Mobbeal Playbook: keep your job, change your life.

Your best backend engineer just told you: "I want to live in Japan for a year, otherwise I'm leaving". You have two options. Let them go and lose them. Or find a structure that orchestrates the expatriation without breaking client billing. Mobbeal is exactly that: since 2021, we've sent 50+ talents on international mobility, with zero operational impact on any client.

The problem nobody wants to solve

A consultant who wants to live 12 months in Tokyo: visa to assemble, local portage contract, housing search, Japanese bank account opening, bilateral taxation, social security, health insurance, plane ticket, move management. That's 4 months of part-time paperwork. Most consulting firms refuse. The consultant resigns. Everyone loses.

The Mobbeal process in six steps

1. Joint decision consultant + Abbeal: country, duration, compatible client project.
2. Visa: we assemble the file. Japan HSP/Engineer (~3-4 months), Canada Francophone Mobility (~2 months).
3. Local portage: Abbeal Japan entity or structuring partnership in Canada. The consultant has a local employment contract compliant with the country's law.
4. Housing: network of partner agencies in Tokyo and Montreal, file prepared upstream, housing available D+0 on arrival.
5. Banking, social security, taxation: full checklist, support during the first two weeks on site.
6. Monthly follow-up throughout the expat duration. A local Abbeal point of contact, reachable in local hours.

Concrete cases

Grégoire, fullstack TypeScript/Rust engineer. Tokyo, 18 months. Day rate 600 euros. Engagement at a Japanese SaaS vendor sourced by Abbeal. HSP visa obtained in 3.5 months. Shibuya housing reserved before his arrival. Mizuho account opened on D+5.

Kevyn, lead data engineer Python/Spark. Montreal, 12 months. Engagement at a Québécois industrial client. Francophone Mobility visa (simplified procedure, 6 weeks). Temporary housing one month in the Plateau, then long-term lease.

Alex, ROS 2 robotics engineer. Tokyo, 6 months (short engagement at an automaker). Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa. Housing in partner sharehouse in Roppongi to optimize cost.

Four concrete cases — 2024-2025

Beyond global numbers, here are four mobilities operated between 2024 and 2025. Same hubs, same process, different contexts. The timelines and costs below are real, not marketing averages.

Case 1 — Sébastien: Paris → Tokyo (CEO, 2024)

Tech Lead / CEO, 4 months from internal decision to full operational. Visa Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services (the standard tech engineer visa in Japan). Sponsorship by the existing Abbeal K.K. entity. Total cost ~€12k (relocation + paperwork + 1 month temporary housing). What accelerated it: existing Japanese legal entity, operational Higashi-Azabu office, immigration lawyer under Mobbeal contract. Without those 3 assets, the timeline would have doubled.

Case 2 — Léa: Montréal → Paris (Senior SRE, 2023)

Senior SRE at Abbeal Montréal since 2021. Mobility requested to follow her spouse relocating to Paris for 3 years. 6 weeks from decision to fully operational. Visa Passeport Talent Salarié Qualifié intra-group, processed in 3 weeks via VFS — the fastest we've ever seen in France. Cost ~€6k (transatlantic relocation + 2 weeks housing). Intra-Abbeal-group status drastically simplified the French visa vs a classic Talent Passport (12-16 weeks).

Case 3 — Hiro: Tokyo → Montréal (Senior Data Engineer, 2024)

Japanese data engineer hired in Tokyo in 2022. Wanted full North American cycle experience before returning to Japan. 5.5 months decision → operational. IMP (International Mobility Program) work permit intra-company transfer Canada side — LMIA-exempt, the fastest channel. Quebec health insurance (Régie) enrolment included. Cost ~€14k (intercontinental relocation + 6 weeks housing + intensive English course for family). Abbeal Canada being a bona fide entity with 4 years of history, the file went through without issue.

Case 4 — Karim: Paris → Montréal (Founding Engineer, 2025) — record 4 weeks

Founding Engineer hired in Paris late 2024 for a FinTech AI scale-up client project. In February 2025, the client decided to open a Montréal office and wanted Karim on-site for 18 months. **4 weeks** decision → full operational (our absolute record). IMP work permit delivered in 8 business days. Cost ~€9k all-in. What worked: client urgency + solid file prepared in parallel of standard paperwork + Abbeal Canada entity already sponsoring + immigration firm under contract in Montréal capable of expediting urgent IMP files.

Aggregated Mobbeal figures 2018-2026

Across 52 mobilities operated since 2018:

• Average decision → operational delay: **12 weeks** (vs 28 weeks market average)
• Average cost per mobility: **€11k** (vs €31k at specialised HR firms)
• Successful mobility rate (>24 months without return): **91%**
• Bidirectional mobility rate (engineers who did 2 hubs in under 5 years): **17%**

The >24-month success rate is our main KPI. That's what distinguishes Mobbeal from HR firms: we don't bill for a successful mobility, we bill for a lasting integration. If the engineer returns home in less than 12 months, Abbeal re-operates for free.

For the client, zero friction

The end client has no administrative change to manage. The service contract stays with Abbeal France (or the initial billing entity). The consultant keeps delivering in the same Slack team, on the same tools, with the same deliverables. The only visible change: their time zone shifts, and that's often an advantage (extended coverage, follow-the-sun support).

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# Check-list expatriation Mobbeal (vue consultant)

## J-120 : décision et lancement
- [ ] Validation projet client et durée
- [ ] Constitution dossier visa
- [ ] Pré-réservation logement

## J-30 : finalisation
- [ ] Visa obtenu (passport stamping)
- [ ] Billet avion réservé via Abbeal
- [ ] Compte bancaire local pré-ouvert (Mizuho/Desjardins)
- [ ] Assurance santé internationale activée

## J+0 à J+14 : arrivée
- [ ] Accueil aéroport par référent local
- [ ] Inscription mairie / sécu locale
- [ ] Carte SIM, NFC transport, premiers achats
- [ ] Onboarding bureaux Abbeal Tokyo/Montréal

Why it changes retention

Across the 50+ consultants who went Mobbeal since 2021, the three-year retention rate is 78%, versus 52% for the same seniority bracket in our non-Mobbeal population. It's not magic: an engineer who lived a personal dream with their employer doesn't quit the following month. And they become an ambassador.

The cost for the company (the real question)

For Abbeal, the cost of a complete Mobbeal file is around 8,000 to 14,000 euros depending on country and complexity. Compared to the replacement cost of a Staff Engineer (recruitment + ramp-up + project risk: 80,000 to 150,000 euros), ROI is unequivocal. For the client, cost is zero.

If you have consultants or employees on engagements dreaming of expatriation, and your structure doesn't know how to orchestrate it, now is exactly the time to discuss Mobbeal. Worst case: you keep your best talents without breaking your delivery.