# working in another country



## abrimer (Nov 12, 2009)

Hello,
I am interested in obtaining a work visa and working as a medical coder in another country for experience.  l am wondering if anyone has any insight on how to go about this, any personal experience, recommendations, information, etc.  I just think it would be a great opportunity.  

Thank you in advance for any help!

Anne Marie 
OBGYN Madison, WI


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## LeeShimano (Dec 8, 2009)

*RE:Working in another country*



abrimer said:


> Hello,
> I am interested in obtaining a work visa and working as a medical coder in another country for experience.  l am wondering if anyone has any insight on how to go about this, any personal experience, recommendations, information, etc.  I just think it would be a great opportunity.
> 
> Thank you in advance for any help!
> ...



Hi Anne Marie,

I lived in Canada for 6 years in Niagara Falls, Ontario-I couldn't find a job there even though I had extensive experience in both hospital and physician based billing/coding. Mainly because of their national health care system. They use their own version of CPT (which is different than ours) and at the time they were still on ICD-9. They converted to ICD-10 a few years ago, but the whole process is different than ours. 

They were not interested in the fact that I could get their claims processed in the States for patients that were visiting and needed to get medical services while in Canada. US citizens are usually made to pay cash at the time of service. I ended up commuting over the border into Buffalo, NY for the surrounding suburbs for the 6 years I lived there.

Unless you already have a place of employment lined up, most of the time you cannot get a visa to go and seek work. The employer must sponsor you and have to provide proof to their government that there is not a citizen of their own country that is qualified for the job. Some countries may be different, but you can probably find out visa requirements on the different govenrment websites.

Good luck!

Lee


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## medcoder9 (Jan 7, 2011)

I, too am interested to work abroad, not just Canada. I most prefer UK or Australia. Any help on how to get a work/residency visa or website on pointers to apply abroad would help.


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