This may interest you if you are schooling in the UK or you plan to school in the UK or you are the husband, wife, or partner of the person schooling or planning to school in the UK.

Why was the tier 2 visa introduced?
The UK tier 2 visa was introduced to avail UK employers with the opportunity to employee from outside the UK resident workforce to fill particular jobs which cannot be filled by settled workers. The visa is usually for 2 or 3 years. Every year, there are over 20,000 of this type of visa available. However, international students in the UK switching from tier 4 to tier 2 visa category are not limited by this number of available annual tier 2 visas.
This article only covers how tier 4 visa holders can switch or benefit from switching to the tier 2 general visa category.

Who can apply for this visa?
Ideally, you will be able to switch from student visa (tier 4) to a tier 2 (general) visa if you have completed:
a UK bachelors degree
a UK masters degree
a UK postgraduate certificate in education
a professional graduate diploma of education

You may also be able to switch if you are:
any other type of student including: student nurse, student re-sitting an examination, overseas qualified nurse, postgraduate doctor or dentist, student union sabbatical officer or a PhD student.

You are also qualified to switch to tier 2 general visa, if you are a dependant partner (wife, husband, etc) of someone with a tier 4 visa.
I have often had students asked me if people really get this visa? Most times I laugh before answering with this line “the fact that you and I don’t get much money does not mean some people are not getting too much of it”. If that is the case, the question I expect interested person to ask is what do I need to apply for this visa?

The answer to this question is why people give up without giving it a try. Unlike the tier 4 student visa where the visa application requirements depend on you, your money, and an avalanche of ever willing to admit UK Universities; tier 2 general visa application requirements depend more on a number of willing but hand-tied UK employers than it depends on you. That is, an employer who has a tier 2 sponsorship certificate will have to offer you an employment at a right skill level and be willing to pay you at least £20,800 per annum.

Very complex? Well, fairly complex! Personally, I prefer it when whatever I am up to is squarely up to me and I am sure most people are like that. The good news is that we are all born with a will power and that is what we have taped into to get to where we are today.

I am done with sermonising and getting into the real details now.


1. What qualifies me for the tier 2 general visa application?
You need to score 50 points in a point based application system. 30 points for getting the right job offer, 10 points for passing the English language requirement and 10 points for having maintenance fund (£940) in your account for 90 consecutive days.
If you schooled in the UK, the English language requirement is a work over for you. Also, keeping an account balance of £945 for 90 days is achievable, leaving you with finding the employment.

2. Where do I find the employment?
The UKBA has a list of certificated tier 2 sponsors on its website. There are several of them. You will need to download this list and work with it. Naturally, you don’t need to waste your time applying to any company that is not on the list. Also, if you are applying for job through recruitment agencies, they are very quick to indicate whether their client will be sponsoring for tier 2 or not, take note of this so as not to waste your time with employers that can not help you.

3. But why will an employer decide to employ me in lieu of UK/EU citizen?
UK has a list of skills on the UK shortage occupation list. That means they don’t have enough people with these types of skills. How about if your skill is on such list? Another thing, some employers are happy to work with non UK/EU immigrants because they’ve tried us and they know that we work hard perhaps harder and certainly with lower pay. (Think about an average African football player in the premiership league; compare his salary to that of a British player on a similar skill level).

4. Who am I competing against?
Each time you see a vacancy with a declared tier 2 sponsorship possibilities, you are competing with mainly Africans and Asians assuming no UK and EU candidate was found suitable in the first instance. Now that is huge competition considering that there are more Chinese and Indians schooling in the UK than Nigerians.

5. What is the advantage of this visa?
The main advantage is being able to gain experience in your field of study. Any experience you gained in the UK is an international experience when you get back to your country. Beyond this, it can also help you to position your career for growth if hired by a big company. Lastly, it will avail you the opportunity of not going back to your country broke.

This article is getting too long and I am not done yet. You need to know about some of the employers that you stand some chances with, you need to know what skills they are looking for and you will need to know how to progress from there. I will have to do a second part next week, please do bear with me.


What you need to know about the UK Tier 2 (General) Visa - See more at: http://www.bridgecrown.com/blog/13-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-uk-tier-2-general-visa#sthash.MStAU9VR.dpuf

nice post but this isn't valid anymore

ALL TIER 4 and any other foreign students must now GERRA RA THERE after their study.

They have clamped down on all of that. So the new question is ''What companies can provide you with TIER 2 Visa for a fee''

Please house, I need to get an information from your experiences. I have a date of birth error on my international passport and marriage certificate. I later found out about my real age from a copy of my birth certificate and I have effected the changes on my international passport and marriage certificate.
I want to apply for a tier 2 uk visa with my family. Do I need to explain the errors and the effected changes in the visa application? Thank you in anticipation of your responses.