or statements along those lines. Keep in mind some companies approached me and some answered my applications. 

That being said, I wanted to know: How hard is it for a company to sort out your work visa? How often do they do it? Has anyone faced the same issue?
Heres my portfolio, if it's relevant: www.artstation.com/andrefelipe

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  • slosh
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    slosh hero character
    Not sure if ur referring to a specific country but if its for the US, think of it this way.  A company has to spend extra money to hire you as opposed to someone in the states.  So you have to be REALLY worth it for them.  So while it does happen once in a while, its just easier and more cost effective to hire someone in the states.  
  • Biomag
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    Biomag sublime tool
    Besides being easier it actually also might not be legally possible to get you a visa in your specific case. It depends on your education and work experience. So maybe after talking to you they realize that they won't be able to get you a visa.

    ...and there is lack of knowledge and incompetence as well. Not talking about you, but HRs. Sometimes they don't know the details of visa appliciations or as embarrassing as it might sound they don't know the details of who they are contacting.
  • tgm79
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    tgm79 polycounter lvl 4
    This reminded me to check my Greed card entry status, aaand not selected. Check your status people, you have to do it yourself, nobody will call you. Also, this month - October - you can register for the 2021 lottery. Get that sweet visa, land the job!
  • defragger
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    defragger sublime tool
    Each country has pretty much its own visa policies.

    Are we talking about EU or US or something else?
  • Eric Chadwick
    In the US it's difficult, made even more so by the current president. To sponsor visas, US companies have to involve legal, pay admin fees, and incur a wait. And even then it's not guaranteed. 
  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    tgm79 said:
    This reminded me to check my Greed card entry status, aaand not selected. Check your status people, you have to do it yourself, nobody will call you. Also, this month - October - you can register for the 2021 lottery. Get that sweet visa, land the job!
    ALSO, check out the possibilities of a visa you have, the H1 isn't the only one, O1 is actually a good option as well! There is an 80lvl article on it!
  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    Hey! I'm an Environment Artist From Brazil.

    I've recently been denied a couple of positions abroad receiving the feedback that: "It's hard to sort out visas for Brazilians" or statements along those lines. Keep in mind some companies approached me and some answered my applications. 

    That being said, I wanted to know: How hard is it for a company to sort out your work visa? How often do they do it? Has anyone faced the same issue?
    Heres my portfolio, if it's relevant: www.artstation.com/andrefelipe
    Sorry! I forgot to specify it was the US, but in general, the responses I get are negative regardless of country, but usually, it's the US.
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    Yeah but you are a junior, your portfolio doesnt scream O1. O1 is supposed to be used for people who really make a mark in the arts. yes you can bend this definition by a fair margin, it's arts after all. But this costs money, they have to get lawyers, build a case, get you in.
    An 80lv Interview will not cut it. get your word out, do publications in art magazines, give talks etc.

    This is really usually stuff more experienced people do, the cases where a junior gets shipped into the US are rare because this stuff is just super expensive and this expense has to be worth it.

    One of the reasons why I didnt get my job at blizzard back in 2009, was despite that I had already worked 8 years of various titles, I wasn't like "fuck yeah, lets do this!" but "this is all kinda strange to me, but i'd love to give it a try". that was too much of a risk to take for a big company. And thats me with already 8 years under my belt, doing this for you without much experience, or titles published, or publications, or talks, or ANYTHING that proves an immigration official that you are the person they can not find inside the country, is just not going to cut it.

    And this is really not here to push you down, what you have is nice, its a great base. But the possibilities to get into the US, especially under the current administration are rarer than ever.
    So on top of your chances being slim, at the moment they are extra slim.
  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    Marriage opens up doors of opportunity. That's something to look into. 
  • Neox
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    Neox veteran polycounter
    careful, the normal spouse visa only gives you a chance to work if the person you are marrying is actually a citizen or green card holder. someone with a work visa will not cut it!
  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    @Alex Javor Marry me

    @PaladinoDosBoliN How old are you? If you are under 30, you can probably get working holiday visas for various countries. A lot of the time, they don't start until you actually enter the country.
  • Taylor Brown
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    Taylor Brown ngon master
    Even marriage can be an ordeal. It took my wife 2 full years and thousands of dollars to get into the US and she's from Australia. She also needed a financial sponsor to guarantee she wouldn't become a burden on the state (something I couldn't do because I was starting over in the US at the time). Plenty of people on immigration forums had it far worse and some waited years just to be denied in the end. The whole process is a mess, top to bottom. Hopefully 2020 brings about some much needed change in how we handle immigration.
  • NikhilR
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    NikhilR polycounter
    Come to canada. 

