Working in UK

[Jordo]

The pound keeps rising and rising, so I almost cant pass up the opportunity of making some nice dough and a few Questions came up.

1. If you have any clue,How do you go about getting a Working Visa,How long do they last,and what are the chances Of getting one

2.How much money could I stand to earn working part time at a Pub or a Realitivly low end job.EI what is the Min. Wage and all

Thanks for all your helps guys!

[WillTravel]

Not sure how you go about getting a visa, but two things might make it easier from what I've read:

1) living in a Commonwealth country
2) having British ancestry - particularly if a grandparent was British

Not sure about the minimum wage, but it's not that great. It would help you stretch out your trip of course.

[rookie]

Americans get the short end of the stick when it comes to working abroad. However, you're still a student so you should have no problem working in the UK if you wanted to. You can apply for a working holiday visa through BUNAC: www.bunac.com/USA/

They last for 6 months, but I think you can re-apply for one more term. You'd have to check up on that though. You won't earn much working at a pub/restaurant/hostel, but you should have enough to sustain your stay. And because the pound is so strong, you can either travel continental Europe for relatively cheap, or save up and bring it home! You should get at least 4.50 pounds/hour.

Or you could join the club and become a Canadian citizen, thereby making the visa process easier (you can apply independently without BUNAC or SWAP), and you can also stay for 2 years! ;D

Good luck

[Jordo]

Ok well I have a few Questions about that Rookie,So I can just Apply for canadian citizenship out of the blue for no reason other then using it as a Stepping stone to possibly getting citizineship of another country or for working abroad?

I have to say Im Very intrested in getting Citizenship in the UK but Im pretty sure I wont be able to get it,1 because I hear its just hard to get it and 2 the US government, I think dosnt allow native citizines to pledge allegiance to another country under pentily of loosing their US citizineship so I dont know what to do.

Iv always wanted to live abroad for an extended period of time and not really sure How I could start to work on that goal. If you have any more help Id love to hear it! Thanks a ton

Jordo

[rookie]

Well I was just kidding about the Canadian citizenship thing, haha. Sorry but I couldn't offer you any info in that regard. But like I said since you're still a student, you have options to work in the UK. Going back to your first post, I found an old SWAP (Canadian version of BUNAC) brochure lying in my place. The average SWAP participant found work within 4 working days, and made 4.60 pounds in the restaurant/tourist industry. It should be the same with any American legally licensed to work in Britain.

Another alternative would be to work "under the table" without proper documents. These jobs can usually be found in places with a lot of tourists, like hostels and pubs. Of course, there are drawbacks to that, such as your employer refusing to pay, etc..

[Jordo]

Lol I knew you were kidding . Ok well thanks for all the help I think I need to start looking around and see what i can find! Thanks again!

Jordo

[MuvverRussia]

If you want to work abroad and you're an undergrad student then you could always try and contact AIESEC (http://www.us.aiesec.org/ or http://www.uk.aiesec.org). It's an educational charity that seeks to promote cultural diversity through exchange (i.e. paid work placements after graduation with companies such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Kraft foods etc). There aren't any visa issues if you were to take this option either as AIESEC sorts it all out- we're actually registered with the UK govt to process work permits on behalf of work permits UK.

If you wanted to work when on the road, then for US citizens it's hard. You'll need a work permit, the correct visa (not a tourist visa- working with a tourist visa is actually a breach of your visa conditions and may lead to deportation) and also proof of a permanent residence in the UK (the majority of jobs require this, I'm not sure if it's a legal requirement though). On top of this, there may be tax and national insurance issues. Personally, I don't like your chances of finding work like this, most jobs like this in London tend to be filled by students or antipodeans (sorry for the stereotype, but it is often true).

I do not recommend working illegally in the UK. This is because you wouldn't have any employment rights and also the repercussions of being caught just aren't worth the risk.

If you really want to work in the UK it might be an idea to work out a more detailed plan and possibly leave it until after graduation. You can then get a decent job with a realistic wage and see the UK and Europe. On top of that, if you do it right it'll count towards UK residency, meaning that you could become a permanent resident of the UK without losing your US citizenship.

[Kim]

Great to have a UK citizens opinion on this, thanks Chris.

I hate the thought that anyone thinks it's possible to go to Europe and make money to travel while over there without a visa. While you may get lucky, I think it's setting yourself for major disappointment.

I had friends do this after we graduated - thinking they would work their way through Europe. They said they'd be gone for about a year and were home in 3 weeks with their tails between their legs as they ran out of money.

I always recommend going banking on the fact that you will not find work - ie have enough money to last you for your trip. Then if you do stumble upon a job, you can use it to extend your trip for even longer.

Kim

[rookie]

Haha, I love that story Kim! But I thought they were home in two weeks.. ;D I'd like to e-mail you later, maybe you wouldn't mind giving me the details, because on the other end of the spectrum I know people that have easily secured jobs under the table. I would just like to know what not to do.

[Kim]

Actually, they got their parents to wire them money after two weeks and that lasted one more week so they made it to three weeks! ;D

I don't know many details beside that they tried to work everywhere and without a visa it was a nightmare. No one wants to take on someone when they could get in trouble for hiring that person, not when there is a ton of other (legal) people waiting for a job.

A friends brother and his girlfriend got back not too long ago and they worked in a bunch of places in the UK, but they had a visa. That said, the places they worked in were far from everything and they were working 6 days a week so during those times didn't get to see anything.

[Julie]

I am a University student and I got a work permit through ciee.org. I don't believe the UK was an option, I got one for Ireland. If you are a university student, or within six months applying after graduation, you can apply for some of their programs. It only took them 3 weeks to process my application.