· NextMigrate Team
Your Overseas Job Offer Passed Every Check. Now What?
Asking what comes after a verified offer means you did the careful part first. This page is for people holding an offer that checks out, not for anyone still deciding whether it is real.
Imagine you are a welder in Kochi. Three weeks ago, a company in Dubai offered you a job. You did everything right. You found the company on the official licence portal. You checked the barcode on the offer. You phoned the office on the number from its own website, and a real person confirmed the job. Your mother has already told the neighbours.
Now you sit with the offer letter in your hand, and a new worry arrives. What do you do first? Resign? Book a flight? Pay for the medical?
Short answer: a verified offer is the start, not the finish. Do the next steps in this order. Get the full contract in writing and compare it with the offer. Let the employer start the work permit. Clear your own country's exit rules. Gather the documents that take longest. Do the money maths. Resign only when your visa or permit is granted. At no stage do you pay anyone for the job itself.
Think of the offer as a boarding pass with no gate number yet. It is real. It is yours. But you still have to get through security, find the gate and board on time. In this gap, people lose real jobs to a missing document, a rushed resignation or a contract that changed.
Not sure your offer has passed every check yet? Go back to how to verify an overseas job offer first, then come back here.
Step 1: Get the full contract, then compare it line by line
An offer letter is a promise. A contract is the deal. Ask for the full contract before you accept anything in writing.
Put the two side by side and check that each of these is the same, or better:
- Job title and duties. The title on your contract decides which permit you get. A different title can mean a different visa.
- Salary. Gross or net? Which currency? Paid monthly or weekly? Are overtime and allowances on top, or inside the figure?
- Hours and days off. Hours a week, overtime rules and paid leave.
- Housing and food. Provided, paid for, or taken from your salary? How much?
- Flights. Who pays the flight out, and the flight home at the end?
- Visa and permit costs. Who pays each one, by name.
- Probation and notice. How long, and what happens if either side ends the job early.
- Repayment clauses. If the employer pays to move you, the contract may ask you to pay some of it back if you leave early. Read our guide to employer bonds and clawback clauses before you sign one.
If anything is missing, ask for it in writing. A real employer can answer in a few days. Ask yourself one question: would I be happy if this contract were the only thing I could show a court?
Keep a copy of every version. A new, worse contract handed to you on arrival is one of the clearest signs of labour exploitation. Your signed copy is your proof.
Step 2: Let the employer start the permit, and know who pays what
In most countries, the employer moves first. They apply for, or assign, the document that lets them hire you. Only then do you apply for your visa or entry permit.
| Where the job is | What the employer does first | What you usually do next |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) as a licensed sponsor | Apply for the Skilled Worker visa online on gov.uk |
| UAE | Issues the official MOHRE job offer and applies for your work permit | Sign the offer, then follow the entry, medical and ID steps the employer gives you |
| Saudi Arabia | Documents your contract on Qiwa (Musaned for domestic workers) | Get your work visa through the employer's process |
| Germany | Gives you a signed contract or binding offer | Apply for a national work visa at the German embassy or consulate |
| Poland, Romania, Croatia, Lithuania | Applies for your work permit in that country | Apply for a national visa once the permit is issued. See how to check a European work permit offer |
Now the money. Some costs belong to the employer by law. In the UK, a sponsor that makes a Skilled Worker pay back the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, the Immigration Skills Charge or its licence fee can lose its sponsor licence. This applies to certificates assigned from 31 December 2024 (Home Office sponsor guidance, checked 6 November 2026).
Other costs usually land on you: your own visa fee in many countries, family members' fees, translations, police certificates and the first flight unless the contract says otherwise. Our guide on which visa fees the employer pays splits them country by country.
One rule never changes. You may pay a government fee on the government's own website. You never pay a person for the job. If a new "processing fee" appears now, after the checks passed, treat it as a red flag. Real jobs do not get more expensive once you say yes.
Want a person to read the contract and map the permit steps with you? Bring your offer to a plan check. We go through it line by line and show you how to check each step on the official pages.
Step 3: Clear your own country's exit rules
Your destination says you may enter. Your home country may also need to say you may leave for work. Skip this and you can be stopped at your own airport with a valid visa in your passport.
- India. If your passport is marked ECR and the job is in one of 18 notified countries, you need emigration clearance through eMigrate before you fly (MEA). Our ECR guide lists the countries.
