I think that you are probably right about having been led astray a little - you don't say what your nationality is but in general stress engineer jobs are primarily with the OEMs or their structural subcontractors. That does mean primarily Europe or North America - although there are certainly enclaves around, say, Moscow or Bangalore where you'll find quite a few as well.
There are very few stress engineer jobs in the airlines, and fewer still entry level jobs - that is probably not a route you can reasonably aspire to. I suggest that you want to either look to the OEMs in any country that you can get a work permit for (by all means say where you are, there are a few of us who may be able to advise), or look closer to home at structural engineering jobs outside of aviation. Those are likely to be plentiful - you've actually got a fairly rare skillset there that is not just needed in the aircraft industry.
If all else fails, design bridges, use it to pay for a PPL and some private flying, and in the meantime work out how to get where you really want to be.