Companies that transfer you to London office?
May 7, 2010 10:44 PM Subscribe
How do I get one of those magical jobs where the company will transfer me to London?
Long story short: I am in a relationship with a boy who lives in London. I am a lawyer in the U.S. but am squat in the UK. Given the economy and the fact that I have no experience in transactional law, let's assume that I will not be able to lateral over as a solicitor in London (anyway they require a trainee year and passing the QLTT). All of this would also require finding a law firm to sponsor my visa (another hurdle).
So, I'm willing to leave the law (at least for a few years) and get a non-lawyer job at a company that regularly transfers people to their London office (I've heard of these magical jobs). This would resolve the work visa issue since the transferring company takes care of it. How do I go about finding which companies have a significant London presence and a job in which I would be able to request a transfer to the London office?
I don't want work/visa issues to spell the end of my relationship with this boy. But I am also realistic. I am not willing to move over there and work as a waitress or secretary just to "be with him."
And I know some will be curious as to why he cannot move to the U.S. He might in the future but trust me when I say that his job does not allow it until he is more senior.
Long story short: I am in a relationship with a boy who lives in London. I am a lawyer in the U.S. but am squat in the UK. Given the economy and the fact that I have no experience in transactional law, let's assume that I will not be able to lateral over as a solicitor in London (anyway they require a trainee year and passing the QLTT). All of this would also require finding a law firm to sponsor my visa (another hurdle).
So, I'm willing to leave the law (at least for a few years) and get a non-lawyer job at a company that regularly transfers people to their London office (I've heard of these magical jobs). This would resolve the work visa issue since the transferring company takes care of it. How do I go about finding which companies have a significant London presence and a job in which I would be able to request a transfer to the London office?
I don't want work/visa issues to spell the end of my relationship with this boy. But I am also realistic. I am not willing to move over there and work as a waitress or secretary just to "be with him."
And I know some will be curious as to why he cannot move to the U.S. He might in the future but trust me when I say that his job does not allow it until he is more senior.
I was going to say the same thing as kittenplease, about finance, but without the HK step. To get these, I recommend networking with your university and its alumni, searching LinkedIn jobs and groups, and finding a relevant headhunter who may be interested in you. And, in theory, you have someone in England who wants you there and should move heaven and earth within his own networks.
(Also, you should search around AskMe if you haven't yet. There have been a ton of related questions on moving to the UK. From reading them, I was under the impression that the UK was one of the few places you could do the (rather expensive) paperwork yourself to get permission to work, so you could then show up and look for work?)
posted by whatzit at 11:25 PM on May 7, 2010
(Also, you should search around AskMe if you haven't yet. There have been a ton of related questions on moving to the UK. From reading them, I was under the impression that the UK was one of the few places you could do the (rather expensive) paperwork yourself to get permission to work, so you could then show up and look for work?)
posted by whatzit at 11:25 PM on May 7, 2010
I have friends that are American attorneys practicing law in LDN. It isn't impossible.
posted by k8t at 11:36 PM on May 7, 2010
posted by k8t at 11:36 PM on May 7, 2010
How quick do you want this move to take place?
I've been living in London since 1997, was working for Deutsche Bank in New York when I first started spending time here in 1995 or so. Rather quickly decided I rather liked England / Europe, and wanted to live here, but it took me about one year or so of internal politicking to swing a transfer.
These things do take time, about one year of dedicated effort in my case. If you walk into the right situation you might be able to do it much faster, but those situations are rare even in the best of times and, given the depth / severity of the recession here, probably much harder to find. Especially so as UK BA has now tightened up the rules, requiring jobs to be more widely advertisited in the UK (and broader EU) to insure an immigrant is really the only option for a UK job.
Thinking laterally - have you considered taking a postgraduate degree? Once accepted by a University a student visa is trivial to obtain, it lets you stay in the UK and work part time during your term of study. After your degree is completed a two year work permit is rubber stamped. I'm told that a further two year visa isn't difficult to obtain, assuming you've been a good citizen, kept out of trouble, etc. After these five years you can get what's called "Indefinite Leave to Remain", UK green card equivalent. Full citizenship is pretty easy to get after that point.
"I am not willing to move over there and work as a waitress or secretary just to "be with him."
Oh don't worry about that - England won't have you working (legally) in such jobs. Unemployment is at historical highs here, and there is a big push to keep British jobs for British / EU workers. I doubt visas were ever available for waitress jobs, and a secretarial job would have no doubt fallen into the now discontinued, Tier 2 skilled worker category.
If your time is tight student visa is the quickest, most certain route. Any idea of getting a multinational to sponsor you will 1) take a non trivial amount of time to realise and 2) be subject to last minute disruption should a EU citizen who can do said job step forward
Hope this helps!
posted by Mutant at 3:29 AM on May 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
I've been living in London since 1997, was working for Deutsche Bank in New York when I first started spending time here in 1995 or so. Rather quickly decided I rather liked England / Europe, and wanted to live here, but it took me about one year or so of internal politicking to swing a transfer.
These things do take time, about one year of dedicated effort in my case. If you walk into the right situation you might be able to do it much faster, but those situations are rare even in the best of times and, given the depth / severity of the recession here, probably much harder to find. Especially so as UK BA has now tightened up the rules, requiring jobs to be more widely advertisited in the UK (and broader EU) to insure an immigrant is really the only option for a UK job.
Thinking laterally - have you considered taking a postgraduate degree? Once accepted by a University a student visa is trivial to obtain, it lets you stay in the UK and work part time during your term of study. After your degree is completed a two year work permit is rubber stamped. I'm told that a further two year visa isn't difficult to obtain, assuming you've been a good citizen, kept out of trouble, etc. After these five years you can get what's called "Indefinite Leave to Remain", UK green card equivalent. Full citizenship is pretty easy to get after that point.
