Hi everyone, I have just graduated last year, went back home and now back to London, just wondering if there is anyone in this forum who can drop by say hi here and may be we have a meet up some day?


This is one of the old thread but seems doesnt really related now due to changes in immigration rules:
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/376571

Given the strengthen of immigration rules (thanks to Theresa May and Tories), it is very very very hard to get employer visa sponsorship now, perhaps anyone can share with their experiences on it as well?

Hi,

I'm currently working in London. Not too sure about meetups though. Getting sponsorship visa is quite difficult, I would expect more so for fresh graduate since the post-study work visa route has ended.

Btw, the immigration rules tightened for non-EU citizens because UK have no power to control EU migration to the UK, leading to the whole Brexit scenario. I'd rather blame TonyBlair for this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/19...-would-come-uk/

Anyway, that's just my personal opinion. Feel free to ask questions here and I will try to answer it based on my experience

True its very hard now - but I do miss the Tony Blair days where graduates can get the Post Graduate Visa or Working in Scotland visa where people can actually stay....now basically the government just treating students as cash cow, kick them back upon their graduation...

May I know which industry are you in?

I'm doing software development. It might be more difficult, but not impossible to get a visa to stay. When I applied for my visa, a labour market test is required and only if no UK citizen/EU citizen/UK resident is unable to fulfil the job, then only the company can hire me.

Even when the company choose to hire me, there is a monthly limit to Tier 2 General visa. The higher the salary is, the better the chances are.

But if you know a contact in a company that is able and willing to sponsor you, then you are in luck! Not easy, but can be done.

True. Even the rule still applies now. I'm in banking environment. The RLMT seems very hard to pass through tho consider the amount of ppl in banking and finance...

I think the key point here is experience. For a company to justify a fresh graduate has the skills and knowledge in banking that other more experienced residents/EU citizens do not have will be somewhat difficult.

Hi,

How much can I save (After tax and assume 2k per month expenses) if I am earning 7500 GBP per month?

Thanks.

You can calculate from this website https://www.thesalarycalculator.co.uk/.

Puiyoo.. what kind of job and company you work for and you get this kind of pay! Lol.

Thanks.
IT sector

Congrats on your new job. If it's in London, a decent accomodation can easily take up 1.5k-2k alone though but you will still get to live very comfortably with that salary. Only downside of getting a high salary is the 40% tax but that is a good problem

I'm in the IT sector too. Got your visa all sorted out already?

No problem. Congrats on your new job btw.

Yeah, just make sure you got all your visa sorted and have your offer letter before make any promises.

With the salary, he can live like a king and easily get a flat.

Iol, ppl work in IT and I work in IT as well, the salary is so difference. Lol. Look like, i need to get a new job. Lol.

You're also working in UK? Salary is very good and can live very comfortably but I won't say can live like a king unless can afford to rent a 3-bed flat like this

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/45...2c77ffb23a0b99e

yup, i am. I meant not renting, he can buy a flat easily.

Sorry guys but more of a rage reply here, currently I'm just too tired on persuading employer to sponsor my Tier 2 visa, I have applied like 500+ job applications in banking and financial industry and they JUST DON'T WANT to sponsor me a Tier 2 even though I can bear the whatever cost fully and complete the required paperwork myself, can anyone tell me why? I'm getting tired everyday since I'm getting called by recruiter everyday, and when I told them that I need visa sponsorship their reaction just changed completely, like very exciting at the beginning but don't bother to entertain you anymore after knowing that you need visa sponsorship. And I doubt they will keep my CV after this, probably at the shredder or the bin may be. Can anyone tell me WHY? =(

