If you want to move to the UK, you need a visa. It’s not just one thing to know about wanting to move to the UK, it’s THE most important thing that separates a 6 month visit from actually living there. And not unlike the USA, securing a visa in the UK is not as easy as it used to be. It takes a lot of due diligence, perseverance, and patience. The path most Americans take to move to the UK is securing a visa sponsored job as a skilled worker. So, how do you find one? LinkedIn with “visa” in the keyword search is a start.
Full disclaimer. I’m not an immigration lawyer, employer, recruiter, or have experienced personally securing a visa sponsored job. I’ve been fortunate enough to secure a UK Visa as a result of my husband’s profession, but never on my own. Having said that though, I have knowledge of others’ experiences (especially with readers from this blog) and learnings from my global career. Combined, I’ve found a few gems along the way as useful tips for a visa sponsored job search.
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Companies That Sponsor Visas
First and foremost, if you’re focused on a specific industry or willing to play the long game, list out the companies with offices in the UK you’re seeking to work at most. I have a whole page of brainstormed companies in the job section of the Moving To England Workbook if you need a place to start.
Dig in to see if there is history with the employer sponsoring visas. If there is none, move on to another.
You can find employers that sponsored US Visas in H1B databases. This will at least suggest whether or not the company supports skilled workers from another country.
For example, Facebook was a top Visa sponsored employer in the US in 2022 and has UK offices. One might think then that the culture is open to hiring the best for skilled jobs from anywhere in the world. Hence, I’d add Facebook to my UK visa job search.
Although these US databases like (Myvisajobs.com, HIBdata.info, and visadoor) don’t provide UK specific job data, they may lend suggestions to other US employers for where to look.
Sidenote: Don’t let the US H1B visa sponsorship stats (corporate giants & IT heavy) suggest there’s zero hope for you finding a visa sponsored job in the UK doing something other than tech. I know plenty of people who’ve landed jobs with visa sponsorship in the UK with companies I’ve heard of and many I haven’t. Marketing, printing, electric battery manufacturing, and retail buying are just a few skill-related jobs where employers sponsored the visa to work and live in the UK.
Read American Companies With Offices In The UK to kick-start your company brainstorm and expat job search.
Visa Sponsored Jobs UK on LinkedIn
I’m a LinkedIn fan but must admit that it would make it a whole lot easier for job seekers if they would add a filter for “visa sponsorship”. Even with that filter limitation, LinkedIn is my go-to for seeing what visa sponsored jobs are in the marketplace and the companies behind them.
LinkedIn fan or not, it’s absolutely imperative to have a profile. And a darn good one, too.
The first step is passing your future potential employers’ first impression, so at a minimum, you need to:
- Have a complete LinkedIn profile
- Include a catchy but brief headline with your professional profile pic
- Use keywords throughout the various input fields that reflect the industry or job you’re seeking
- In About, specifically include that you’re open to moving to the UK
- Set “open to work” in job preferences
- Add the United Kingdom as a job location (make the location as specific or broad as you want; ie London vs United Kingdom)
- Have several Recommendations
- Have skills endorsed
How To Search for Visa Sponsored Jobs on LinkedIn
Go to the Jobs section on either web or the LinkedIn app. The Jobs icon looks like a briefcase. You do not need LinkedIn Premium to search for jobs or save alerts – a normal LinkedIn non-paying account is fine.
In the search field Include “+ visa sponsorship”. For example, if I’m interested in a product manager role, the search field will include “product manager + visa sponsorship”. If you want to see every job listing in the UK with visa sponsorship, search “visa sponsorship”.
Include “visa sponsorship” search terms for a job search in the UK on LinkedIn
The only issue with this search is that the results will include postings that explicitly include language that mentions “no visa sponsorship”. You need to read through the listings to confirm if visa sponsorship is supported or not.
Then save the “+ visa sponsorship” search by setting an alert. This will simplify your daily check for new job postings. If you do not set an alert, you can also find your last search under Recent Searches within the Jobs page.
Find Recent searches in Jobs at the top of the page on the LinkedIn app
Once you find companies of interest that offer visa sponsorship, follow them. Apply immediately if it meets your job interests and you meet the qualifications. Check your connections and leverage your network.
Email staff at that company to help get on a short-list for this job or future job openings. And even better, use your network to make a connection. Your network is the most powerful tool you have so continuously build out your network.
UK Websites With Visa Sponsored Jobs
Beyond LinkedIn there are other websites to use to find a visa sponsored job. In fact, bookmark these links where I’ve saved “visa sponsored” jobs for you:
UK LinkedIn – Yes! There’s a different LinkedIn URL for the UK. While it’s likely to find the same job postings on both the US and UK LinkedIn sites, it doesn’t hurt to check both.
UK Visa Jobs – This is a fairly new platform dedicated to people purely seeking a visa sponsored job. Every job posted can be sponsored. Employers range from extremely familiar (ie KPMG) to lesser-known names (ie THG). There is a subscription fee to use the platform and it’s cheaper than a monthly Starbucks latte!
Final Tip On Visa Sponsored Jobs UK
Most avenues to find a job are through the job-specific websites listed in this post and leveraging your network.
But another way to perform a search is by using VPN. Set your laptop or device to the UK and search for a visa sponsored job as though you’re actually searching from the UK. If you’re not sure how to do this or which VPN to use, read How To Access Blocked USA Websites.
Using VPN could potentially expose a listing on an employer’s website not listed on a third-party job site. VPN also gives you exposure to other companies of interest you might want to target that don’t appear in a US Google based search. Bottom line, VPN lets you search for employers and visa sponsored jobs as though you are in the country, which puts you on the same playing field as someone who already lives in the UK searching for the same job too (ex. Graduate student attending uni in the UK seeking to roll into employment with visa sponsorship.)
Lastly, to find out if the kind of job you’re seeking can be offered with Visa sponsorship in the UK, refer to job suitability. Gov.UK explains everything an employer needs to know for whether or not a job listing is suitable for sponsorship and the steps of doing so.
Was this helpful? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments.
4 comments
i need to work in uk with visa sponsorship
Hi there! Use the steps suggested in this post to set up a job alert. And I’d check daily for new postings on the sites mentioned above. Good luck!
Good morning over here, am CHIORI CHIORI INYAMA by name, please I will like the organization to put me through on how to travel to Canada or any part of the world through Visa Sponsorship, thanks
Hi Chiori Chiori. You can set up Linked alerts by following the same steps using the CA version of LinkedIn. You can also hone in your Visa sponsored job search by setting VPN local to the country you’re interested in moving to. Hope that helps!