Career advisor with specific expertise in visa sponsorship paths?

Hi all, I'm struggling with a way forward and am hoping to find a career advisor or possibly an immigration lawyer who can help me.

I've been in the UK five years now, first as a PhD student and now on a Graduate Route visa. I've just been informed that there are no employers in my industry (book publishing) currently willing to sponsor visas for applicants, even at a senior level. This is hugely disappointing, as I've built a life and a home here, and I'd really like to stay.

I have three years on my current visa to find a job that will sponsor a work visa, and I've accepted that this will mean retraining in a different field. But I'm not sure how to figure out what my best options are, given my existing skills and work experience, and given the time limit on my current visa.  For example, I think I could retrain pretty easily as a project manager, but I'm not sure if that's a career path that would be more likely to get a sponsored job. Alternately, there may be careers where I'd easily get sponsored jobs, but it would be unrealistic to retrain / reach an advanced enough level within three years.

Does anyone know of a career advisor who specialises in helping migrants in need of visa sponsorship? I realise this is incredibly specialised, but I thought it might be worth a shot to ask here!

Hi all, I'm struggling with a way forward and am hoping to find a career advisor or possibly an immigration lawyer who can help me.

I've been in the UK five years now, first as a PhD student and now on a Graduate Route visa. I've just been informed that there are no employers in my industry (book publishing) currently willing to sponsor visas for applicants, even at a senior level. This is hugely disappointing, as I've built a life and a home here, and I'd really like to stay.

I have three years on my current visa to find a job that will sponsor a work visa, and I've accepted that this will mean retraining in a different field. But I'm not sure how to figure out what my best options are, given my existing skills and work experience, and given the time limit on my current visa.  For example, I think I could retrain pretty easily as a project manager, but I'm not sure if that's a career path that would be more likely to get a sponsored job. Alternately, there may be careers where I'd easily get sponsored jobs, but it would be unrealistic to retrain / reach an advanced enough level within three years.

Does anyone know of a career advisor who specialises in helping migrants in need of visa sponsorship? I realise this is incredibly specialised, but I thought it might be worth a shot to ask here!

Is the unmarried partner visa off the table now?
Not a career advisor, but a visa service which is often recommended here is Medivisas in London. They may be able to point you in the right direction.

If you use this
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
it will tell you what the present UK work visas are for a US citizen and if they lead to settlement.

There is a 10 year long residence; that is for those that have 10 years of legal stay in the UK. Those who came to the UK on a student visa, who then couldn't find a sponsor, would often do the Student Tier 4 - PSW- Tier 4 -any other visa, to reach the 10 years ILR. I'm not sure how easy that is for students now as the UK has closed some of that down as so many were doing it and then ending up in a  low skilled job when they got ILR. You would need to see what is allowed now for students going back to a Tier 4 visa. But it might be better to find a work visa to reach the 10 years.

You could also look at this list of the present work visas, some not for US citizens.
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Is the unmarried partner visa off the table now?
Not a career advisor, but a visa service which is often recommended here is Medivisas in London. They may be able to point you in the right direction.

Thanks, I'll look into Medivisas! Unfortunately, I think I've determined an unmarried partner visa is pretty unlikely to be able to get, because my partner and I don't live together. (Getting married is not really an option for us either.)

If you use this
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa
it will tell you what the present UK work visas are for a US citizen and if they lead to settlement.

There is a 10 year long residence; that is for those that have 10 years of legal stay in the UK. Those who came to the UK on a student visa, who then couldn't find a sponsor, would often do the Student Tier 4 - PSW- Tier 4 -any other visa, to reach the 10 years ILR. I'm not sure how easy that is for students now as the UK has closed some of that down as so many were doing it and then ending up in a  low skilled job when they got ILR. You would need to see what is allowed now for students going back to a Tier 4 visa. But it might be better to find a work visa to reach the 10 years.

You could also look at this list of the present work visas, some not for US citizens.
https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

Thanks, I had not thought of going for the 10 year route by enrolling as a student again somewhere! I'm not sure how I would afford it, though, since you're only allowed to work 20 hrs/wk (and not freelance/contract) on that visa. But still something to think about!

My current Graduate visa will get me up to 7.5 years, so I'd still need 2.5 years on a Skilled Worker visa (or 2.5 years of student visas, I suppose) to get to the 10 year mark. I've also spent a lot of time out of the UK already, as well, so going the 10-year route would mean really watching and restricting my travel for the next 5 years!

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'd qualify for any work visa other than Skilled Worker.

My current Graduate visa will get me up to 7.5 years, so I'd still need 2.5 years on a Skilled Worker visa (or 2.5 years of student visas, I suppose) to get to the 10 year mark. I've also spent a lot of time out of the UK already, as well, so going the 10-year route would mean really watching and restricting my travel for the next 5 years!

You also need to plan for the 10 years of lawful stay for ILR, not being there anymore when you want it. The UK closes down settlement routes to the UK.

The 10 year route to ILR is not like a specific work visa that can lead to settlement after 5 years, where you stay on that visa even if the rules change for new applicants, or that visa ends for new applicants.