Europe Work Permit from South Asia: How to Tell a Real Route from a Sold One

If you are applying from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, the hardest part of a European work permit is not the embassy. It is everything that happens before the embassy — the offers, the agents, the "quota" that expires on Friday.

This guide is about that stage. Not because the paperwork does not matter, but because almost every applicant who loses money loses it here.

Every legitimate European work route has the same skeleton

Countries differ enormously in the detail, but the structure barely changes:

1. A real employer with a real vacancy. European work permits are employer-sponsored. There is no country where you can simply buy one.
2. A labour market step. The employer usually has to show the role could not be filled locally or from within the EU. This step exists specifically to make the process slow.
3. A permit decision made inside the destination country, by a labour ministry or immigration authority, on the employer's file.
4. A visa issued by an embassy or consulate once the permit decision exists, which is what actually lets you travel.
5. A residence step after arrival — a card, a registration, or a combined permit collected in-country.

If someone describes a route that skips step one or step three, they are describing something that does not exist.

The five questions that end most scams

Ask these in writing, and keep the answers:

1. What is the employer's legal name and company registration number? Every European company is in a public register. If you cannot look it up, it is not an employer.

2. What exactly am I paying for, itemised? A legitimate invoice separates the government fee from the service fee. "Total package" pricing with no breakdown is the single strongest warning sign.

3. Who applies to the authority — you or the employer? For genuine work routes, the employer or their lawyer files in-country. An agent who says they will file it "from here" for a permit that must be filed in Europe is either confused or lying.

4. What happens to my money if this is refused? Government fees are almost never refundable — the authority keeps them whether they say yes or no. What matters is what happens to the service fee, and it must be in writing before you pay.

5. Why is there a deadline? Genuine quotas exist in some countries and they are published by the government, with dates anyone can check. An "expiring slot" that only your agent knows about is a pressure technique.

Warning signs that are worth walking away over

• A guaranteed visa. Nobody outside the immigration authority can guarantee a decision, and anyone who does is telling you they will lie to the authority too.
• Cash only, no receipt, no contract.
• A job offer with no salary figure, or a salary below the destination's legal minimum for that occupation.
• Pressure to sign a blank form or hand over your original passport indefinitely.
• Documents you are told not to read because "it is just formality".
• An offer for a job you are not qualified to do. If the file says welder and your history says driver, the file fails.

What actually improves your odds

• Match your documents to the job. Certificates, experience letters and references that support the exact occupation on the contract.
• Fix your name across every document. Passport spelling is the master version; anything that disagrees needs an affidavit or a correction before you file, not after a refusal.
• Explain your gaps yourself. An unexplained two-year hole invites the officer to invent a reason. A short, honest explanation removes it.
• Start translations and police clearance early. These are the steps that turn a three-month plan into a six-month one.
• Keep every receipt and message. If a dispute happens, the paper trail is the only thing that helps you.

Where eVisa Club fits

We are not a government office and we do not sell guarantees. We check eligibility before you pay, itemise the government fee separately from our service fee, and assign a case officer who reviews every document before it is submitted — because a fixable mistake caught early is not a refusal.

Start with the free eligibility check for your nationality and destination.