Preparing placement applications across national borders
Applying for a placement in another country adds the host country's work-permit and visa rules to the ordinary work of applying: who needs a permit or visa, what an employer is willing to wait for, and what the application has to contain.
Why employers hesitate over non-EU applicants
Sometimes the difficulty of finding a placement is just bureaucracy. One applicant who had moved to Switzerland for a master's degree found in 2017 that, on top of the typical challenges of finding an internship, the country had strict work-permit regulations for non-EU nationals. Between cleverly worded laws and permit quotas, finding a job there as a non-EU national was very difficult, so much so that many of her talented colleagues were leaving to pursue opportunities elsewhere in the world or remained unemployed. Many countries had established traineeship agreements that allowed graduates to obtain positions internationally, but, as she saw it, not all employers knew about them, and some did not consider non-EU applicants because of the challenges of employing them. A business might not be able to wait the three or more months a non-EU work permit took to process, or to take the risk of the permit being denied.
Preparing for the permit process
She advised an applicant facing such permit rules to read all the relevant legislation, speak to the authorities directly about their possibilities, apply early and discuss realistic timelines with employers. The process would not be easy, but it was not impossible.
When an internship in Germany counts as employment
An internship normally differs from employment and may therefore be subject to regulations that are different from, and sometimes less stringent than, standard labour legislation. In Germany in 2017, an internship that lasted longer than three months and was not organised and financed by a public or educational body was regarded as employment. An internship arranged through EMWA's Internship Forum was in principle subject to German visa regulations.
Who needs a visa for an internship in Germany
In 2017, EU citizens needed no visa or permit for an internship in Germany. Applicants from outside the EU without the necessary EU or German work permit needed a Schengen visa, students included. A foreign student could take an internship only after completing at least four university semesters or half the study time, and only if the subject of study was relevant to the internship. For a medical writing internship, biology, pharmacy and medicine students were among the appealing candidates.
Obtaining the Schengen visa
In 2017, for most applicants the Schengen visa had to be issued by the German embassy in the home country before travelling, but people from some countries, such as Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and the US, could register with the local authorities after arriving. The important documents for the visa application were proof of finances (for an intern, the internship contract), accommodation details, travel details or both, and a passport, travel documents or both. Visa application forms were available online in German, English and many other languages. The German embassy might first issue a three-month visa, with the Schengen visa for the intended period of the internship given once the applicant had arrived.