THIS GUIDE IS ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE IF YOU NEED A REAL VISA/WORK PERMIT.

Sorry about that, but I don't want to get in trouble for people relying on my stupid guides.

NB: I am not very familiar with how Football Manager 2013 actually manages work permits, so I have based my research on reality.

Suggestions & corrections are welcomed, abuse is not. As always, thumbs up is appreciated.

For the source document go to Fifa.com - http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/01/06/30/78/statusinhalt_en_122007.pdf

Football sides are not allowed to sign any foreign players under the age of 18 unless both team and player are from an EU country (or are less than 100 km apart across an international border) or the player's parents move to that country for non-football reasons.

A player may not play official matches for more than two clubs competing in the same national championship or cup during the same season.

Not relevant for this guide, but something more people should be aware of. Note it is the " same national championship or cup"

Ok Conditional Love, we love you!

Work Permits are only used in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Citizens from countries in the EURO don't need to get a Work Permit. See these nations listed elsewhere in this guide.

To gain a work permit a player must:

• have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive 'A' team matches he was available for selection, during the two years preceding the date of the application; and
  
• play for a country which is or is ranked above 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application.

Exceptions are made if the players was unavailable to play for his country due to injury.

Competitive means tournament games (World Cup or various Confederation Tournaments) or games that are for qualifying to these tournaments.

If you were wondering: Chelsea's Bertrand Traoré fails the second part of the test (additionally he is on a student visa). So he must wait until he is 18.

• Work permits will not be issued to clubs for the purpose of having players to trial them
  
• Work permits will be issued for the period of the player's contract, up to a maximum of five years.

:If a player is loaned or sold to another club, then there will be another Work Permit assessment (which the player could fail).

If a player's contract is renegotiated during its term to increase pay/conditions and the term of the contract is changed, then there must be another application and that will be processed.

The simplest answer is that a player should gain citizenship (in the country you want the player, or a EURO country if possible). Otherwise:

A club may purchase a player and then loan the player to a club in an EU country with less stringent immigration laws. Once the player is on loan, hopefully the player will establish themself in in the their national team (ie, by playing for 2 years of competitive international football) Thus the club reapplies for a Work Permit.

This is not simulated in FM13.

A play may obtain EU/UK citizenship via family connections. NB: Brazilians may find they have family connections to portugal (a EURO country).

If the player’s spouse is an EU Citizen who is planning to come to the United Kingdom to work this may give the player the right to accompany them to the United Kingdom and work.

This is not simulated in FM13?

If an individual has more than £1million to ‘invest’ in the UK he can obtain entry clearance for an initial period of at least 3 years. Applicants may rely on their own money as well as money that they own jointly with their spouse or partner or even on money owned by their spouse or partner outright. Further permission to remain in the United Kingdom can be granted after the initial period.

Citizens of the EURO do not need permission to play in other EURO countries (UK & Ireland being "de facto" members of the euro - yes it is much more complicated than that)

So one of the ways to get a player to play for your team is to send a player to a European feeder club. The player will eventually gain citizenship in the European feeder club's nation, thus they will not need to get a work permit.

Here are the years FM13 uses for residency citizenship.

Austria - 5

Belgium - 3

Cyprus - 5

Czech Republic - 5

Denmark - 7

Estonia - 5

Finland - 5

France, including French Guyana - 5

Germany - 5

Greece - 10

Guadeloupe - 5

Holland - 4

Hungary - 5

Iceland - 5

Ireland - 7

Italy - 5

Latvia - 5

Lithuania - 5

Luxembourg - 5

Malta - 5

Martinique - 5

Norway - 5

Poland - 3

Portugal - 5

Reunion - 5

Slovakia - 5

Slovenia - 7

Spain - 4 (note 2 for Spanish-speaking South American countries)

Sweden - 5

Switzerland - 5

United Kingdom - 7

Example: I buy a player from Argentina, I send him to a Spanish feeder team, 2 years later I have no problems.

Example: I am managing the Monégasque team (Monaco) and I want to "recruit" some Brazillians. Ultimately they need to reside in Monaco for 10 years unless the Prince decides to just give them citizenship (using an editor perhaps?).

Example: I am managing the San Marino national team, it is basically impossible to import foreigners and I am stuck with regens.

For the rules go to FIFA.com : http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/01/66/54/21/fifastatutes2012e.pdf

In modern times FIFA has been tightening the rules of eligibility to play international football for a nation. Despite this some countries still game the rules (eg. Qatar & Togo's brazillian teams), but it is getting harder to do.

ARTICLE 5

• 5.1. Any person holding a permanent nationality that is not dependent on residence in a certain country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the Association of that country.
  
• 5.2 With the exception of the conditions specified in article 8 below, any Player who has already participated in a match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football for one Association may not play an international match for a representative team of another Associatin

ARTICLE 6

A Player who, under the terms of art. 5, is eligible to represent more than one Association on account of his nationality, may play in an international match for one of these Associations only if, in addition to having the relevant nationality, he fulfills at least one of the following conditions:

• a)He was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
  
• b)His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
  
• c)His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
  
• d)He has lived continuously on the territory of the relevant Association for at least two years

Discover how by yourself. But in short it is very easy with the infamous "Grandfather rule", but harder for places like Qatar to just buy foreigners(which is what you as a National Team Manager will first try to do in FM13). Yeah FIFA sucks like that.


The eligibility of a player only fixes when they play competitive football for a nation: so friendlies don't count. Since 2009 there is no age limit regarding when they played the friendlies. After the eligibility of a player fixes to one nation, well, you are tough out of luck.