I know how you feel, it's so frustrated and disappointed. And it's going to drain all your positive hope and dream slowly.. yes, it's going to be quite challenging to convince a company to get your a sponsorship, the main reason is the process to get you the sponsorship is REALLY painful and horrifying. This is my experience with my previous company (things maybe have changed) first, the company need a licence to sponsor a foreigner and not all company is able to get it. Second, when the company got the license, there's something like a quota, some company maybe have 2 or 1 or 4 or whatever number of the quota to sponsor a foreigner. If the company only have 1 quota, but the company really to hire another foreigner, they need to appeal and wait for any quota available from the home office list (in case others company doesn't want it). Then when the company got the quota for you, they need to start the process like advertisement, market reasearch etc etc. OK, when all the process is done, now only go through your Tier 2 visa application. Then the company dealing with the home office, the home office will sometimes will give them a really difficult time. That's one of the reason most of the company doesn't want to deal applicant need a sponsorship.

Do you really need to work in banking and financial industry? Is it possible try others industry until you get some company willing to get you a sponsorship. Only then when you convert to ILR, you can go back to banking and financial industry?

One more, don't even bother to apply any job related to defence company. It's wasting your time and effort. I know it's really difficult nowadays, just don't give up until the last minute. I can assure you, at some point you get used to all the feedback sorry, if need sponsorship bye bye.

You are in London right? Should be a little bit easy.

What field you are in?

liew_jls mentioned most of the points already, but i'll list it down again in a different way as well. here are the reasons why it's difficult

1. Not every company can sponsor applicants. If the company is not in this list, they cannot sponsor you even if they wanted to: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/syste...of_Sponsors.pdf

2. Even if they can sponsor applicants, they have limited restricted sponsorship cerificates. They might have used up their quota or they want to save their quota for a more experienced candidate. They might not be willing to use a restricted sponsorship certificate for a fresh graduate

3. If you managed to get past the first 2 hurdles, you might get called for an interview. You then have to compete with so many other people in London looking for jobs. Without any impressive experience, skills and qualifications (or connections) it might be difficult to impress the interviewer

4. Assuming the interview was a success and the company wants to hire you, they can't do it immediately as they will have to conduct a resident labour market test and advertise in 2 different websites for at least a month. The company's decision to hire you might also be questioned and it would be difficult to explain why they can't hire a fresh graduate that is a UK/EU citizen or permanent resident unless you have a unique skillset/experience/qualifications

5. The company might not be able to get a valid certificate of sponsorship as there is a limit of 2000 certificates issued every month for the whole of UK. Some months the quota might be fully used. The higher the salary, the better the chances are so if the salary is low it is unlikely to get a valid certificate of sponsorship. you can see the details here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/...-of-sponsorship

6. Once you reached this stage, you can finally apply for your visa, and it can cost up to over £1000 for a long term visa

As you can see, it is very challenging and you probably need to have something special to stand a better chance. Normally that would be qualification, skills, experience or connections. If you are a fresh graduate, best is try to network with your friends from university who just entered the work force and maybe they can help to open some doors for you. Best of luck and remember that although it might be difficult, it is not impossible.

Thanks both for your reply, I actually did Law and now working in the banking industry. I am aware of the Restricted COS and Resident Labour Market Test - did went through all the necessity and research that's why I will look whether or not the company is on sponsors list before I apply for the job and I told the recruiter I am willing to do everything I can on my side to ease their hiring.

I am planning to go back to uni for Masters as a Tier 4 graduate next year, which does not subject to market test and it is on Unrestricted COS. However, what I am worrying is that at the end of the day even if I go for Masters it does not ultimately guarantee my employment as it is just easier for them to hire me and ultimately it still down to them whether or not want to sponsor me a Tier 2 visa. Mind share your thoughts?

Some one told me before it's not easy as well during the Labour time where Work Permit and PSW still available before get abolished by the Tory government, but still, effort has to be made but it is easier than now.

Yes I am based in London currently, but still despite being at the capital the HR arent that helpful and job market here is very very very competitive...what about you two?