"I am not willing to move over there and work as a waitress or secretary just to "be with him."
Oh don't worry about that - England won't have you working (legally) in such jobs. Unemployment is at historical highs here, and there is a big push to keep British jobs for British / EU workers. I doubt visas were ever available for waitress jobs, and a secretarial job would have no doubt fallen into the now discontinued, Tier 2 skilled worker category.
If your time is tight student visa is the quickest, most certain route. Any idea of getting a multinational to sponsor you will 1) take a non trivial amount of time to realise and 2) be subject to last minute disruption should a EU citizen who can do said job step forward
Hope this helps!
posted by Mutant at 3:29 AM on May 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
Mutant's advice (as usual on this issue) is good.
I'll expand a bit. There are four options I see:
1. Student visa (see Mutant's answer).
2. Inter-office transfer: as mentioned in your original question. The UK is slightly cracking down on these - there are stories of companies (especially IT ones) using this approach to get around the work permit rules.
3. Work permit: difficult, as Mutant suggests. You'd have to have something special to offer a company, for them to even consider it (my own employer wouldn't sponsor me to stay on - they said the process is just too difficult from their point of view).
4. No-one's mentioned the Tier 1 work permit yet. This is what I have. It is not tied to a particular employer, and gives you the right to work in the UK. Qualification is by a points-based system. You earn points for your education, prior earnings and age. There is a calculator here.
I would highly recommend investigating this option. If you qualify, you could be in the UK very quickly. (Of course, you might find it hard getting work).
Can you give us some more information about your exact background? I could ask our HR department for advice (I work for a big international law firm, we have staff from all over the world in our London office, and my HR contact is an American).
posted by Infinite Jest at 4:21 AM on May 8, 2010
I'll expand a bit. There are four options I see:
1. Student visa (see Mutant's answer).
2. Inter-office transfer: as mentioned in your original question. The UK is slightly cracking down on these - there are stories of companies (especially IT ones) using this approach to get around the work permit rules.
3. Work permit: difficult, as Mutant suggests. You'd have to have something special to offer a company, for them to even consider it (my own employer wouldn't sponsor me to stay on - they said the process is just too difficult from their point of view).
4. No-one's mentioned the Tier 1 work permit yet. This is what I have. It is not tied to a particular employer, and gives you the right to work in the UK. Qualification is by a points-based system. You earn points for your education, prior earnings and age. There is a calculator here.
I would highly recommend investigating this option. If you qualify, you could be in the UK very quickly. (Of course, you might find it hard getting work).
Can you give us some more information about your exact background? I could ask our HR department for advice (I work for a big international law firm, we have staff from all over the world in our London office, and my HR contact is an American).
posted by Infinite Jest at 4:21 AM on May 8, 2010
I'll expand on the Tier 1 General work permit/ visa a little:
You can apply for the Tier 1 visa by yourself. You do not need a company sponsor. You do not need a job offer. You do not even need to be in the UK to apply for the visa. You are not tied to a particular employer for any length of time. You can be unemployed in the UK while on this visa (but this will make it harder for future visa extensions).
However, the requirements for this Tier 1 visa are:
1) Bachelor's degree, minimum.
2) High salary (you must have been employed prior to the visa application). The exact salary number depends on your age, degree, and other factors. However, in general, if you have earned less than $50,000/ year in the last year, the Tier 1 visa will probably be off limits for you.
All these requirements and some optional ones are quantified into points. You can check whether you meet these requirements using the points calculator that Infinite Jest provided above.
If you pass the minimum requirements for the visa and if you fill in the form correctly (very important!), the visa is a guaranteed. At the moment (and this might change with a Conservative government, so get those applications in asap!), there is no cap on Tier 1 visas.
posted by moiraine at 4:55 AM on May 8, 2010
You can apply for the Tier 1 visa by yourself. You do not need a company sponsor. You do not need a job offer. You do not even need to be in the UK to apply for the visa. You are not tied to a particular employer for any length of time. You can be unemployed in the UK while on this visa (but this will make it harder for future visa extensions).
However, the requirements for this Tier 1 visa are:
1) Bachelor's degree, minimum.
2) High salary (you must have been employed prior to the visa application). The exact salary number depends on your age, degree, and other factors. However, in general, if you have earned less than $50,000/ year in the last year, the Tier 1 visa will probably be off limits for you.
All these requirements and some optional ones are quantified into points. You can check whether you meet these requirements using the points calculator that Infinite Jest provided above.
If you pass the minimum requirements for the visa and if you fill in the form correctly (very important!), the visa is a guaranteed. At the moment (and this might change with a Conservative government, so get those applications in asap!), there is no cap on Tier 1 visas.
posted by moiraine at 4:55 AM on May 8, 2010
Oh yeah, and Tier 1 General visas are offered for a initial 2 year period.
FYI, Student visas are now called Tier 4 visa, and company-sponsored work permit, where you are tied to a particular employer, are now called Tier 2 visas.
posted by moiraine at 5:05 AM on May 8, 2010
FYI, Student visas are now called Tier 4 visa, and company-sponsored work permit, where you are tied to a particular employer, are now called Tier 2 visas.
posted by moiraine at 5:05 AM on May 8, 2010
Soul-crushing financial sector jobs move people to London. UBS comes to mind.
posted by onepot at 12:35 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by onepot at 12:35 PM on May 8, 2010
If you have a European great-grandparent, you may be eligible for citizenship in a European country -- Netherlands (easy), Ireland (restrictive), Italy (nightmare), Germany (don't know), and no doubt others give automatic citizenship by descent. Then there's no work permit to worry about.
posted by zvs at 2:24 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by zvs at 2:24 PM on May 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kittenplease at 11:02 PM on May 7, 2010