UK work visa abolished for internationals

what is the final status of TOFEL requirement for UK colleges specially LBS ?

I wanted to apply to Cambridge, OXford and LBS beginning last year. But after the visa policy in UK, it definitely seems they are intent on discouraging driven individuals from working in the UK economy.

This might affect the quality pool, might not. I am not an expert on that. But it has certainly made me drop two of the more riskier universities that I wanted to apply to.

So I am only shooting for LBS in UK , considering my inclination towards Finance and Entrep., and LBS seems to provide the least risky and the most reputed option of the three for getting me placed in finance before graduation.

Any contrarian views on why I may be wrong, is more than welcome.

It seems like that you made your decision before analyzing the data about the visa changes. I am an international who has been living in USA for a decade and let me be very frank that USA's visa policy is not friendly either, what UK has done is very similar to what USA has been doing for years or for that matter many countries except a few that are friendly to immigrants have done for decades.

UK needed improvements to their visa process and that's what they did. I agree that they have gone a little too far to the left in making those changes and could have introduced the changes in more organized manner.

Not sure what your end goal is whether you want to stay in UK or somewhere else. I made my decision to go to Oxford based on the merits of the school and not the country plus I am confident in my capabilities that I will get a job after graduation where ever I want it, my approach may not be a great one but this what suited me.

If my comments offended you in any manner I apologize for that.

No need for such profuse apologies. One can't afford to be a leader and conform to everybody.

But ,correct me if I am wrong, Isn't there an OPT of a year in the US and two years in Canada before which have to you find a working Visa sponsor ?
I was comparing this to the paltry two/three month Post graduation period available to an international in the UK System now, which is obviously much more riskier for a career changer( like me) who wants to work in the Financial capitals( NY, London) and build his credentials for a few years.

But if I had to choose a UK school for placing me into Finance in London with a relatively less amount of headache concerning the visa policies and also paying due attention to the UK schools' respective strengths and their career services record so far, that is when all my doubts arise concerning the ability of certain schools to provide me that edge over the other schools' career changers, in an extremely competitve environment

Dont you think so?

There is still quite a bit of confusion among applicants to the UK MBA programs. For those who find the cryptic legal language used to describe immigration laws difficult to interpret, the views of the admission officers would be the best way to see where it's all heading. Alumni who've stayed back in the UK have their own subjective views about the job scenario in the UK.

In the meanwhile, there's also been a change in the attitude of current students and those who've been admitted to the top UK programs. They realize that their career planning activities can no longer be deferred to the end of the course. The proactive ones have started networking early to evaluate all possible avenues before, during and after the program.

UK programs have a higher percentage of international students in the classroom compared to the US schools. Hope there's some clarity soon.
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The concerns echoed in the articles are precisely what I am hearing from current students too. But OXford and LBS non-EUs seem a little more confident

I was also planning to apply to least 3 business schools in UK.
But after the visa changes, I only applied to LBS.
Although MBA programs app essays are very similar, I made an effort to write each essay from scratch and get it corrected except the ones I submitted to LBS.

Are there any updates?

@LatinAmericanMBA

I am not sure which aspects of the UK visa regime you are interested in, but I will say that based on the very preliminary career outcomes of our non-EU students, the visa regulations have not had an impact on their ability to find jobs in the UK.

Conrad Chua
Head MBA Admissions
University of Cambridge Judge Business School

I have two more sepcific questions if anyone can help:

1) There was some confusion as to whether courses lasting exactly 12 months would enable students to switch to a Tier 2 visa without counting fot the quota. What happens, say, to Judge graduates? I guess Conrad implicitly answered this.

2) Are there any discussions in the UK about reopening a HSMP/Tier 1 visa? I do have a PhD already, so I would have qualified in the past. But, on top of that, MBA students from good schools automatically qualified for an HSMP visa. Any news on this front?

Thanks everyone.

Anecdotally from what I've heard, Tier 1 visas (non-post study) are de facto nonexistent presently as the quota is negligibly small. However people earning more than £150,000/year are exempt from the quota. Also as you already know, you are qualified for post-study work visas if you complete an UK MBA program.

Please take a look at the latest circular of UK immigration that comes into effect from October 2011. UK post-study work permit/ visa has become very difficult.
According to this new circular from UK immigration, Tier-1 post-study work visa will be stopped from April 2012.

