Employing international students on placements.

Are you thinking of offering an opportunity to an overseas student to work in your organisation? There are many enthusiastic students around the world who would love to come to the UK to gain experience of our working environments and see the addition of a UK based placement on their CV as a major advantage in the job market at home. 

However, it isn't quite as simple as putting an advert on a recruitment website or advertising in a student newspaper abroad; there are many issues that need considering before you take that step to offer work to an international student.

The rules and regulations governing work permits and visas are complex and if in any doubt at all, you should get advice from suitably qualified experts or directly from the government departments concerned:

• The Home Office - Border & Immigration Agency.
• UK Visas
• Working in the UK.

For the latest guidelines on student internships, download the Student internship guidance notes issued by the Home Office's Border and Immigration Agency.

• Approval will be given for a maximum of 3 months, and normally for full time internships only.
• Work permits are required for students from all countries outside the EEA whose citizens would normally need permission to work here.
• Students from some of the new EU accession member states (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) will be required to register under the Worker Registration Scheme within 1 month of starting work here. 
• Bulgarian and Romanian students will require authorisation and a worker accession card before commencing an internship in the UK.  For more information see Working in the UK
• Work permits are issued for individual named students and specific roles and are not transferable between individuals, jobs or companies.
• You should be considering recruiting the student as a trainee or similar on completion of their course, subject to their meeting immigration and work permit requirements.
• Permission will only be granted for one internship per student and for organisations with a significant trading presence in the UK and another country/countries overseas.
• You must be planning to pay the student at the normal trainee rate for your profession/sector and at least the minimum wage; plus the work must meet the Working Time Regulations.
• You will be expected to operate PAYE and class one national insurance contributions.
• Applications must be made on a Work Permit Application for Student Internship (WPSI) form and accompanied by a copy of the internship programme.  WPSI application forms are available to downlaod from the Working in the UK website or by 'phoning 0117 344 1471 during office hours.
• Applications for Student Internship work permits cost £190 for each one.
• You should apply no more than 6 months in advance of the proposed starting date if the student is living outside the UK.

In addition to a work permit, some students will need an entry visa. There is a questionnaire on the UK Visas that advises applicants if they need a visa or not, according to their status and reasons for wishing to come to the UK.

Students requiring a visa or any other form of entry clearance must apply to the nearest British diplomatic post in their own country within 6 months of being issued with their work permit (which is valid for 6 months from the date of issue). Having a work permit does not guarantee the issue of an entry visa. In some instances, the student may also need an exit visa to be allowed to leave their own country.

There is a Home Office customer contact centre for enquiries about work permits:

Tel: 0114 207 4074

Fax: 0114 207 4000

Email: wpcustomers@ind.homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Current sensitivity to security issues may be discouraging you from considering employing an international student. Government departments are continually monitoring the situation here and overseas to ensure that the necessary precautions are being taken to ensure that national security is not compromised by any category of person coming in to the UK to work or study.

For example, there has recently been a new scheme introduced Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) for intending postgraduate students in technology subjects requiring them to get special entry clearance to attend their course.

As part of the routine entry clearance process for everyone coming to the UK, for whatever purpose, security vetting has been incorporated for some time now. So this should not really be a major concern or prevent you from offering an opportunity to an overseas student for a work placement.

For information about other longer term employment schemes, such as the International Graduates Scheme (IGS) and Training and Work Experience Scheme (TWES), the Home Office's Working in the UK website covers both in detail.

There are organisations that facilitate the provision of work experience for overseas students so it may well be worth using the services of one of these to help you fill your placements:

International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE)  is administered in the UK by the British Council and sets up placements for undergraduates and recent graduates from over 80 different countries worldwide according to individual company requirements. Their primary focus is on scientists, engineers and architects and they help with the process of securing work permits, visas and accommodation for the students, in addition to organising a cultural and social programme for them too. Best of all their services are free, on the understanding that you the employer pay your students a salary at least equivalent to the minimum wage.

IAESTE can also help you to bring a student you have already identified for a placement into the UK for a fee:

£150.00 + VAT per undergraduate science/engineering student or

£375.00 +VAT for a postgraduate or economics/business studies student.

(This service excludes finding accommodation)

Further important considerations for employers planning to offer work experience opportunities to international students are the safety, health and wellbeing of their recruits when they do arrive in the UK.

Not just an issue of where they might live, you should also take into consideration their medical or dental needs (they will have no recourse to the NHS), keeping safe in an unfamiliar environment and social interaction with other staff in your organisation or students similarly employed elsewhere.

Safety First is a personal safety guide for international students, this guide is a valuable resource to help students prepare for their stay in the UK.  The guide is available for download from the British Council.

If your organisation is based in the London area, find out (from their international office) if the university where your intern student is studying has any collaborative study schemes with any UK university. If that UK university is a member of the International Students House, your intern will automatically be a member of it too and have full access to a range of facilities, social events and other support whilst they are here.

Also, international students you employ temporarily can often tap into support services within UK Universities (e.g. international student support services and careers services etc) particularly when collaboration exists between a UK and your student's overseas institution.

Author: Margaret Holbrough

Dec 07