Examples:

• Jermaine Jones played three friendlies for Germany in 2008 but has played for the United States since 2010
  
• Thiago Motta played three friendlies for Brazil, but now plays for Italy

This is not simulated in FM13. but FIFA expelled Syria from the 2014 World Cup qualifications because they used a player who was eligible but was played without permission.

So you want to be a national manager and take your nation to glory? For starters you need better players. If you want to recruit mercenaries without cheating, then you really need to be a dual manager(club and country). so the players can be resident in the country for however many years necessary.

FM13 doesn't simulate buying citizenship, but personally I would have no problems giving citizenship using an FM13 editor (ie. you deducted the "investment" amount from your club's transfer fund). I ignored countries that can just give citizenship to people with no connection to the country (eg. Poland). Just giving citizenship is too much like cheating, and where is the fun in that?

i would strongly suggest you sell your mercenaries to a more competitive league after they have played their first competitive game for their newfound country. Last but not least: buy & induct your mercenaries when they are young - do it before they get any idea they will establish themselves in their home national team.


Austria - 5 in FM13 - alternatively you could "invest" $10million to buy citizenship... which FM13 doesn't simulate :( League is somewhat good, National team is kinda good.

Australia - 4+ years of residency isn't that bad. League is "ok"; the national team is not good but it isn't hopeless either. FM13 doesn't simulate "investing" 5 million AUD to buy citizenship (ok, buying citizenship is not exactly that simple, it is complicated).

Belgium - 3 years residency. League isn't that bad (with a chance at the Europa league), albiet the national team is pretty good.

Bulgaria - 3 years residency. There is also a half a million+ euro "investment" option... which FM13 doesn't simulate. League and National team are not good.

Canada - 3 years residency - league and national team are ok.

Dominica - FM13 doesn't simulate buying citizenship for $100,000. National team and league are beyond hopeless.

Liechtenstein - 30 years residency (with various deductions) - FM13 doesn't simulate the local commuity voting to give citizenship immediately (which the Prince will then approve). Too much like cheating if you are going to simulate this with an editor. I added Liechtenstein because I thought it was funny.

Poland - 3 years residency - national team and the league are not that bad.

St. Kitts and Nevis - FM13 doesn't simulate paying $250,000 for citizenship. National team and league are beyond hopeless.

Spain - In FM13 - 4 years residency, 2 if the player is from a spanish speaking south american country. but why on earth do you need mercenaries?



If all else fails? well you just have to use the players you have and all the regens you can get. I strongly recommend reading the San Marino Challenge : http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2013-challenges-scenarios/107232-great-san-marino-challenge.html

The beauty of the San Marino challenge is that it is impossible to recruit mercenaries, oh, and you start at almost the bottom of FIFA rankings. I salute anyone who tries this challenge.

This section was researched for my own curiousity. I am not complaining FM2013 decided to break with reality, it is just a game after all. Waiting 10 years in game to naturalise a player is no fun.

This list has EU (Euro) countries and some non-EU countries (such as Switzerland).

This list is based on naturalisation by residence. It is almost always easier/quicker to gain citizenship If the individual has a parent or spouse with citizenship.... which FM13 doesn't simulate, so I have ignored these easier options. To be clear: I am presuming a single individual with no prior ties to the country. Eg, there is a requirement of 8 years of residency in Hungary for naturalisation, but only 3 if they have a hungarian spouse.

I added all the visa information for curiosity sake... and I was bored. Maybe one day SI will fully implement visas. It would be really funny if one of your foreign players couldn't travel to a Champions League game because of visa problems.... or not.


Andorra - 10*/20 - de facto member of Schengen and does not issue visas
Austria - 10
Belgium - 3
Bulgaria - 3 - Schengen zone treaty not yet implemented.
Croatia - 5 - joining Schengen zone within 2 years of 1 July 2013
Cyprus - 7 - Schengen zone treaty not yet implemented
Czech Republic - 5
Denmark excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands - 9
Estonia - 5
Finland - 5
France excluding overseas territories - 5
French Guyana - 5 - not in the Schengen zone
Germany - 8*
Greece - 10
Guadeloupe - 5 - not in the Schengen zone
Holland - 5 - Excluding Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands
Hungary - 8
Iceland - 7
Ireland - 5 - not in the Schengen zone, they are in the "Common Travel Area"
Italy - 10
Latvia - 5
Liechtenstein - 30 with discount avaliable - does not issue Schengen visas
Lithuania - "for descendants of citizens: easy. naturalisation: very hard."
Luxembourg - 7
Malta - 5
Martinique - 5 - not in the Schengen zone
Monaco - 10 or less if the Prince approves - De facto member of Schengen zone and does not issue Schengen visas
Norway excluding Svalbard - 7 (of past 10)
Poland - 3
Portugal - 6
Reunion - 5 - not in the Schengen zone
Romania - 8 - Schengen zone treaty not yet implemented
Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin - not in the Schengen zone
San Marino - good luck QQ - de facto member of Schengen Zone and does not issue Schengen visas
Slovakia - 8
Slovenia - 10
Spain - 10, two years if the individual is a national of a country of Iberoamerica, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal
Sweden - 5
Switzerland - 12
United Kingdom & its dependacies including: Channel Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man - 5 - not in the Schengen zone, They are in the "Common Travel Area"
Vatican City - join the vatican guard? - de facto member of Schengen Zone