POST-STUDY WORK OPPORTUNITIES AND
VISAS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, UK, CANADA,
IRELAND, USA AND SINGAPORE
Many international students wish to
continue to work in the country of their education, many-a-times only for a
brief period of time before returning to their home country. Since a student
visa is only valid till the duration of the course, it is practically illegal
for a student to stay any longer. In case the graduate wishes to work, they
then need to apply for a post-study work visa. Each country has its own set of
rules regarding this, and immigration rules are getting stricter with each
passing year. Thus, it is essential for students to stay updated on the rules
and regulations of the visa application process of each country.
2017 and 2018 had an abrupt rise in the
number of Indian, as well as other international, students in Australia making
it one of the hottest spots presently.
Australian Prime Minister had recently
announced (2017) a new section – subclass 485 – for international
students to stay and work in Australia. This is a temporary graduate visa with
two streams: A graduate work stream and a post study work stream, for both of
which prior work experience is mandatory.
A Graduate Work Stream Visa is for international
students with qualifications and skills and can last up to 18 months.
Post Study Work Stream includes international students with advanced qualifications and
skill set, such as MRes and Ph.D., which permits a stay of four years.
However, there are slight mismatches based
on the field of study one has opted for. While fields of Actuarial Science, Agricultural Science,
Biomedical Engineering
Computer Science, Systems & Networking, Mechanical Engineering, Civil
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications etc. are flourishing
and accepting, fields like Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Food Technology,
Business Studies seem a little grim for international students hoping for
a visa in Australia.
It is often a good idea to be very careful
opting the subject and country beforehand accordingly, there may not be an easy
way out once in there already.
New Zealand, although magnificent, is a
small country which intuitively makes finding jobs a little more difficult. If
that wasn’t much of a problem, know that New Zealand has been tightening its
student visa rules lately, making staying in New Zealand all the more
difficult.
Regardless of such strict measures, it
continues to grant visas to genuinely meritorious, talented and hard-working
individuals. It provides a stay back opportunity of 12 months in search of a job,
which is then extended to 2 years after having been admitted to an organisation
as an employee.
International undergraduate students have
ranked the UK above the US, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand; making the
second most popular study destination. It also offers a wide range of job
opportunities with few limitations.
Any non-EU citizen would need a valid visa
to stay in UK. There are primarily three visa types for students to apply to:
1.
Tier 4 Doctorate Extension
stream – for students having nearly completed their
PhDs and provides a 12-month window to work, find a job or set up a business.
A sponsorship is mandatory
from respective universities that then issues a CAS. An application must be
submitted 60 days prior to receiving a final approval to their degrees.
2.
Tier 2 General – for students admitted into jobs and is directly linked to a
specific job and employer. It is also the main immigration route to UK, where a
sponsorship is mandatory by the employer.
This visa lasts a duration
of 5 years and can be directly upgraded from your existing tier 4 visa. To
obtain this visa, a COS needs to be submitted by the employer (must at least be
a Tier 2 holder) where the job must meet certain requirements including a
minimum wage.
3.
Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur – for students seeking to set up a business after their education.
It is essential to have a genuine and credible business idea prior to applying
for this visa.
The visa provides the
student with a time frame of 12 months with the possibility of an extension for
another 12 months, where the student must meet certain requirements including
maintenance, and be endorsed by their university. A minimum of a BA degree or
an equivalent is also mandatory.
Canada has not seen any significant or
massive changes in its immigration policies for quite some time, where
graduates can apply for the Post Graduation Work Permit Program or the
PUGWP. The PUGWP allows all international students having graduated from a
recognized Canadian university to work in the country.
This post-study work stream allows the
graduates with a maximum stay of 3 years, which provides these graduates with
the opportunity of gaining enough experience to be eligible for permanent
residence in Canada through Express Entry.
The Irish post-study work visa is segmented
into two- one for graduates and one for undergraduates. The core difference
between the two is that an undergraduate is provided with a time frame of 12
months whereas a post graduate is provided a time frame of 24 months.
Employment generally doesn’t become a
problem here since Irish degrees largely focus on catering to an industry such
as the IT, telecommunication, pharmaceutical, applied sciences, and finance
sectors generate immense opportunities.
USA
The USA stands to be the most popular
choice for international education, including Indian students. However, the
political and social issues rising in the country, the growth in hate crimes
and fall in security are also making people rethink and concerning many others.
Although the US reaps benefits of its reputation as global beacon for
education, research and innovation, no one knows for how long.
The immigration policies have recently been
revised in America but international students largely remain unaffected.
Ideally, an OPT should begin 60 days prior to the student’s graduation,
wherein he/she should get a job within 90 days after the beginning of OPT. The
US visa allows most graduate students a period of 12 months, whereas STEM
students are granted a total of 29 months after having obtained their degrees.
Once an OPT expires, the next application
must be for an H1B visa, which becomes a route to immigration to USA.
Interestingly enough, in the fiscal year of 2015, Indians were granted 69.4% of
all H1B visas granted in the USA.
SINGAPORE
The best path to getting your hands on a
post-study work visa in Singapore is to gain hands-on experience with the
tie-ups and links of the institution via internships during the process of
education itself.
After graduating, international students
first need to apply for a Visit Pass lasting 12 months that grants them
time to look for a job. Once a person has been recruited, they need to apply
for an Employment Pass.
Employment opportunities are not equally
distributed in Singapore, where ICT, Finance and Hospitality see growing
opportunities while Indian IT Professionals are seeing a grim path of their
visas being blocked.
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