Post Study Work - Post-graduate students

[asai]

Hello,

Given that the current post-study work visa is to be scrapped from April 2011, I have a few question on how things stand. Apologies if a similar thread already exists - I couldnt find one.

I found a BusinessWeek article on this. I would appreciate if someone could add a little more color.

1. "The news is not all bad, though. The government has set a cap on the number of foreign workers who can obtain the coveted Tier 2 skilled-worker visas, but business school students will be exempt from this cap, as long as they are hired while in school or shortly thereafter and receive starting offers of more than £20,000, according to Dina Giannikopoulou, a researcher at the Association of MBAs, a U.K. accreditation group. MBA students also are exempt from some of the more stringent requirements of the visa changes because of their post-graduate status. They'll be able to stay a few months post-graduation to look for jobs, though the U.K. government has not yet specified how long that period will be, Giannikopoulou says."

a. Is this true that UK students would be exempt from the cap on Tier 2? If so, is this true only for an MBA or in general for any Post-graduation course?
b. Does anyone know how long would a post-graduation student be allowed to stay after completion of the course or when this would be announced?

2. Next year, U.K. companies should have an easier time than they do now hiring MBA students from outside the European Union while the students are in school, she says. For example, before hiring a foreign B-school student, companies currently must first prove that no qualified European Union candidate can do the same job, a requirement known as the "resident labor market test." Under the new rules to be enacted next spring, companies will no longer have to do this.

Once again, is this true and is it applicable to other post-graduation courses as well?

Any info on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Arun

[asai]

Originally Posted by asai

Hello,

Given that the current post-study work visa is to be scrapped from April 2011, I have a few question on how things stand. Apologies if a similar thread already exists - I couldnt find one.

I found a BusinessWeek article on this. I would appreciate if someone could add a little more color.

1. "The news is not all bad, though. The government has set a cap on the number of foreign workers who can obtain the coveted Tier 2 skilled-worker visas, but business school students will be exempt from this cap, as long as they are hired while in school or shortly thereafter and receive starting offers of more than £20,000, according to Dina Giannikopoulou, a researcher at the Association of MBAs, a U.K. accreditation group. MBA students also are exempt from some of the more stringent requirements of the visa changes because of their post-graduate status. They'll be able to stay a few months post-graduation to look for jobs, though the U.K. government has not yet specified how long that period will be, Giannikopoulou says."

a. Is this true that UK students would be exempt from the cap on Tier 2? If so, is this true only for an MBA or in general for any Post-graduation course?
b. Does anyone know how long would a post-graduation student be allowed to stay after completion of the course or when this would be announced?

2. Next year, U.K. companies should have an easier time than they do now hiring MBA students from outside the European Union while the students are in school, she says. For example, before hiring a foreign B-school student, companies currently must first prove that no qualified European Union candidate can do the same job, a requirement known as the "resident labor market test." Under the new rules to be enacted next spring, companies will no longer have to do this.

Once again, is this true and is it applicable to other post-graduation courses as well?

Any info on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Arun

It's clear from UKBA's summary on Post study work visa that -
1. There is no limit on switchers from Study to Tier 2 Visas
2. There is no local labour market test.

However, it is still not clear how long after the completion of the course does a student have to leave the country. The above article says that the UK government has not yet specified this and also does not reveal their source for saying that it would be "a few months".