This post has been edited by nivota: Oct 19 2017, 06:10 PM

Yup, like mystalyzer said, what you need is networking to increase your opportunity. Getting someone help you to get in company, is a good way. Talk to your senior or mentor and see whether they know anyone is looking to people. Also spread your cv to all over the country, if you are willing to relocate, stress out to the recruiter that you willing to relocate. Do not picky because it will limit your chances.

You need to be stay confident and able to give them know, you are worth the value and make a big difference if you are hired. Be positive and keep your hope, although things are quite difficult on top of the Brexit issue.

I was quite lucky really, i graduated few years back and got in to the similar situation like you. Applied a lot of the company, did manage few interviews and kept on turned down because of the working permit although at that time i still have 2 years post graduate visa. Got unemployed for few months, one day my senior came by and visit my housemate. We talked and he mentioned, his company was hiring. Then i tried my luck and got the job. Although it was bit stressful job and been there for 5-6 years. After went through all the pain with the home office for few rounds, got the ILR last year. Then next thing, moved on. LOL!

Also tidy up your LinkedIn profile and make sure your CV is interesting. Get someone review your cv for you. CV is the critical thing to impress with your skills. Next thing the company will only consider about the visa. Sometimes, if you able to impress the employeer, you will have a chance.

Good luck and all the best.

I'm a little bit confused. You mentioned that you are now working in the banking industry. Did you mean in Malaysia or London? London is extremely competitive. For every job opening, there are many qualified applicants.

Personally, I don't think masters will help. Labour time was easier as there is Tier 1 General and Tier 1 Post Study Work visa which is now unavailable. Also over the years UK attracted so many migrants from both EU and outside of EU that talent is now so readily available locally that most employers will hesitate to sponsor someone, unless that person has something special.

I was a bit lucky because one of my ex-manager was a British and invited me to work for him. I am not a fresh graduate but have been working in the industry for almost 10 years before moving to the UK, so it was not too difficult to justify that they need an expertise that cannot be sourced locally to pass the labour market test. You can see in both my case and liew_jls there is an element of "connection" and an element of "luck".

Btw @liew_jls congrats on your ILR! I still need to suffer for 2 more years . I also can't easily move jobs because I need sponsorship if I switch jobs. So I'm stuck, but at least I am grateful I still have a job.

What I meant as in my CV background both in Malaysia and in London is banking industry, yeah no doubt the element of luck and connection there for most of the people here

But let's just say I am not willing to give up until I get a Tier 2? You can say I am a very determined or stubborn person perhaps, its just two different perspective..

@mystalyzer, thanks. Hang in there, you will get there. I totally understand how frustrating and annoying, dealing with the home office and disappointing looking at all the job opportunities flying around you, but some company will do the Tier 2 transfer if they really like you. However the market is quite bad now, so not a good time to move on anyway. Oh ya, if you are planning to get your ILR next 2 years, you probably take your living in uk test asap. The more longer you wait, the more chapters you need to read and remember. Think about it and start planning.

@nivota, what mystalyzer and I are trying to say, networking is one option for you to secure a job for ppl like us. We shared our experiences and some advice to you, doesn't mean everyone will need to be like us. We are not encouraging you to take master course just to keep you in this country and master degree doesn't really help you much on your job hunting nowadays . Well, I might be wrong for law industry.

Of course you need to keep trying and stay positive, but just prepare for the worst case. Good luck.

Just found this thread...I'm in the UK for about 8 years now. From T4 to T2...

Welcome! where are you based at? London?

High Wycombe, yourself?


This post has been edited by tellmewhy: Oct 25 2017, 01:56 PM

I'm based in North West London. Been around for just 3 years in the UK

Colindale? They just opened a new foodhall and a Loon Fung supermarket there...should check it out!

Haha I guess we are both waiting for 2019 ilr... mine is on September

I'm based at Northwood, but might pay a visit there


Mine is in October 2019, but I'm starting to study for the Life in the UK Test. A lot of ground to cover

Cool, so what are you doing here then? Software developer?

yes. got transferred by my company over here. how about you? managed to get a job after graduating here? maybe you can share some tips with the TS

The transfer is much harder than T4 to T2 because you need to go through the RMLT.

