Tier 2 Visa Help and Advice

I am a US citizen planning to move to the UK in late March (not exceeding a duration of 2 years). I need to know how employment through a US company affects a Tier 2 Application. I also need to know if I can apply once already in the country as I have already purchased a ticket. If I decide to try employment through the UK, is that a lengthy process for application and sponsorship? I have no criminal background and sufficient savings.

Hate to break it to you but you are not able to apply for your initial settlement visa or Tier anything visa from within the country.

On a visitor visa you aren't allowed to do any work (for any employer uk or international), nor are you allowed to volunteer. They're very strict.

Hi,

I'm afraid you can't just move to the UK and work for a US company - you cannot get a Tier 2 visa to do that.

Also, you need to apply for the visa BEFORE you travel to the UK, as you cannot switch to a Tier 2 visa from a visitor visa inside the UK.

It can be extremely difficult to qualify for a Tier 2 visa, because you have to be sponsored by a UK company, for a specific job, paying a specific amount of money.... and not many people can qualify for them.

There are two ways to qualify:

1) The job with the UK company is listed on the Tier 2 Skills Shortage List, at the salary indicated

or

2) The job has passed the RLMT (Resident Labour Market Test) - basically that the UK company has advertised the job across the UK and the rest of the EU and cannot find a single suitable applicant for it, meaning they are forced to look overseas and hire you specifically. With 500 million people in the EU, unless you work in a very specified or highly-skilled field, it's unlikely you will qualify for a Tier 2 visa this way.

So, the steps are:

- find a UK company willing to hire you
- ensure that either the job is on the Tier 2 Skills Shortage List, or the company passes the RLMT
- the company then applies to sponsor you, by way of a Certificate of Sponsorship
- when the certificate of sponsorship has been issued, you can apply for the Tier 2 visa in the US (mailed to NYC)
- once you have the Tier 2 visa, you can move to the UK
- you must continue to work in that job, for the same company, or your visa will become invalid and you will have to leave

I had just read that one must obtain employment prior to entering the country. Thank you for clarifying that.

Is there a different Visa available to those seeking employment with an American company in the UK?

Do employers list RMLT qualifying positions? Have you seen any site to ease the search?

I had just read that one must obtain employment prior to entering the country. Thank you for clarifying that.

Is there a different Visa available to those seeking employment with an American company in the UK?

Do employers list RMLT qualifying positions? Have you seen any site to ease the search?

No visa to do what you want.  You need to find employment before coming (though you could travel for an interview).

Most jobs are offered through recruiters...  but unless you are highly specialised and niche, most employers will not consider sponsorship (as there is plenty of work force that doesn't need sponsorship).

Is something drawing you to the UK?  A relationship?  There are many other countries much easier to move to.  With the uncertainty of Brexit looming, this isn't a great place to try to come.

My boyfriend is moving there to play rugby and is essentially in the same position. We are both looking to play for an RFC over there and have ties to the club.

We've had luck in finding companies willing to sponsor so far.

What is the average turn around time on receiving approval of a visa?

Also, if you are in the process of applying (have already applied but are awaiting approval), does that affect your ability to enter the country and successfully obtain your visa?

Cool, finding a sponsor is the hardest part!  If you've done that, you're golden.

Time to receive the Certificate of Sponsorship depends on the visa type and if it is a restricted CoS or not.  Plan on 6-8 weeks.

You can't travel while your application is being submitted as you will be without a passport (and you need to be in the US to receive it).  The actual application won't take but a week or two.  It's waiting for the CoS to be received that takes a bit.

Just keep in mind nothing happens fast in the UK. 

What is the average turn around time on receiving approval of a visa?

The employer needs a sponorship licence. They must carry out a RLMT to prove that nobody else who can legally work in the UK, can do that graduate job. That RLMT runs for 28 days and if they cannot find anyone then they can offer that job to you. If the job you are applying for is on the UK shortages list then they don't need to carry out that RLMT, unless you are a nurse.

They issue a Restricted CoS application for your name and that has to be in by the 5th of the month for the board to sit on about the 11th. The board sits once a month to allocate all that months RCoS and these numbers are capped.

If allocated, then your sponsor will hear very soon after, sometimes the same day.

Then you apply for Tier 2 Gereral visa using that RCoS, which is also very quick. Looking at previous posts on here, visas seem to be issued in days rather than weeks.

But from what you say, it seems that you have been preselected for that job and that is not allowed. Your sponsor must prove that they have not preselected you and that they really couldn't find anyone else to do that graduate job.  The work sponsor should know what they have to do and their sponsorship licence is on the line if they preselect, or issue an Unrestricted CoS when they should issue a Restricted CoS.

We used to see a lot of 'I've been offered the job and now they just have to do the RMLT' posts, but the UK have really clamped down on that abuse. UKVI can ask the employer to send all the applications for that job for them to look at. If they don't think the employer sent all the applications as a lot of people would have applied for job, then they can pay the sponsor a visit. There are always posts from those who have lost their sponsor as UKVI removed their employers sponsorship licence.