The International Schools Review Forum

Do IS pay for the expense of securing visas? I am in the process and it is very expensive!

::looking around for @Sid:: Depends, how long is a piece of string?

The answer has a lot of variation, with various degrees of yes and no. Many of the good ISs will pay for visa and exam fees/costs. Some pay what the lowest rate is (China for example charges USD$140 for US travelers and USD$30 for other nationals, some ISs will only reimburse the USD$30, not the full USD$140). Some ISs will pay for the work visa but you have to get a tourist visa on your own coin to arrive in country and then have the visa converted to a work visa, those ISs only pay for the former. Some ISs will only reimburse visa costs for employees, not dependents. Some ISs will pay for the exam and not the visa (or pay for the visa and not the exam). Some ISs will reimburse but at the end of the year or contract. Some include visa and documentation costs in the relocation allowance. Some dont pay any of the fees at all. Some even require you to reimburse them for the application for your visa/work permit/etc.

What you need to do is have this conversation (by email so you have a record) with your leadership after closely examining your contract.

Schools should be up front about whether they reimburse for visas or not. My current school does, once you arrive and submit your documents. Other schools I have been at, while good schools, did not. YMMV.

A good IS will reimburse all your expenses relating to visa, travel and medicals etc. If it is not in your contract then try and negotiate it before signing.

Definitely schools should pay--but double check the specifics. Our last job change cost us almost $3,000USD. It involved making 3 trips to the consulate which included flights and overnight hotels and unpaid time off. When those details started being a factor, we did double-check with the school to make sure, and for us it was no problem.

@Mamava

As long as there is a very clear defined and written agreement of what will be covered thats fine, but USD$3K in visas, medicals is a steep price to pay for someone who hasnt checked and verified their reimbursements.

Of course we didn't wait until we had accrued all of that...the contract specifically said that the school would pay for the costs involved in getting the visas--when we realized that it was going to be more complicated than we thought (after the first trip to the embassy), we contacted the school and confirmed.

Its important to scrutinize all parts of the contract including any policies incorporated into the contract. An IS might pay visa costs, but might have an upper limit thats not in the contract but in a policy. ISs might also structure those reimbursements differently than whats assumed. You may think your getting your reimbursements right away when you get there, but the policy is to reimburse those costs after the first year or some other arbitrary point.

@mamava

I would further add that the confirmation should be in writing at least over email and should be directed to the leadership hiring the IT. That kind of coin is too easy for an IS or leadership to claim is a "misunderstanding" or "language miscommunication", and the IT gets left holding the bag.