- Philippines. Most workers need an Overseas Employment Certificate from the Department of Migrant Workers. Direct hires have the hardest path. Read OEC and DMW clearance before you resign.
- Pakistan, Nepal and others. Several sending countries run their own registration or exit step for workers. Ask your country's foreign employment office what applies to you, before you book a flight.
These steps take time, and some need the employer's help. Start them as soon as the contract is signed.
Step 4: Start the documents that take longest
The slowest part of most moves is not the visa. It is the paper behind it. Start these the week you sign:
- Degree certificates. Many countries want them attested, apostilled or translated. Which one depends on the country. See apostille or certified translation.
- Police certificates. Some countries want one from every country you have lived in. Each has its own process. See police certificates for every country you have lived in.
- Medical exam. Use only the clinic or panel the destination names. A medical from the wrong clinic does not count.
- Professional registration. Nurses, doctors, engineers, teachers and some trades need a licence to practise, separate from the visa. The permit lets you in. The registration lets you work. Nurses can start with NMC and AHPRA registration compared.
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Step 5: Do the money maths before you resign
A good salary abroad starts on your first payday, not on the day you land. Between now and then you pay for things your old salary used to cover.
List these and put a number next to each:
- Fees, translations, medicals and police certificates that are yours to pay.
- Your flight, unless the contract says the employer pays.
- A rent deposit and the first month's rent, unless housing is provided.
- Food and transport until your first pay arrives. Ask the employer when that is.
- Money for your family at home during the gap.
Our visa cost calculator gives the official fees for the main destinations. The true cost of migrating covers the rest.
Ask yourself: if the start date slipped by two months, could you cover it? If the answer is no, that tells you when to resign.
Step 6: Resign only when the visa or permit is granted
This is the step people get wrong most often, out of excitement.
Until the permit or visa is granted, the job can still fall through. A permit can be refused. A quota can fill. A document can come back with a mistake. The employer can change plans. None of that means the offer was fake. It means the process is not finished.
So:
- Keep working until you hold the grant, in writing.
- Check your notice period at home, and plan your resignation date backwards from the start date.
- Agree the start date in writing once the visa is granted.
Losing a job abroad is painful. Losing it and your job at home in the same month is how families fall into debt.
Step 7: Before you fly
- Make copies of your passport, visa, permit and contract. Keep paper copies in your bag and photos on your phone.
- Never hand over your passport to an employer or agent "for safekeeping". In almost every country, taking a worker's passport is illegal. See your rights as a migrant worker.
- Save the numbers of your embassy in the new country and the labour helpline there.
- Read the arrival steps for your country in our arrival guides: ID cards, bank accounts and what to do in the first 30 days.
When an offer that passed the checks still goes wrong
Most real offers stay real. But watch for these signs after you said yes:
- A new fee appears, for "processing", "insurance" or a "guarantee".
- The contract changes for the worse, or a second contract appears.
- The start date keeps moving, with no reason in writing.
- You are told to travel on a tourist or visit visa and "convert it later". A real job abroad uses a work visa or work permit.
- Messages stop coming from the company's own email domain.
If you see one, stop paying and stop travelling. Check again from the start with our scam guide. If you already paid, act today: an agent took my money, what to do.
Frequently asked questions
Should I resign as soon as I get a real job offer abroad?
No. Resign when your visa or work permit is granted, in writing. Until then the job can still fall through for reasons that have nothing to do with you, such as a refused permit or a full quota.
Who pays for my work visa?
It depends on the country and the contract. Some costs belong to the employer by law. In the UK, for example, a sponsor cannot make a Skilled Worker pay back the Certificate of Sponsorship fee, the Immigration Skills Charge or its licence fee. Other costs, such as your own visa fee or a family member's fee, are often yours. Your contract should name who pays each one.
The employer asked me to pay for my medical. Is that a scam?
Not always. In some countries the worker pays for the medical or the flight, and that can be normal if the contract says so. What is never normal is paying a person for the job itself, or a fee that appears only after you accepted.
How long does it take from offer to start date?
It varies by country, permit and season. Ask the employer for each step and its expected time, in writing, and check each step against the official government page for that country.
Can my family join me later?
Often yes, but the rules, fees and income levels differ by country and permit. Check the family rules for your exact permit before you accept, not after you land.
What if my visa is refused after I resign?
That is the risk this guide tries to remove. Read the refusal letter closely, because it says why. Then fix that reason before you apply again. A refusal must usually be declared on future applications, so get the next one right.
