I'm searching for senior engineering roles across Europe and need visa sponsorship (my current work permit expires soon). What surprises me is that in 2026, most major job platforms still don't have a way to filter for this upfront.
The problem:
On LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and most company career pages, you only discover visa policies after spending time on an application. The typical flow:
1. Find an interesting role matching your skills
2. Spend time customizing resume/cover letter
3. Fill out lengthy application form
4. Hit the question: "Are you authorized to work in [country]?" - Sometimes in the final page
5. Select "No, I will require sponsorship"
(Often) Immediate rejection or find out later the company doesn't sponsor
I estimate I've wasted time on applications where sponsorship wasn't available—time I could have spent on actual opportunities.
What works better:
Platforms like Wellfound (AngelList) have a sponsorship checkbox
Relocate.me only lists sponsorship jobs
Honeypot and Otta show visa status upfront for EU roles
But their coverage is limited compared to LinkedIn's scale.
Why this matters:
For candidates: Wastes time on non-opportunities, forces spray-and-pray approach
For companies: Miss qualified international talent, receive applications from candidates they can't hire
For the industry: We say tech talent is global, but our tools make global matching inefficient
What would help:
A simple standardized filter on major platforms: "Visa sponsorship available" (yes/no/case-by-case). Show it before candidates invest time applying.
My questions:
Has anyone found better ways to search for visa sponsorship roles?
Hiring managers: What prevents making this more visible upfront?
Is anyone building (or interested in building) tools to solve this?
This seems like a clear win for matching efficiency. Am I missing something, or is this just an overlooked UX problem?
TLDR: Most job platforms still lack visa sponsorship filters in 2026. You discover policies only after lengthy applications, wasting time for both sides. Niche platforms do this better but have limited coverage. Would love to hear solutions or why this problem persists.
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Ask HN: Why don't job platforms have visa sponsorship filters? · HackerTrans
The problem:
On LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and most company career pages, you only discover visa policies after spending time on an application. The typical flow:
1. Find an interesting role matching your skills 2. Spend time customizing resume/cover letter 3. Fill out lengthy application form 4. Hit the question: "Are you authorized to work in [country]?" - Sometimes in the final page
5. Select "No, I will require sponsorship" (Often) Immediate rejection or find out later the company doesn't sponsor
I estimate I've wasted time on applications where sponsorship wasn't available—time I could have spent on actual opportunities.
What works better:
Platforms like Wellfound (AngelList) have a sponsorship checkbox
Relocate.me only lists sponsorship jobs
Honeypot and Otta show visa status upfront for EU roles
But their coverage is limited compared to LinkedIn's scale.
Why this matters:
For candidates: Wastes time on non-opportunities, forces spray-and-pray approach
For companies: Miss qualified international talent, receive applications from candidates they can't hire
For the industry: We say tech talent is global, but our tools make global matching inefficient
What would help:
A simple standardized filter on major platforms: "Visa sponsorship available" (yes/no/case-by-case). Show it before candidates invest time applying.
My questions:
Has anyone found better ways to search for visa sponsorship roles?
Hiring managers: What prevents making this more visible upfront?
Is anyone building (or interested in building) tools to solve this?
This seems like a clear win for matching efficiency. Am I missing something, or is this just an overlooked UX problem?
TLDR: Most job platforms still lack visa sponsorship filters in 2026. You discover policies only after lengthy applications, wasting time for both sides. Niche platforms do this better but have limited coverage. Would love to hear solutions or why this problem persists.