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Work Permits for Canadian Players in Europe


BearcatSA

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I want to know more about the criteria for Canadian players getting (or, more significantly, not getting) work permits to join clubs in Europe.  Could someone explain or provide a link to that info (especially if this has already been discussed somewhere in the forum's archives).  Thanks.

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I always thought it should be easier for Canadians to get work permits in the UK given that we are still part of the Commonwealth and technically the Queen still has to (ceremonially) sign off on a lot of things in our country.

 

Is it in fact easier for Canadians to get work permits in the UK rather than Europe?

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In the UK, we used the "working holiday" visa. Footballers are now specifically excluded from this program. There's now some benefit to your national team being ranked in the top 50 or top 75 in the world. In Germany, a work permit is a formality. Not sure about everywhere else. France and Spain used to have foreign player limits. I think most people from a Spanish speaking country seem to have a pretty easy time working in Spain -such as Keven Aleman.

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I always thought it should be easier for Canadians to get work permits in the UK given that we are still part of the Commonwealth and technically the Queen still has to (ceremonially) sign off on a lot of things in our country.

 

Is it in fact easier for Canadians to get work permits in the UK rather than Europe?

It should be easier for Canadians to get work permits in the UK in a moral sense, in my opinion. But in a legal sense, while the Queen of Canada and the Queen of the United Kingdom are the same physical person, they are separate offices and swearing allegiance (for example) to one office is not swearing allegiance to the other.

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UK work permits are harder to get IMHO. If you're Canadian, your only chance to play right nowin the UK right now is to have an UE passport. Since Canada is outside of the top 75 of FIFA rankings, players won't get a work permit.

 

Do other countries have this top 75 rank stipulation? Given how large the UK football labour market is, yet another reason why we need to move the heck up the FIFA rankings.

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Thanks to everyone for all the info.  I also found this article about Juan Agudelo from last year:

 

http://www.businessofsoccer.com/2013/12/02/why-the-surprise-denial-of-the-agudelo-work-permit-isnt-much-of-a-surprise/

 

Here's a pertinent paragraph about his situation:

 

In Agudelo’s case, the governing body endorsement comes from the Football Association, or the FA.  Under the current guidelines, a player is not automatically eligible for a work permit and the FA will not endorse players who have not played in 75% of his senior national team’s competitive games (which excludes friendlies) in the two years preceding his work permit application.  Moreover, the player’s national team must be in the top 70 of FIFA’s world rankings.  Although the United States men’s national team is currently ranked 14th in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, Agudelo has managed to make only 1 appearance for Jürgen Klinsmann’s squad in the last two years, as a substitute in a friendly against Russia last fall.  The resulting percentage of relevant senior national team games played in the last two years for Agudelo: 0%.

 

That's my own highlighting there.  So it's not enough to be in a top 70 ranked team.

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I think the UK still has an ancestory work permit. If you are from a commonwealth country and a UK grandparent, then you can qualify. It may have been eliminated in the past few years. As well, you can get an exceptional talent permit in the UK as well, but I believe only Jamie Peters & Junior Hoilett have ever been successful in that.

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I think the UK still has an ancestory work permit. If you are from a commonwealth country and a UK grandparent, then you can qualify. It may have been eliminated in the past few years. As well, you can get an exceptional talent permit in the UK as well, but I believe only Jamie Peters & Junior Hoilett have ever been successful in that.

I got one of these in 2013, they still exist.

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