All students aspiring to work in UK, have to go through the Tier-2 work visa procedure to be eligible for post-study work. While there is no limit on how many such work permits can be issued and the concerned companies can issue 'certificates of sponsorship' to students who graduated from UK and still have eligibility to stay legally in UK at the time of sponsorship, such work permits still are subject to the condition that suitable candidates are not available from with in UK/EU.
There is a strict procedure the sponsoring companies/institutions have to follow before they can issue such certificates of sponsorship, some what similar to the procedure that has to be followed with regard to issuing H1-B visa in USA.
I think things have become virtually impossible for people to get post-study work permits beyond April 2012.
Please check this out before you make a decision to study in UK, even in the best of the Institutions.

Wow! That bad, huh?

Your information sounds incorrect. If you look at this circular summarising changes to post study tier 2 visas for UK graduates, published by the home office : https://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... policy.pdf

You will notice towards the following :
Post-Study Work
• The current Post-Study Work route will be closed from April 2012.
• Those graduating from a UK university with a recognised degree, PGCE, or PGDE will be able to switch into Tier 2.
• There will not be a limit on these switchers.
• They will only be able to switch if they are in the UK, before their student visa expires.
• The normal Tier 2 requirements will apply, except for the Resident Labour Market Test.
• We will ensure that genuine student entrepreneurs with a great idea are able to stay on in the UK to develop their business proposition.

The Resident labour market test is not applied to UK graduates and neither are there any limits or caps on UK graduates. However if you are a non UK graduate - say from INSEAD with no EU work authorisation, you will be subject to both, the cap and the resident labour test.

bsd-lover,

I appreciate your response.
I am not sure whether you are correct or I am correct.

Please find attached the latest guidelines issued to the sponsors who sponsor certificates for Tie-2 employment, issued by the UKBA, and is applicable from October 1, 2011:

https://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Please read paragraphs 212 and 266 in this document.
From reading these two paragraphs, I get the impression that, while people switching from the student category to Tier-2 work permit category, will not be counted towards the restricted certificates (that are limited to 20,700 for the current year), They still will be subjected to resident labour market test ( Para 266). Of course this will only be applicable for students graduating after April 2012. Till then the Tier-1 category is still available.
I will be grateful if you can go through the relevant paragraphs and give your informed opinion whether there is any mistake in my reasoning/ conclusions.
Thanks in advance.

I suspect you will see an updated version of this document when the tier 1 post study is finally phased out with guidelines on international student recruitment on Tier 2. Also, there seem to be several loopholes to make it easy for recruiters to avoid Resident labour test. For instance :
- MILKROUND (paragraphs 277 and beyond)
- ROLLING RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGNS (next section)
- INTRA COMPANY TRANSFERS
- GRADUATE TRAINEE (albeit for short term posts like internships)

But there is no clear cut instruction on this document to recruit international UK graduates probably becuase there is no need for it at the moment as tier 1 is still available.

Thanks bsd-lover.

I hope they will have some provision to replace the Tier-1/ HSMP route.
But I am not very hopeful. UK govt doesn't seem to be in any mood to be lenient with potential immigrants.

With regard to intra-company transfer, the candidate should have worked with the company for at least 12 months prior to the date of application.
Thanks once again.

My colleagues attended an immigration seminar two weeks ago and the advice from the solicitors is the same as what I have posted before :-

Non EU students with an MBA from a UK university can be sponsored by a UK-based employer for a Tier 2 visa so long as the student accepts the job offer during the term of their student visa. The student is not counted against the employer's quota nor does the employer have to conduct a resident labour market test.

As always, you should seek professional advice and not rely solely on what I say.

Conrad Chua
Head MBA Admissions
Cambridge University

Mr. Chua,

Please refer to my previous post on this subject.
According to the UK Immigration website,while the MBA students who are graduating from UK universities and business schools won't be counted against the quota for Tier-2 work visas, the employers need to conduct the resident labour market test. There is no provision for employment without resident labour market test for anybody unless the job is listed under shortage occupations or the salary is above Sterling Pounds 150K per year.
The reference link is given in my above post.

Of course all this applies only for people graduating after April 2012.