Wow, you must be godlike in coding skills then. What sector are you in? I'm major in cloud BI analytics, focusing in AWS and Qlik

T4 to T2 dont need to go through RMLT, but all other category does, T4 Student Visa is the only exempted category from doing RMLT.

Not sure if I'm right but it seems like there are a lot of employers does not understand how the immigration law operates in UK, a lot of them just based on a general perception and hearsay from lawyers and consultants telling them that hiring a foreigner is hard, causing their reluctance...

Where there is a will there will be a way, perhaps all I need is meeting the right person and able to explain and convince them to bring me in...

I'm in the telcommunications field. Haha, very very far away from godlike coding skills. I was just extremely lucky I slipped through

Hi Nivota, I think the rules are a bit more complicated than that. If I am not mistaken the T4 to T2 RLMT exemption can be applied only if the candidate completes the course entirely in the UK or at least 1 year in the UK for PhD graduates. Which means people doing 2+1 or 1+2 or any of those sort of course are not exempted from RLMT.

So if you don't need to have the RLMT done, that's 1 less hurdle for you, but you need to be clear to the people that you talk to that although you need sponsorship, an RLMT is NOT required which is going to sound different from "I need a sponsorship".

I think regardless RMLT required or not does not really bothered with employers who willing to sponsor you in as they are most likely going to outsourced it to law firms to do anyway

If the employer has the will and determination to bring you in, they will bring you in regardless of whatever hurdle, if they are not willing to regardless how much obstacle you clear for them they would still not going to do that.

I have a friend who studied here and managed to get a Tier 2, the law firms nonetheless did a RMLT for employer as it would be a good reason for them to charge the employer more on the grounds of 'precautionary measure'

Feel like lawyers here are just consultants anyway, doing a lot of things that can be done by a layman, but most of the layman afraid of get in trouble they just willing to pay the lawyers in any way the lawyer told haha

This post has been edited by nivota: Oct 27 2017, 05:38 PM

The live in uk test is just like sejearah and pengajian am (if you took form 6 before). Practice all the demo test online, i think the questions are more the less the same. Mostly cover the common sense. Malaysian usually will pass. Hahaha..

I luckily booked and took the test 1 year-ish before i applied for the ILR. Because book the test took me ages (nightmare!) then i heard many years ago, the living in UK test book were only 50-60 pages and my times were about 140 pages. How many pages they are in now by the way?

Oh, I think now the the test will be tricky to book nowadays because the Brexit and EU ppl will need to take this test as well.

I found keep on doing the test online, it did help me a lot during the test. You guys can try it.

Good luck.

Helloo!

Firstly congrats on a job that pays £7,500 per month, you must be clearly doing something right...

In regards to your question it is totally dependent on where you live but if your income is £7,500 GBP per month you have a fair amount to live with and potentially save a portion of.

This income tax calculator Income tax calculator has calculated that you'll have £4,998 remaining after tax deductions. If you deduct the 2k expenses you'll have £2,998 remaining.

You could potentially save £1,500 every month, it totally depends on what type of lifestyle you want. £1,500 at 12 months per year equates to £18,000 per year in savings which is really a good amount!!

Hope this information has been helpful

This post has been edited by EvieG2017: Nov 13 2017, 03:41 AM

Just passed my life in the uk test. The demo test online helped a lot. The book is around 160 pages now.

How did you fulfill the English language requirement? Did you graduate from a UK university or did you take an english language test?

