i know this has nothing to do with soccer/football, but my g/f lives in england and after i graduate uni, i am going to possibly move over there. How would I be able to get a work permit, job or what not? I figured there are a good amount of americans on this board living there. Thanks for the help.
If you're just talking about working in a pub, sure. If you're pretty highly qualified, and you want a job in finance, engineering, or a few other fields, you're fine. In between...you have a problem.
i believe when trying to get a job in the EU (the work permit) you have to have proof that you can provide some sort of skill that is not readily available in EU countries, or that an EU citizen can not already do. basically you have to provide a really impressive skill. i am not positive about this but i remember this is sort of what a professor told me when i was talking to him about working in germany a few years back.
i don't know if you have heard of bunac, but it lets me work there for like 6 months with a work permit,so i am going to try and do that, while working there search for other jobs, would people just not hire me caues i am not a citizen? I will have a uni degree, would that help??
I'm going through the process right now actually. I am in a skilled (thats what they think) position, I am a programmer. You need to provide credentials (i.e. a degree, profesional membership, etc), and possibly a letter from current/past employers. It takes a few weeks to get a visa (tuesday the 17th will be the 2nd week i've been waiting). Most of the work is done by your potential employer (which means you have to have a position lined up before hand). However, if you marry someone who is on a work permit, they are a depedent work visa, which allows them to be employeed anywhere really, which is a better deal, as you're not stuck in one position, and you can look around. The reasons for the work permit are as was posted early, they don't want foreign (non EC) people taking potential jobs from the locals, which is easily understood. I'm not an expert or a lawyer so take that info for a grain of salt.
has anyone done the bunac program to live and work in the uk? i was looking into it but was wondering if anyone had any experience with it, good or bad.
Incidentally, lest anyone think the UK is being difficult over work permits, the process is no more stringent than the reverse.
I worked through the BUNAC program in London.. A lot of what im reading is slightly inaccurate. You dont NEED a job secured before you go over there...i was 20 summer of 98 and 21 the following year when i went...i had a fairly horrible job but i slightly enjoyed myself. I didnt have a job lined up either time but i ended up working for the same company both summers. Sometimes employers WANT foreigners, like Americans, depending on the job. Figure youre like a novelty. More importantly, some people i dealt with think we (americans) ALL have good work ethics. I dont know how their economy is now, but in 98, it was fairly easy to get work in London...i didnt have a job before i went over and got a "legit" job within a week or so. (I was working for a ticket tout buying tickets for them...easy money...then i got a job working for the London Imax theater doing promotions and eventually giving introduction speeches for the opening of films). I didnt accept a few jobs for it wasnt as much as i needed to live. Overall Bunac was okay...they really just provided me with a means to live and work there...they have average resources as far as accomodation and jobs...mainly they just have postings all over their office and you do the work which is fair and all. They also do "social" events to make you feel like youre "at home." I avoided those at all costs. If anyone ever needs a cheap place to stay in london...let me know...theres a cheap place in Willesden Green...NW London that was like 50 pounds a week, which at the time was good. you have oyur own or shared room and you live in a massive house with other students/travelers/etc. I can get you the address but ill need a week because all the info is in storage at my parents. Any other questions, feel free to ask.
well, as far as BUNAC, basically you have to be a college student to utilize it. If youre in college, all you have to do is pay the fee...like 225 or 250 US dollars to get a permit...or there is some timeline, like 6 months after graduation but dont quote me on that. As far as getting a work permit NOT being in college, which applies to wasdykec, i dont know.
Just out of curiousity ... what sort of need is there for teachers over there. Particularly, History teachers. I would love to spend some time over there and the drunk West Ham fan that I knew said I should head over there and getting a job would be no problem.
just find an agent who could get you a slightly illigitimate passport from some EU country with lax passport laws (i.e italy, or portugal).. you know, make up some grandparents somewhere. thats a good option to be explored.
or claim political asylum and enjoy free food & accommodation at the tax-payers' expense for a few months. The UK, we're No.1 in asylum applications worldwide.
I also used the Bunac program to live/work in York, England for about a year. I applied through Bunac the summer after I graduted college, so you can get the 6 mo. work permit through them if you had just recently finished college. I went over there without a job and a place to stay, so it was a bit worrying for a couple weeks until I got settled. I ending up getting a job through a temping agency, and worked a low-level position at a large insurance company over there. I really enjoyed the experience and got on well with everyone at the company, to the point where I wanted to stay and they wanted to hire me on as a full-time regular employee. I attempted to get a work permit extension with the help of my employer, but got turned down due the position not be very specialized, more of a general entry-level position. So the point about needing to be in a specialized field should be noted. They're work permit laws are pretty tight and difficult to get around. It was a great experience overall though and would recommend at least trying it for a short time, even if you won't be able to stay permanently.
yeah ,its ironic that they make it easy for these kosovans to claim asylum but make it hard for people to get a work permit.Its a very weird system IMHO .
Yeah, there is actually a separate "fast track" route for work permits for a few professions, including teachers. http://www.workpermits.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=2596 It still is not a particularly easy (or cheap) process, but as a teacher, you've at least got a chance.
Go through the US Department of Defense, my sister just got a job in Germany there. As for inaccuracies, I wasn't commenting on the "Bunac" prgoram, but a work permit proper, and for that you DO need a job lined up, as the employer must file for you, if you have no job lined up, whose going to do the filing?
so if i do the bunac program, should i get a crap job to start, then put in applications to see if i can get an actual job to where the employer would help me get my work permit? Thats sounding like my best bet, and i would have six months to accomplish this. Any thoughts. This is real helpful, thanks alot.
Don't dismiss the whole ancestry thing. I was recently poking around on this subject and much to my surprise found out that because I was born there, I was a British citizen. They also have a program for temporary work visa's if your grandparents were British. A lot of countries consider you a citizen if your grandparents were born there. And they don't seem to really care about the "renunciation" of citizenship required when one becomes a US citizen. Also I seem to remember something about the UK's tech worker program being shut down or put on hold.
Well after wasdyek said he was thinking about going through BUNAC, you said "Im going through the same process now." It would be easy to assume you were going through BUNAC as well...I was commenting on the BUNAC program...since he plans on going through there, THEY will file it for him.