Overview
This page exists partly as protection. The most common scam sold to people who contact NVConsult is a tourist visa packaged as a way to start work abroad. It cannot work, in any system. A Schengen short stay allows up to 90 days in any 180 day period. A UK Standard Visitor usually allows up to 6 months. A US visitor visa (B1 business, B2 tourist) covers permitted activities only. A Canadian visitor visa allows a stay set at the border, usually up to 6 months. All four are for visiting: tourism, family, meetings, conferences, an interview. None is a way into a job, and using one that way damages every application you make afterwards.
Eligibility
Every system applies a genuine visitor test in its own words. You must show a real, temporary purpose; enough money for the trip without working; and ties to your home country, such as a job, a business, property or close family, that make it credible you will leave on time. Unexplained money and vague plans are the most common refusal triggers.
Requirements
Schengen: a completed application, travel medical insurance of at least EUR 30,000, proof of accommodation and means, and evidence of your situation at home. The stay limit is 90 days in any 180 day period, counted across all Schengen countries together.
UK: you must show you will leave at the end of your visit, can support yourself and any dependants without working or claiming public funds, and will not live in the UK through frequent or successive visits.
USA: you must overcome the legal presumption of immigrant intent, with strong ties abroad and a specific, legitimate purpose for the trip.
Canada: you must satisfy the officer that you will leave at the end of your stay, with funds, a travel history and a clear purpose; most visitors get up to 6 months at entry.
Required documents
- Passport
- completed application and biometrics where required
- recent bank statements, usually covering several months
- an employment letter with approved leave, or business registration and tax evidence
- proof of ties such as property or family circumstances
- flight and hotel bookings or a host's invitation letter
- travel insurance (mandatory for Schengen)
- purpose evidence such as a conference registration, an exam booking or an interview invitation
Costs & fees
The Schengen visa fee is EUR 90 for an adult. The UK, the USA and Canada each charge their own official application fees, and visa centres may add a service charge. The real budget is the trip itself: you must show credible funds for travel, accommodation and daily costs for the whole visit.
Language requirements
None. None of the four systems sets a language test for visitors. Interviews test credibility and consistency, not language level.
Work rights
None, in any of the four systems, and this is the most important line on this page. Schengen short stays never include the right to take a job. UK visitors cannot do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, beyond narrow permitted paid engagements for recognised experts. US visitor status prohibits employment; US guidance allows activities such as attending meetings and job interviews, but starting work requires an approved change to a work authorised status first. Canada ended the temporary policy that let visitors apply for a work permit from inside Canada in August 2024, so no in-country conversion shortcut exists there either.
Family information
Each family member, including children, normally needs their own application and visa. Families can visit together and show shared funds and ties, but visitor status gives no family residence rights and no dependant work or settlement route.
Application process
- 1
Decide the real purpose of the trip and check it is a permitted activity in that system before you apply.
- 2
Build the evidence file around three questions: why this trip, how is it paid for, and why will you definitely return.
- 3
Apply through the official channel only: the consulate or visa centre for Schengen, GOV.UK for the UK, the US embassy process with its interview, and IRCC for Canada.
- 4
Travel within the rules: carry your evidence at the border, because entry is a separate decision from the visa in the UK, the USA and Canada.
- 5
Leave on time and keep the proof: a clean exit record helps every future application.
A visitor visa does exactly one thing: it lets you visit. It never lets you work, it cannot be converted into a job from inside the country, and overstaying it is the fastest way to destroy the genuine applications you might make later. Read this page before you pay anyone for a tourist visa package.
Who this is for
Genuine travellers: tourists, people visiting family and friends, business travellers attending meetings or conferences, and people travelling for a permitted purpose such as an exam or an interview. It is also for anyone planning an honest scouting trip before committing to a real work or study application.
Who this is NOT for
- Anyone who has been sold a tourist visa to job package. That product does not exist in any legal system, and the person selling it knows it.
- Anyone planning to enter as a visitor, find work, and regularise later. That door has closed system by system; Portugal, for example, abolished its enter first and regularise route at the end of 2025.
- Anyone planning to overstay quietly. Entries and exits are recorded, and an overstay follows you into future applications in every country that shares data.
- Anyone borrowing money to inflate a bank statement for the application. Sudden unexplained funds are a classic refusal trigger and, if discovered later, can be treated as deception.
FAQ
Q: Can I look for a job while I am on a visitor visa?
A: You can attend an interview where the system allows it as a permitted business activity: the UK expressly does, and US guidance allows interviews and job search activity. What you can never do is start work. A job offer still has to go through the proper work route, normally applied for from your home country.
Q: Can I change a tourist visa into a work permit once I am there?
A: There is no self-service conversion in any of these systems. The UK does not allow visitors to switch into work routes in almost all cases. Canada closed its visitor to work permit policy in August 2024. In Schengen, work residence is a national permit applied for through the proper channel. In the USA, only an employer petition with an approved change of status can do it, never the visitor alone.
Q: What happens if I overstay?
A: Expect some combination of removal, an entry ban and refused future visas. Overstays are recorded in shared systems, and all four systems treat overstaying and illegal work as credibility failures that poison later, genuine applications. The same applies to your funds evidence: money must be yours, built up over time, because a large unexplained deposit just before you apply usually hurts more than it helps.
Q: An agent says he can arrange my tourist visa and a job waiting when I land. What should I do?
A: Walk away and keep your money. A job taken on visitor status is unauthorised work by you and illegal employment by the employer. You carry the risk: removal, a ban, and no refund from the agent.
Next step
If your real goal is to work or study abroad, a visitor visa is not step one of that plan, and anyone who tells you otherwise is putting your future applications at risk. Book a free consultation and we will map the routes that actually exist for your profile, with real requirements and timelines. A tourist trip used honestly, to see a city, a university or an employer for a permitted meeting, can still help you choose the right real route.
NVConsult provides education and application guidance, not legal advice. No visa, job or outcome is guaranteed. Decisions rest solely with embassies, authorities and employers.
Official sources
European Commission, applying for a Schengen visa: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/schengen/visa-policy/applying-schengen-visa_en
GOV.UK, Standard Visitor: https://www.gov.uk/standard-visitor/print
US Department of State, visitor visas: travel.state.gov
IRCC, visitor visa: canada.ca