Wow £7500 is a nice salary It adds up to £90K yearly income, I think many of us dream of this sum. According to Income Tax website, you'll have around £5K net cash left after you pay tax, national insurance - if you'll pay pension and student loan as well, you'll have around £4,300 disposable income per month. If you'll spend £2K as you mentioned (I think you'll spend more, once the money starts flowing), you can save just above £2K, which is awesome

Excellent!! Well done. Wow, 160 pages, blimey! Anyway, make sure you keep the result safely! Don't lose it or anything happen to it. Because if you lose it or what, there's no replacement and you have to retake the test again. I was to careful until scan a copy of it. LOL!


Yes, graduated from Nottingham Trent university. I think if you did A-Level, you should be fine. But since you have Tier-2 Visa, you should have already meet the English language requirement.

Hi all,

I received an offer from broadhaven construction ltd in London. They are offering to sponsor my visa flight tix etc. Anyone have any experience like this before, mind to share ?

better check the company properly first I would say, better just give them a call yourself to confirm its not a spam if you got the job online. Due to Brexit uncertainty a lot of company are either gone into retrenchment or not hiring at the moment. Best of luck!

Hi.. Sy pon ada received offer from broadhaven construction ltd in London boleh whatsapp sy +6011 33392476

What job bro? Whats the process now? PM me some details, cuz I've some info too. Thanks! +6017-370-9290

Hi, did u accept the offer? Was it a legit company or a scam? Because I have also received an offer from them.

Hi what position was it for? i received an offer today from them. Is it genuine?

I have received offer letter from them

Get collegues from there checking Broadhaven Construction address & phone number. It is not legit.

Managed to get their asset report, company worth 1000 pound sterling. Their domain just registered about two months ago

High flagged as scammer. New one coming to malaysia i guess. Not much to google. But with some help from uk friend, i'm agree its total scam;D

And dayum i just registered in this forum just to warn u guys

Not sure if this thread is still active, but I have a few onsite interviews coming up in London.

I've done some surveys, but some points are still not clear to me.

1. Pension contribution. Is it true that if the salary is above 200k annually, there will be no pension rebates by the government? Do I still need to contribute to state pension funds or I can just invest the net income after tax anyway I want? And for withdrawals from investments, will it still be taxed if I don't put it in a pension fund? Meaning capital gains tax etc?

2. Other costs besides rental. If I were to rent a house, what other taxes and costs that I need to be aware of?

3. Cost of living for food and utilities. I've seen ranges from 3-4k/month for a family of 4. Is it really that high? What if we cook at home most of the time?

4. What's the cost of owning a vehicle there? Necessary? Or is Uber or taxi sufficient?

5. Early childcare costs like Montessori nursery for toddlers. I saw rates of 1k+/month. Is it really that expensive?

6. What other hidden costs that's likely to surprise Malaysians living there?

Hi guys, I just wanna know that will a fresh grad engineer be able to land a job in the UK?

Hello people. Im from Singapore and I applied for and have received a job offer from a Broadhaven Construction Ltd company based in the UK. Apparently I have been selected and I will start work in January 2020. I have also been given my contract via email this morning.

Can anyone advise me if this company and the job is legitimate?

I'm afraid it is not legit based on previous posts, would advise to give a call to the company and check with them nevertheless.

Hey guys, my gf is a brit and we're planning to get married soon. Currently 24 years old working in Singapore as an engineer. Graduated from a local private uni in Malaysia.

I'm thinking of looking for a job in the UK/England since after we get married I'm eligible for the spouse visa. With a self sponsored visa, would it be easier for me to look for an engineering job with estimated 2-3 years of experience?

This post has been edited by sawyeratjx: Feb 16 2020, 09:22 PM

yes and no

yes because employer do not need to worry about your right to work in the UK, hence if you have the right experience and match with what they are looking for, it shouldn't be a problem

no because UK economy is really bad in the past few years, and there are several construction and engineering companies that I know has collapsed, so good luck with that

Thanks for the reply! I've been looking on LinkedIn and I notice my field is quite booming in the UK ~ thousands of job postings. Though most of them have requirement of applicants eligibility to work in the UK.

