are you currently enrolled in school ?[ + are you a u.s. citizen? ] if 'yes'; then i can suggest BUNAC it will allow you a 6 mo. working visa where you can go + earn uk sterling. it is @ $350.

for a start there is no work permit for' England', that will be for the whole of Britain.

while you brush up on your world geography and politics try here for visa and permit details.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home.html

I'm not US citizen, and not student. I'm working in US with working visa now.

hey
sorry to butt in tem, but i would love to get the same info... i am looking at a London based job, and i have just graduated. i have some freelance experience while at school and have got a couple of my own projects going right now.
someone on an earlier thread mentioned something about getting something like a practical training visa within 12 months of your graduation. do you get paid during your 'practical training'?

The UK offers a wide range of options for immigration, and it is entirely possibly for an architect to qualify for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, whereby no employer is required to sponsor their 'work permit' - extremely popular with skilled individuals from a wide range of industries - HSMP

And..... for the person that has just graduated, there are a variety of options depending on the qualifications that you may or may not have, including the Training and Work Experience Scheme, Employer Sponsored Work Permit, etc. General information on UK Immigration. Hope that helps.

just make sure to get your visa and papers sorted before you come here. Arch offices can sort this out for some and sponser your visa application, but it is a headache for them and usually only do so when that person has been there for some time and just needs to renew the visa. Some firms hire and pay under the table though...

skillclear - I thought the uk/fco/riba cut the employer sponsered work permits recently?

Thank you for info SkillClear. I have been going through this website.
Do you know if people get 100% approved for HSMP if they really have enough points? I can't see why anyone can be rejected, as far as they have enough points & enough evidence is submitted...

Good question from tem, is one to expect acceptance if they have been offered a job?

My case is similar, but different, I am an architecture student, but I have applied for an internship with a london based shoe design firm, will i fall under any sort of grace as either an artist/designer, or student?

In other words, if I am given a job, can i expect to be given clearence to come to England?

There is a vast difference between deserving the points and getting the points for HSMP. The Home Office can be very inconsistent in terms of approving points claims. It has even been known for an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in trauma surgery to be told that his position was in no way specialist or senior. It might interest you to know that only around 40% of applications made in January were approved, whilst our Clients had a considerably higher success rate. People get rejected for HSMP for the most ridiculous reasons sometimes.

With regard to the post by jam-arch, I am unclear what cut in work permits you are referring to. Employer sponsored work permits are not subject to restrictions on numbers.

A job offer has no relevance to an application for HSMP except that it can help to speed up the application, although the Home Office are much quicker at processing HSMP applications this year. If you have a job offer then it will depend on the nature of the position offered as to whether or not you qualify and also for which visa you can apply. Of vital importance to a work permit application is the job being offered, the wording and placement of advertisements used and a number of other factors. An employer sponsored work permit can be quite straightforward if you know exactly what the Home Office are looking for, this not always being the same as the published guidelines relating to what they are looking for... hope that makes sense...

Hope the forum do not mind me posting these links - they will hopefully prove useful :

General UK Immigration Information

UK Employer Sponsored Work Permit Information

UK HSMP Visa Assessment tool

If anyone here requires any clarifications or assistance then please pop a post in here or visit our web site and I or one of my consultants will be happy to assist.