Job Offer in London - Firm Won't Sponsor

And I'm a US Citizen. I have an offer (three actually) all from boutique london firms, all of which say they are unable to sponsor me. I am willing to paypal anybody here some cash if they can help me out legitimately (ie direct links to official government sites or anything along those lines) so that i will be able to legally work in London over the summer. The thing is that all of these firms sprung this on me at the end and I just assumed they would sponsor me. Its not like I lied and said I was British.

Thanks in advance. i owe you guys one.

 

Cant you get a "tourist" visa for the duration of your stay? If theres a limit, walk out and come back a day later. I've seen this done with EU countries...maybe the UK works differently?

 
Best Response
aranaxon:
LAWM:
Cant you get a "tourist" visa for the duration of your stay? If theres a limit, walk out and come back a day later. I've seen this done with EU countries...maybe the UK works differently?

can't legally work on a tourist visa... I believe that is his concern.

If you have any heritage link to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or Japan - you may be able to try for a Working Holiday Visa (which lasts for 2 yrs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_holiday_visa#United_Kingdom). But if you're American with no ties... probably impossible through this route.

I can't believe they would let this interview process go so far to the offer stages only to tell you now that they can't sponsor you. It's a real kick in the nuts.

 

If I were you I would start leveraging your London offers to get yourself one in the USA... going to be very tough to get a Visa unless you do some schooling in the UK.

PS why can't they sponsor? No more spots left under the new quota system? The numbers will be reviewed end of March I believe.

 

OP - I'm guessing these boutiques in London don't have a US office (or other regional offices where obtaining a visa may be easier)? Typically firms would ask upfront whether someone needs sponsorship - either all 3 handled this poorly, or you somehow gave them the impression you didn't need it.

In any case - someone suggested leveraging your offers for something in US. That's a good idea.

Another thing to consider is, if you've built up a good rapport with a couple of the bankers at each of these London boutiques, tell them you really want to work for them (but cannot because of the visa thing). That said, you still would like to find an IB opportunity in US/eligible region - do they know of any other banks hiring, or if they can put you in touch with their buddies at other banks. A bit ballsy - but I think they owe you that much given the situation.

 

What if they don't have an NY office? I find it incredibly surprising none of the three made any mention of the fact before they gave you offers.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

I have American friends who have worked in the UK without a visa. Apparently you can work here for 3 months without a work permit, go take the ferry to France from Dover to Calais and back and hey presto you can work for another 3 months. I think that's what some people do/did. I'm not sure if rules have been changed recently, the UK government has introduced a lot of regulations recently.

 

UK firm cannot legally pay you without an NHS number (which acts like a SSN). So they either have to pay you under the table or you work for free. otherwise you can get a study visa which allows you 20hrs/work per week. to get a study visa you need to be offered a place at a UK university. This however, is easy.. Cass, LSE, Imperial are all huge money ***** so they will accept anyone into their programs on short notice. The visa costs $500 though.. the whole student visa process took me 10 days.

 

yeah i know, it sucks really bad. theyre all small shops and its my fault for not asking before hand. they usually dont hire Americans so they arent really prepared to deal with it. All of the methods that ive seen require me to be from Canada, Australia, NZ or Japan. I currently have a student visa for Canada and I'm eligible to work there, but no offers from Toronto yet.

 
steve001:
yeah i know, it sucks really bad. theyre all small shops and its my fault for not asking before hand. they usually dont hire Americans so they arent really prepared to deal with it. All of the methods that ive seen require me to be from Canada, Australia, NZ or Japan. I currently have a student visa for Canada and I'm eligible to work there, but no offers from Toronto yet.

Hey, I am sorry to hear that man, and not to act pompous or take any credit away from you, but I am sure if you had applied to BBs in London and you'd have gotten an offer- they would probably have agreed to sponsor your work permit since while giving out the offer, they would have taken into consideration that you would need it.

Does anybody here agree with me?

 
Sid1990:

Hey, I am sorry to hear that man, and not to act pompous or take any credit away from you, but I am sure if you had applied to BBs in London and you'd have gotten an offer- they would probably have agreed to sponsor your work permit since while giving out the offer, they would have taken into consideration that you would need it.

Does anybody here agree with me?

How is this at all constructive? and asking for confirmation of your worthless post just makes you look like a tool.

 

The new UK Visa regulations and limits make it much harder for smaller firms to sponsor visas to non UK/EU. While you can't do much about the past, for those looking to work in London / UK always mention right at the top of your CV that you need sponsorship. That will save a lot of heartache.

 

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