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Sanwar Ali of Workpermit.com recently addressed students of Spain's IESE, a business school which is currently on the list of MBA programmes of the UK's Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) MBA provision. Ali updated students on the changes made by the UK government on 12 April 2005 to the HSMP scheme, touching on the recent immigration debate in the UK.
"If you believe what the main political parties in the UK say, HSMP does not appear to exist," Ali told students. "The Conservative Party Opposition says they want an 'Australian Style' points system. The Labour Government has brought our a five year plan. HSMP has hardly been mentioned in the media.
Although students who have completed an MBA at the IESE would be eligible to work in the UK for up to one year under the HSMP, Ali said that is not necessarily the best option.
If you have an employer who needs to employ you quickly in the UK, he said, it may be best to consider the work permit scheme. If the job is on the work permit shortage list or the employer already meets the advertising requirements you may be able to gain a work permit within one week.
Ali added that the processing of HSMP applications has been taking many months. The Government has announced recently that they hope to reduce the processing time to one to two months. However, it remains to be seen whether this actually happens, he said.
