Interviews while on a Visitor Visa

Are you allowed to apply for jobs and attend interviews while on a standard visitor visa or would this go against the conditions of the visa and potentially compromise any future visas applied for?

You can apply for jobs and attend interviews as a visitor, but you CANNOT start working on a visitor visa.

If you are offered a job, and the company is willing to sponsor you for a work visa (or if you can qualify for a different type of visa that allows work), then you will need to return to your home country to apply for the proper visa before you can start working.


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You can apply for jobs and attend interviews as a visitor, but you CANNOT start working on a visitor visa.

If you are offered a job, and the company is willing to sponsor you for a work visa (or if you can qualify for a different type of visa that allows work), then you will need to return to your home country to apply for the proper visa before you can start working.


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Immigration Rules Appendix V: visitor rules

Prohibited activities
Work
V 4.5 The applicant must not intend to work in the UK, which includes the following:
(a) taking employment in the UK;
(b) doing work for an organisation or business in the UK;
(c) establishing or running a business as a self-employed person;
(d) doing a work placement or internship;
(e) direct selling to the public;
(f) providing goods and services;
unless expressly allowed by the permitted activities in Appendices 3, 4 or 5.

Based on the immigration rules for visitors it states that visitors are not permitted to "take" employment in the UK. So attending a job interview and accepting an offer of employment would violate these terms would they not? Also, if it was not declared at the UK border the intention to seek work, then would seeking work violate the terms of the visitor visa, as this is not technically considered a "tourist" activity? If then going on to apply for a work visa from home country, would immigration not see on the application that a job offer was accepted in the UK whilst on a visitor visa, which may come across as deception and therefore be refused?

Based on the immigration rules for visitors it states that visitors are not permitted to "take" employment in the UK. So attending a job interview and accepting an offer of employment would violate these terms would they not? Also, if it was not declared at the UK border the intention to seek work, then would seeking work violate the terms of the visitor visa, as this is not technically considered a "tourist" activity? If then going on to apply for a work visa from home country, would immigration not see on the application that a job offer was accepted in the UK whilst on a visitor visa, which may come across as deception and therefore be refused?

It means you cannot START a job in the UK as a visitor.

Interviewing is perfectly fine as long as you leave the UK to apply for a visa before starting the job. Several people on the forum have done it, and a good friend of mine from the US came over for 2 weeks a few years ago specifically to attend interviews. Also, if you are applying for jobs from the US, sometimes companies may invite you to visit the UK for an in-person interview.

It specifically says in the visitor visa rules that visitors can attend interviews:

Business – general activities
5 A visitor may:
(a) attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews;
(b) give a one-off or short series of talks and speeches provided these are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser;
(c) negotiate and sign deals and contracts;
(d) attend trade fairs, for promotional work only, provided the visitor is not directly selling;
(e) carry out site visits and inspections;
(f) gather information for their employment overseas;
(g) be briefed on the requirements of a UK based customer, provided any work for the customer is done outside of the UK.

It means you cannot START a job in the UK as a visitor.

Interviewing is perfectly fine as long as you leave the UK to apply for a visa before starting the job. Several people on the forum have done it, and a good friend of mine from the US came over for 2 weeks a few years ago specifically to attend interviews. Also, if you are applying for jobs from the US, sometimes companies may invite you to visit the UK for an in-person interview.

It specifically says in the visitor visa rules that visitors can attend interviews:

Business – general activities
5 A visitor may:
(a) attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews;
(b) give a one-off or short series of talks and speeches provided these are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser;
(c) negotiate and sign deals and contracts;
(d) attend trade fairs, for promotional work only, provided the visitor is not directly selling;
(e) carry out site visits and inspections;
(f) gather information for their employment overseas;
(g) be briefed on the requirements of a UK based customer, provided any work for the customer is done outside of the UK.

Thanks for clarifying. So if someone had an offer of employment, say through the NHS for example,  would the company be able to waiver a work visa so that the person could work in the UK without having to return to their home country?

Thanks for clarifying. So if someone had an offer of employment, say through the NHS for example,  would the company be able to waiver a work visa so that the person could work in the UK without having to return to their home country?

No, that’s not possible. You cannot switch from a visitor visa to any other kind of visa from inside the UK... if you tried, the visa would be automatically refused.

As I said above, you must return to your home country to apply for a work visa.

So, the process would be:
- enter the U.K.
- attend an interview for a job
- job is offered and the company is willing to sponsor you
- the company applies for a Certificate of Sponsorship for the job (this can take several weeks as certificates are only issued once a month, I believe)
- you return to your home country (this may be before the company applies for the certificate)
- when the Certificate of Sponsorship has been issued, you can apply for the visa from your home country
- once the visa has been issued (which generally takes about 3 weeks for a work visa, but there are services you can pay for to get a faster decision), you can move to the UK and start the job.


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