Do we Chinese Malaysian get discriminated career wise in the UK?

it really depends on your luck (i.e. your boss)

most Londoners are fine, even if they really discriminate you they won't do it obviously and kept it in very subtle way, can't say the same thing for other parts of UK

Any chance for people who work in banking industry to get a job in the UK? I am not working in investment banks, but more like retail/business banking as a credit analysts.

I have heard people working as an auditor get a job in UK, but have not heard people from the banking industry got a job in UK.

Anyone mind sharing their thoughts?

Hi guys! Just wondering if we have like a Malaysian group for get-together or support in London?

I will be stationed in London starting this August. Haven't been there in almost 7 years. Any tips/help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Phillip! Just wondering what kind of industry/role that landed you a job in London?

I’m still actively looking for a job in the U.K. but luck is not on my side :-(

I'm currently in tech/cloud computing. Not sure if it helped but I did my degree in the UK as well, so maybe it is easier for me.

how did your job hunt go? any luck?
do you have any working rights in the UK?

how's your plans going? are you already in London and is it permanent or temporary?

hi all, does anyone know if we can withdraw pension if we are permanently leaving UK?

Hi guys - wondering if anyone that had migrated to UK recently can help me with this.

I landed a job in the UK recently. I plan to bring my family (3 dependents) along. My Visa will be paid by the employer, but for dependents, I have to pay for myself. May I know which is cheaper for Visa application purposes?

1. I went to settle there first and my dependents join me after?
2. We all went for visa processing together?

Tried reading through the gov.uk website and it seems that option #1 is cheaper. Just wondering if anyone can give insight.

How much combined income to maintain Malaysian standard of living as a family in UK?

Roughly speaking cost of living is same in pounds as in RM lah. Plate of food is between 10-30, price of petrol is 1.85, modest house is 250k. Cars bit cheaper cos less tax. But income tax banyak unless you are non dom. For family consider that public schools and healthcare paid through income tax are mostly ok depending on where you live so you don't have to pay for private if you don't want to. But also no maid lah cos only Russians can afford.

I think option 2 is cheaper, if you are aiming for ILR after 5 years.
The problem with option 1 is that after 5 years, you qualify for ILR but your dependents don't.
So if your dependents applied say 6 months later after you, you need to extend their visa first until they reach the 5 year mark

Unless the rules have changed, your dependants visa expires when your visa expires, and they don't automatically get ILR when you do.
So you need to consider that.

You may want to check https://www.immigrationboards.com/uk-skilled-worker-visas/

If not longer than 6 months, just a tourist visa is sufficient. If longer than that, the question is which visa are you eligible to apply for? You can check yourself at:
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

There's no visa for people who owns company overseas, even the Tier 1 Investor visa route has closed this year. Skilled worker visa is probably the easiest, but is dependent on having an eligible employer to sponsor you.

.

This post has been edited by Shinka: Sep 15 2022, 02:30 PM

Hi, there is no route for siblings to migrate even if your brother has ILR/citizenship. The most practical route is to get a job in UK with a company that can sponsor a visa. Either that or the education route. Those are the 2 most common route.

Ultimately if you want to move to UK, you would still need a job to support yourself.

You can use this link to check for available types of visa:
https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Is the median salary in UK or EU much lower compared to other countries? I was checking out for a project manager role and the range seems low even for big companies.

Currently working in malaysia as tech role (Cloud) for 6+ years
I keep on applying job in UK, right now i am using LinkedIn

Do you have any other recommendation?

This post has been edited by myroy: Mar 7 2023, 05:18 PM

I'm in cloud too. LinkedIn , Indeed.

What's your visa status in UK? Do you have need sponsorship?

Yes I need sponsorship

Most of the job position that i applied straight away rejecting me after knew i need a visa

Your best shot is applying for the large companies like Amazon on their website.

They do their interviews online, and they will sponsor your visa if you are successful