One European strategy.
Seven ways in.
Across France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Sweden — plus EEA Norway — the hiring playbook is the same: an experience-based highly-skilled route, work that starts in your business hours from the offer letter, and relocation the moment the visa lands. Pick the country; the strategy travels with it.
What stays the same in every EU/EEA market
Experience-based routes
Germany's IT-Specialist Blue Card, Spain's HQP, France's Passeport Talent, the Dutch Kennismigrant, Sweden's certified-employer permit and Ireland's Critical Skills route all accept long experience in lieu of a degree. 8+ years of senior engineering clears every threshold — and the EU Blue Card carries cross-border mobility between members.
I work your hours, day one
8+ years of cross-border ELO delivery means I already operate the European business day (GMT / CET). No async handover theatre, no overlap window to negotiate — first standup, first PR, in your hours, before the visa even lands.
Compliance as a product surface
GDPR, the EU AI Act, VAT and data residency are treated as product, not back-office tax — proven on Jamahook's GDPR/VAT Stripe flow for 15K+ EU users and HIPAA work at EKAGRA Health. A 905-day French streak adds a bilingual bridge.
Pick the market — paths, floors, sponsors
Every row links to that city's full deep-dive. Norway is EEA (not EU) — its own Skilled Worker route, no Blue Card.
ParisFrancePasseport Talent — Salarié Qualifié (experience track)€39,582 (Salarié Qualifié) · €59,373 (EU Blue Card)2–8 weeksMistral AI · Hugging Face · Doctolib
DublinIrelandCritical Skills Employment Permit (experience tier)€68,911 (experience tier) · €40,904 (degree tier — N/A)4–8 weeksStripe · Intercom · Workday
AmsterdamNetherlandsHighly Skilled Migrant (Kennismigrant)€5,942/mo (~€71,304/yr, 30+) · €4,357/mo (under 30)2 weeks (recognised sponsor)Adyen · Booking.com · Mollie
MunichGermanyEU Blue Card — IT Specialist Route€50,700 standard · €45,934 shortage (IT)1–3 monthsSAP · Celonis · Personio
MadridSpainHighly Qualified Professional (HQP)€40,077 technical · €54,142 managerial~5–6 weeks (20 business days resolution + 10 consulate)Google Madrid · Capchase · CabifyBarcelonaSpainHighly Qualified Professional (HQP)€40,077 technical · €54,142 managerial~5–6 weeks (20 business days resolution + 10 consulate)Travel Perk · Factorial · Typeform
StockholmSwedenMigrationsverket Work Permit (Certified Employer)SEK 33,390/mo (from Jun 2026; ~€35K/yr median-pegged)2–4 weeks (certified employer)Spotify · Klarna · King
OsloNorwayEEASkilled Worker (Special Qualifications route)NOK 522,600/yr (bachelor equiv tier — special-qualifications uses same floor)1–3 monthsSchibsted · Cognite · KahootIntro call to onsite, the same everywhere
- Day 0–2
Intro call & alignment
30-min call. Hiring side names the geography, role band, sponsor appetite. Fauzul names compensation band and the visa path he'd run. If both agree, bundle goes out within 24 hours.
- Day 3–7
Hire bundle delivered
Single shared folder: CV, certificates, references (ELO co-founders + EU/CA clients), passport, salary expectation memo, country-specific visa pathway memo with form numbers, sponsor licence number slot pre-filled.
- Day 8–14
Offer + remote start in your hours
Counter-signed offer. Fauzul begins work immediately under his ELO entity (or as a contractor depending on jurisdiction), already operating in the destination city's business hours. First standup, first PR, no downtime on the roadmap.
- Day 15–60
Visa filed & granted
Canada GTS lands in ~3-4 wks (BC PNP Tech / Québec Arrima / Alberta AAIP run PR in parallel). UK Skilled Worker priority in 5 working days. France Passeport Talent in 2–8 wks. Ireland CSEP 4–8 wks. Sweden 2–4 wks via certified employer. Spain ~5-6 wks. Norway 1–3 mo. Germany 1–3 mo. Netherlands 2 wks via recognised sponsor. Japan HSP 1–3 mo via Certificate of Eligibility.
- Week 9–12
Relocation & onsite ramp
Travel booked once the BRP / visa vignette lands. First two weeks onsite is ride-along: every standup, every coffee, every customer call. By month four — two real features shipped, the team known by first name.