Mention visa status in cover letter?

Hi all,

A quick question for you -- I recently moved to the UK and am currently employed at the same company as my husband. He is on a Tier 2 ICT Long Term staff migrant visa and I am on a Tier 2 dependent visa; so, although we both currently have the same employer, I'm allowed to work for anyone as long as he maintains his employment.

I'm starting to look for other jobs and am not sure if I should mention my visa status in my cover letter. When I looked around the forum for advice, all the posts seemed to be pretty old and I was hoping for some more up to date info : )

I'm not thinking of writing a lot about it - just adding something to my closing paragraph along the lines of:

       I look forward to the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss my   
       experience and skill set in greater detail and further explain why I’m a great fit
       for this position. I am currently legally authorized to work in the United Kingdom
       and will not require sponsorship.

What do you experts think? Take that last sentence out or leave it in?

Thanks so much!

I would keep it in.   

No harm in making sure they know immediately that they can hire you without any hassle.

Leave it out -- all it does is call attention to your being 'not normal' which, in my experience, will probably make you look more like a hassle than a hire-able candidate. There was a discussion here a couple months ago, and my thoughts haven't changed since then: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=80449.msg1081564#msg1081564

You have the right to work here, there's no need to apologise for yourself. You'll have to hand over your passport and NI number when you fill in all the paperwork regardless; having a visa just means they'll have to make one extra photocopy. No need to make a bigger deal of it than that.

I will counter with leave it in.  I've recently started applying for jobs; I'll  be in Scotland on the 27th.  I applied for a position the other day and one of the first things mentioned was my Visa Status.  I do agree it draws attention, but if your resume shows nothing but American companies, you really need that clarifcation up front. 

HMS - I read the thread you linked.  I'm definitely surprised.  I wouldn't have thought mentioning you have the right to work on your CV would be a bad thing.  But if removing it got you phone calls and interviews - that's worth way more than my thoughts!   

I will counter with leave it in.  I've recently started applying for jobs; I'll  be in Scotland on the 27th.  I applied for a position the other day and one of the first things mentioned was my Visa Status.  I do agree it draws attention, but if your resume shows nothing but American companies, you really need that clarifcation up front. 

I really do think it depends on your circumstances and what information your CV has as to whether you leave it in or out.

If you are not in the UK yet (i.e. you are listing a US address), or as you said, all your work experience is in the US, then I would clarify that you do in fact have a visa that allows you to work in the UK... otherwise your application may be overlooked simply because they think you will need visa sponsorship for the job.

On the other hand, if you are in the UK already, have a UK address and you have some UK work experience, you would probably be okay to leave it out.

I guess it also depends whether you put your nationality on your CV or not - if you put US/American citizen on it, then you would need to clarify that you have permission to work in the UK, otherwise you may not be considered for the job. If you don't put your nationality on then you may not need to bother clarifying it.

As long as you do have a visa that allows work you should not be treated any differently by employers than if you were a UK/EU citizen... so it's going to depend on whether or not you feel it's important to emphasise your immigration status to ensure your application is treated fairly by that company.

Probably ok to leave it out, but I don't see any harm in including it.
I'm currently unemployed and hence applying for loads of jobs. For some they have a short questionaire, when you upload your CV and cover letter, which may ask your work status, if you have a valid visa if not a British national.

Probably ok to leave it out, but I don't see any harm in including it.
I'm currently unemployed and hence applying for loads of jobs. For some they have a short questionaire, when you upload your CV and cover letter, which may ask your work status, if you have a valid visa if not a British national.

Those tick-box online forms are for screening. Covering letters aren't for screening, they're for selling yourself. And they should be SHORT, three grafs, max -- (1) introducing yourself and your interest in the job/company; (2) extolling a few key achievements that fit with the position; and (3) referencing the attached CV for more details and saying how they can get in touch with you (and that you look forward to speaking to them soon).

Much longer, and a hiring manager won't even start in, let alone get to the end (they rarely get to the end anyhow). Adding another long sentence/near graf bogs down the covering letter. Word economy is paramount, although it's entirely possible that my editorial career has biased me in favour.

Not to mention, with all the CV/covering letter screening software out there, businesses/hiring managers can set flag words that get an application sent straight to the virtual bin. I don't have first-hand knowledge, so this bit is speculation, but I'd guess 'visa' isn't a word they're hoping comes up (because I'd also guess a lot of Americans -- who don't know the visa rules as well as the folks on this board -- send applications asking for sponsorship, because they think it'd be nice to live in the UK).

HMS - I read the thread you linked.  I'm definitely surprised.  I wouldn't have thought mentioning you have the right to work on your CV would be a bad thing.  But if removing it got you phone calls and interviews - that's worth way more than my thoughts!   

It's funny, because I also have a very unusual Polish/Ukraine/something-in-that-region-who-knows surname that could make people assume I'm EU and environs. Before I stopped being a visa apologist, I thought that might be the issue, particularly considering English-specific linguistic acumen is my thang. But it seems not. So I don't have to be a halušky apologist, either.

I hire a lot of people, and to be honest, all I want to know about someone's visa status is that it won't be a pain if I do wind up offering them the job.  If we got to offer stage and then someone pulled out a visa status I would be irritated that they weren't up front about it and potentially second think the offer.

When I go through agencies or recruiters for staff, they will ask up front because it makes them look bad to send on CVs of people who can't legally work here.  When I was working with headhunters for my job, they did all the leg work to make sure I was legal- I had to show my passport with visa, NI card, etc.

The way I deal with this is to say on my CV at the top where I state I am American in bold letters NO SPONSORSHIP REQUIRED.  Seems to do the trick.         

I've been wondering about this myself.

I arrived in the UK (Manchester) on August 28th and have been looking for work since then, so about 2 months now. I know that there are people on here who have been looking for work for 6+ months, but I've never had to look for this long to find something decent, paying decent money. I've had some offers for lower level positions through recruitment agencies, but the pay is only a fraction above minimum wage, and I feel conflicted about taking positions like that since it would look like a step backwards on my CV - not to mention I don't want to commit myself to something like that and miss out on a better opportunity.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with my cover letter and mentioning my visa: "I recently relocated to the UK from the US with full right to live and work in the UK, and I am happy to provide my visa and NI details"

I'm also wondering if my cover letter is too long? There's a serious glut of administrative workers here, and I feel compelled to mention a lot of things in my cover letter related to my skills and experience, so as to set me apart from the competition. Perhaps I should try shortening it?

Any advice?