I (US Citizen) took a job with a reputable organization in France that sponsored my visa. I have a spouse, kids, and 3 pets (pets alone cost $6k to relocate). We sold our belongings in the US and had all just begun to really adjust. However I was notified last week that my employer is actually getting rid of an entire segment of their business which includes my job.

My employment contract does not contain any job loss protections outside of my trial period which was 3 months, which they had originally specified verbally is standard in France and would only end if I failed to pick up on the job.

I realize I have no legal protections as it was my naiveté to not pursue additional contract language regarding job loss during the trial period. I just never imagined this.

I’ve applied to over 50 jobs in a week and have already recieved rejections for most, as most employers won’t sponsor visas for whatever reason.

Not sure the purpose of the post but to say that when relocating, please protect yourself and truly realize how much you’re putting on the line by accepting a job abroad. My husband has not found work either in France so we’re at the point of having to go back to the US, pay all of the travel costs to do so, and have nothing there for us.

  • Maroc59@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    In addition to my last post, I had a quick look at your post history to see if I could see what industry you are in and will make another post.

    Don’t take mental health lightly - things could have worked out for the best going out. You seem to be on top of your situation so I won’t write lots on this.

    You speak French fluently, so countries where that is an asset are:

    1. France
    2. Belgium (in the south and Brussels)
    3. Switzerland (in the Francophone cantons)
    4. Luxembourg (multilingual state (Luxemburgish, French and German), with english-only jobs everywhere and A LOT of English-only speaking migrants, such as from Portugal)
    5. Channel Islands (they speak a dialect of French and English, though the latter is what is needed for jobs).
    6. Monaco - they speak French and English widely.

    Portugal is a lovely place to live and Poland has a lot going for it, and both have outsourced jobs in French due to how relatively low the income is. I would consider Portugal if you don’t need to maintain a US-level income as the quality of life is really good there, it has a nice culture, racism is shockingly low for Western Europe (this is based on my own lived experience and second-hand from my friends who differ from me, but this is very circumstantial and varies person-to-person).

    Andorra is NOT part of the EU, I am not sure what kind of jobs there or special arrangements for visas but you may be on a level playing field with EU workers? I never researched this. Andorra is a small principality between France and Spain, which uses Catalan language but French, English, and Spanish are widely used and specifically needed in some jobs. Watch some tourist videos of the place as you may not enjoy living there.