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Teaching English abroad visas: The Visa Desk

Teaching English abroad almost always needs a named visa or permit rather than a general work visa, and the right one depends on the route. This desk sets out the exact permit for ten destinations, from Spain’s auxiliares programme to work permits in Vietnam and the Gulf, each linked to the government or programme page that sets the rules.

Spain EU registration rule re-read at source 28 October 2026 · official links click-tested 28 October 2026 · other permit rules last read 6 August 2026 and overdue a re-read against official immigration and programme sources

Ten destinations, ten official doors. This desk lists the exact visa or permit behind each teaching route we cover, from Spain’s auxiliares programme to work permits in Vietnam and the Gulf, and links straight to the government or programme page that owns the rules. Read the primary source before you book flights or pay anyone a cent.

Paperwork, sorted

The Visa Desk

The visa or permit behind every route on the board, with a link to the official page that owns the rules. No agencies, no middlemen. Read it before you book anything.

Hungary

Residence permit for employment

An Irish or other EU passport is itself the permit here, so free movement covers you and a school offer is the only door. The employment residence permit below is the route for non-EU teachers. CETP, the state school programme on our board, requires citizenship of the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom, so it is not open to an Irish passport — read at source on 16 September 2026 and corrected in Issue 004.

CETP shut to Irish passportsHungarian immigration →

Czechia

Employee Card

An Irish or other EU passport needs no permit for Czechia, so a school offer is the only door. For non-EU teachers the Employee Card is one combined permit for residence and work, applied for at a Czech embassy once the school files the vacancy.

Set by schoolPortal for Foreigners →

Portugal

Long stay national visa

An Irish or other EU passport needs no visa for Portugal. Fulbright walks its grantees through the national visa, but the ETA award is open to US citizens only, so it is not the route for an Irish applicant. AIMA is the migration agency that owns residence rules on the ground.

Degree requiredAIMA →

Spain

EU registration certificate, form EX-18

An Irish or EU citizen needs no visa and no work permit for Spain. What you do need, if you stay more than three months, is the Certificado de registro de ciudadano de la Unión: form EX-18 with fee form 790, code 012, lodged at the Policía Nacional by appointment and issued the same day. It carries your NIE, which employers, banks and landlords all ask for. NALCAP, the long stay student visa route you will see in most guides, is the North American strand of the Spanish programme and is not open to an Irish passport. The Irish route into the state school programme is the Department of Education and Youth’s ELA scheme, which has no new places for 2026/27. Read 1 October 2026. NALCAP shut on 30 June with no 2027/28 date published, which matters only to North American readers. The EX-18 registration is open to you whenever you arrive, and the Policía Nacional page that owns it was re-read on 28 October 2026.

No visa needed, EU passportPolicía Nacional, EU registration →

Türkiye

Work permit via your employer

Schools apply to the Ministry of Labour on your behalf while you wait at home or convert from a tourist entry.

Degree requiredMinistry of Labour →

Mexico

Temporary resident visa with work permission

Your school requests authorisation from the INM, then you collect the visa at a Mexican consulate before travelling.

Set by schoolINM →

UAE

Employer sponsored work residence

Dubai schools sponsor the full work residence package, including medical checks and your attested degree certificate.

Attested degree requiredUAE government portal →

Colombia

M visa, temporary worker

Applied for online with your signed contract. Schools in Bogotá and Medellín are used to guiding new hires through it. Note that the ICETEX international experts round closed on 7 August with no new date published, so this route now depends on a direct school offer.

Set by schoolCancillería →

Vietnam

Work permit plus LD visa

Your language centre sponsors the work permit, then the LD working visa. Most teachers enter on an e-visa while it processes.

Degree requiredVietnam e-visa portal →

Oman

Employment visa

Employer sponsored through the Royal Oman Police e-visa system, with your attested degree as part of the file. The ministry appointment cycle ran 5 to 30 July and no new window has been published, so you would need an offer already in hand.

Attested degree requiredRoyal Oman Police e-visa →

Spain EU registration rule re-read at source 28 October 2026 · official links click-tested 28 October 2026 · other permit rules last read 6 August 2026 and overdue a re-read against official immigration and programme sources. Updated 17 September 2026: the Hungary card described CETP as the route and named its January intake. CETP requires US, Canadian or UK citizenship, so it is not open to an Irish passport, and the card now says so. The Portugal card now states that the Fulbright ETA award is open to US citizens only. No visa or permit rule was changed. Updated 22 October 2026, fortnightly sweep: the Spain card’s chip still read “Uni students and grads”, which is NALCAP’s criterion and was left behind when this card was re-pointed to the Irish route on 1 October. The card’s own text says an Irish or EU citizen needs no visa and no work permit at all, so the chip contradicted the rule beside it. It now reads “No visa needed, EU passport”. No visa or permit rule was changed and no source was re-read today, so the check dates above stand as written. Updated 28 October 2026: two changes and a link check. The Spain card ended on a sentence left over from its NALCAP days, saying “the programme itself shut on 30 June” and that this was a route for the next intake. The EU registration it describes is open to an Irish citizen at any time, so the sentence now names NALCAP and says so. The card’s link has moved from the Spanish foreign ministry’s general citizen services page to the Policía Nacional page for the Certificado de registro de ciudadano de la Unión, read at source today, which confirms form EX-18, fee form 790 code 012, an in-person application within three months of entry and immediate issue. The Czechia card now opens with the rule that matters to an Irish reader, that an EU passport needs no permit, before describing the Employee Card for everyone else. Every official link on this desk was click-tested today. Nine of the ten loaded. The Colombian foreign ministry refused our automated request, so that link is unconfirmed rather than known to be broken. No permit rule other than Spain’s was re-read today.

Rules change. Always confirm with the embassy before you book anything.

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Official sources, dated checks, honest corrections

Nothing on this desk is guessed. Every rate and rule is read from the official source, stamped with the date we checked it, and fixed in place the moment the source moves. If we get something wrong, the correction is printed where the error stood.

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