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I'm considering relocating to another country to work as a software developer. I'm from Non-EU country and will need a EU visa in order to relocate. At the moment, I'm still tied to a project at my current job and won't be able to leave in the next 7 months.

Because I have no experience with how much time it takes to get a visa and relocate to another country, I'm wondering when would be the proper time to start sending loads of my resume to companies from abroad?

If I start sending now and score a job, I will have to try to negotiate a starting date which is more than few months away. But if I start applying later, I'm worried that the whole process might take longer than expected.

Is it possible to negotiate a starting date which is few months away? Or what would be the most suitable time-frame for applying to jobs abroad: sooner or later?

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Because I have no experience with how much time it takes to get a visa and relocate to another country, I'm wondering when would be the proper time to start sending loads of my resume to companies from abroad?

Perhaps I would suggest a different approach: start the visa-obtaining process now, and secure it first (if possible) so you can then safely start applying to jobs.

This is important, as you may find some requirements you ignored you had to obtain, or perhaps find out that for your specific case you need a job offer first (or at some point in the process) in order to secure a visa.

If the bottleneck of your situation is the Visa and the process of obtaining it you should focus your efforts on that. After you get it, or when you are about to finish the process, you can start job-hunting knowing that you will have the visa ready when you get an offer.

Relocation time depends on several factors, like the country you are moving to, your personal habits and discipline, etc., so to obtain an estimate on that time I suggest you do some research specific to the country you seek to work on (weighting factors like house/apartment availability, documents and papers you have to obtain, etc.).

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    Thanks for the excellent answer. Apologies for not stressing this clearly, but the countries I'm aiming for are asking for a job offer first before a visa is secured. Therefore, a company must be willing to sponsor the visa. Does this change some of your given answer? Thanks again.
    – escplat12
    Mar 19, 2019 at 21:13
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    @IsaaK08 yes, in that case it would apply what stated in my second paragraph: as a job offer is requirement for the Visa, you should then start job-hunting ASAP, land an offer, and then submit your Visa application... in the meantime while you land an offer, you could simultaneously prepare the rest of the documents and requirements you need for the Visa, so you have them ready for when you land an offer and can proceed straight to submit you application. Good luck :)
    – DarkCygnus
    Mar 19, 2019 at 21:18
  • What if the future employer provides visa sponsoring? That would be a waste. Also it is very hard to get a work visa if you don't have a job landed. Mar 20, 2019 at 10:16
  • @JonasPraem - The author can become familiar with the requirements for requesting the Visa.
    – Donald
    Mar 20, 2019 at 16:55
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If you need a job offer to get a visa, you should tell the hiring company that you plan to apply for a visa once they offer the job.

They will be aware of the typical visa processing times, and agree to your starting date being after the visa approval - or tell you they are not willing to wait. Therefore, you should bring that up when they select you for an interview.

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