    You will stand a better chance of getting work once you're a permanent resident if you work towards that, since there is a bias towards locals with laws to protect them.

    Also remember the general heartless dog eat dog mentality of the west, if you're from Brazil you may have a hard time getting used to that unless you're in a city that has a more familial community dynamic (Like Montreal)

    And whatever you do don't go to Toronto since its a spineless shit hole city by North American standards. And watch out for high cost of living.

    You also may consider going east with you're talents. 



  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    NikhilR said:
    Come to canada. 
    You will stand a better chance of getting work once you're a permanent resident if you work towards that.
    Just don't go to Toronto since its a shit hole by North American standards.

    Hey! This is actually my original plan, I'm encountering some bumps, though.
    I want to move to Montreal, so I wanted to visit next year, I applied for a tourist visa. See, I have a job, family and a lot of ties here in brazil so I believed it wouldn't be a problem getting a visa, apart from that I had an invitation letter from a native stating I would leave when I said I would.
    Visa was denied on the basis that "I couldn't provide sufficient evidence I would leave Canada at the end of my stay"
    This was a huge blow, and if I was denied a tourist visa, imagine the pain immigration might be... I'm a tad bit unmotivated now!

    But i won't give up, thanks for the heads up.
  • NikhilR
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    NikhilR polycounter
    NikhilR said:
    Come to canada. 
    You will stand a better chance of getting work once you're a permanent resident if you work towards that.
    Just don't go to Toronto since its a shit hole by North American standards.

    Hey! This is actually my original plan, I'm encountering some bumps, though.
    I want to move to Montreal, so I wanted to visit next year, I applied for a tourist visa. See, I have a job, family and a lot of ties here in brazil so I believed it wouldn't be a problem getting a visa, apart from that I had an invitation letter from a native stating I would leave when I said I would.
    Visa was denied on the basis that "I couldn't provide sufficient evidence I would leave Canada at the end of my stay"
    This was a huge blow, and if I was denied a tourist visa, imagine the pain immigration might be... I'm a tad bit unmotivated now!

    But i won't give up, thanks for the heads up.
    Hmm, I think I can help you with this bit if you're still interested in coming to Canada. 
    pm'd!

  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Visa was denied on the basis that "I couldn't provide sufficient evidence I would leave Canada at the end of my stay"
    Did you have funds specifically put aside for purchasing a return flight?
  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    Visa was denied on the basis that "I couldn't provide sufficient evidence I would leave Canada at the end of my stay"
    Did you have funds specifically put aside for purchasing a return flight?
    Yeah! I also made a spreadsheet of all of my costs vs money I was taking. Also had a hotel booked;
  • Ashervisalis
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    Ashervisalis grand marshal polycounter
    Hm. Well, I'll note the US isn't the only place where you could go and work. Maybe shop around and see which countries would be other options?
  • Alex_J
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    Alex_J grand marshal polycounter
    Got to think about it from the canadian immigrations POV. What are they trying to protect against? Somebody coming into the country, using tax payer supplied support, and sending that money back home. Basically coming into canada to send money out.

    So just saying, "well i have family in brazil and all my friends are there" isn't going to convince them. I dunno what you'd need exactly, probably someone can just tell you if you call them, but maybe proof that you have a job in Brazil that pays more than Canadian unemployment or whatever.
  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    Got to think about it from the canadian immigrations POV. What are they trying to protect against? Somebody coming into the country, using tax payer supplied support, and sending that money back home. Basically coming into canada to send money out.

    So just saying, "well i have family in brazil and all my friends are there" isn't going to convince them. I dunno what you'd need exactly, probably someone can just tell you if you call them, but maybe proof that you have a job in Brazil that pays more than Canadian unemployment or whatever.
    I basically opened my legs for the Canadian govt, they had all of my employment information as well as any information you can think of, even my biometric info, so that isn't the case.

    Apart from that, how would one go about using unemployment support as a tourist? 

    It seems silly that they would treat potential tourists as criminals, don't you think? But again, that's just probably what they think about Brazilians: That we're all criminals.

    Anywho, this post is more about game industry jobs, less about my canadian tourist visa being denied...
  • PaladinoDosBoliN
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    PaladinoDosBoliN polycounter lvl 4
    Hm. Well, I'll note the US isn't the only place where you could go and work. Maybe shop around and see which countries would be other options?
    Great point, I'll search around, thanks!
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