Moving abroad with your partner: how to find work as an accompanying spouse

Your work rights come from your partner’s route, so two families moving to the same country can get very different answers. Here is what the authorities say for the most common skilled routes. Each authority decides individual cases, and your decision letter is the document that counts.

• Denmark: an accompanying family member of an employee generally has the right to work without a separate permit, and may run a business or study. You need a work permit only to join your partner’s company or one closely linked to it. More in our Denmark guide for partners.
• Germany: BAMF says you are entitled to take up work if you come for family reunification. Spouses must usually show simple German, but not when joining skilled workers or highly qualified people.
• Netherlands: the IND says partners often have the same employment rights as the sponsor. If the sponsor is a highly skilled migrant, EU Blue Card holder or researcher, the partner is free to work and the employer needs no work permit.
• UK: partners of Skilled Workers can work in any job except as a sportsperson or coach. Care workers who started after 11 March 2024 and ‘medium skilled’ jobs taken after 22 July 2025 generally cannot bring dependants, with narrow exceptions.
• Canada: a spouse or common-law partner gets an open work permit only if the worker is in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation or a listed TEER 2 or 3 occupation, and the worker’s permit runs at least 16 months after the spouse applies. Dependent children lost eligibility on 21 January 2025.
• Australia: on the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482), your family can live, study and work in Australia, even though the main visa holder usually works only for the sponsoring business.
• United States: the strictest of the seven. H-4 spouses of H-1B workers can apply for work authorisation only once the H-1B holder has an approved I-140 immigrant petition or an AC21 extension. L-2 spouses of L-1 workers are authorised to work by their status, with an I-94 marked L-2S as proof.

In the EU, the European Commission says the Blue Card offers more favourable conditions for family reunification and spouses’ access to work, so if your partner qualifies for both a Blue Card and a national permit, ask which route treats you better. The Permits Foundation, a not-for-profit backed by international employers, keeps a world map of where accompanying family members of highly skilled employees can work.

If your partner is an EU citizen moving to another EU country, EU free movement rules apply to you as their family member. Your Europe says family members should be treated in the same way as nationals of the host country, notably regarding access to employment, pay and benefits. If you are a non-EU national, apply for your residence card promptly and check with the host country’s authority what you can do while it is processed; Denmark, for example, says non-EU family members who work before the decision do so at their own risk and may in some cases face criminal liability for illegal work.

The time to negotiate your own career is before the contract is signed. Work through these questions with your partner and their future employer:

• Which exact permit will my partner hold, and what does the family permit for that route say about work, self-employment and study?
• Is my permit tied to theirs? If they lose or change the job, what happens to me?
• Does the package include spouse support: career coaching, language lessons, a dual-career network or introductions?
• Can I keep my current job remotely, and has anyone checked tax and social security for that set-up?
• Is my profession regulated in the new country, and how long does recognition take? See qualification recognition abroad.

Sometimes, but it is rarely as simple as opening your laptop in a new country. Three separate questions apply, and each one needs a yes. First, the right to work: your own permit must allow work in the country where you physically are, so check it with the immigration authority before you assume a foreign employer makes it irrelevant.

Second, tax. Within the EU, Your Europe says you are usually tax-resident in the country where you spend more than six months a year, and double tax agreements decide which country can tax you. Third, social security: EU rules generally make you insured in the country where you work, and a posted worker needs an A1 form to stay covered at home. Because the set-up affects your employer’s payroll too, expect HR to want to check it before agreeing. Get the answers in writing, and ask the tax authorities in both countries if in doubt.

Freelancing raises the same questions plus a business registration. Check that your permit allows self-employment before you register or invoice a client.

Treat the first six months as a project with a goal, not a waiting period. Introduce yourself by profession, not by circumstance: “I’m a supply-chain analyst and moved to Toronto in May” beats “I’m here with my husband.” The first version starts a professional conversation; the second ends it politely.

Translate your experience for a local reader. A recruiter in your new country won’t know your former employers, so add one line of context after each name (sector, size, market), and follow the local CV conventions in our CV format by country guide. State your right to work at the top: for partners it is often unrestricted, and recruiters who don’t know that may assume you need sponsorship.

Then pick one bridge activity that produces local evidence: a course with a recognised certificate, a volunteer role that uses your professional skills, or a freelance project for a local client. One well-chosen bridge that gives you a local reference is worth more than three that don’t.

Your first network is usually the one attached to your partner’s employer. Ask HR whether there is a spouse programme or a dual-career network; universities and large employers are the most likely to have one. Our Denmark partner guide lists the programmes running there, as an example of what to look for.

Beyond that, join your professional association in the new country, go to one sector meetup a month, and contact people who made the same move a year or two before you. Ask them how they found their first local job; the answers are more specific than any job board. Our guide to finding a job abroad covers local job portals and how to approach employers.

A gap caused by a partner’s move is one of the easiest to explain: the reason is obvious and nobody needs more than a line. Write it as a dated entry, say what you did with the time, and move on. Don’t apologise and don’t pad it with vague “personal development”.

The strongest gap entries show momentum: a language course with a level, a certificate, volunteering or freelance work with a result. On LinkedIn, set your new city as your location, use a headline about the job you want next, and add the right-to-work line so recruiters searching your new city can find and shortlist you. For longer breaks, our career gap guide covers the interview answer too.

Without the local language, focus on English-language roles and international employers first; our jobs in English abroad guide shows where they are. If the move is your chance to change direction, our career change guide covers choosing a target and rewriting your CV around transferable skills.