So if you’ve had any sort of conversation with me in the last 2 months, you probably would’ve heard me excitedly talking about buying a much-needed new computer. My current computer is over 4 years old with a failed logic board, superdrive, and a mostly-dead battery. Only this past February I had to frantically replace the Hard Drive Disk that failed before I lost all my data. I made it just in time. Pretty crazy, huh?
So why is it then that the picture above features a canceled order? I would love to be able to edit videos with ease again and maybe play a video game or two, but as I quickly approach the judgement day that is January 31st, I need to think for the long-game. At this time in my life, I simply can’t risk spending the money on something that though would make my life 1000 times easier, because I need to keep that money safe just in case. It’s really all I’ve got. Come mid-December, I’ll come off my last month at my current job with a net gain of £400 for the month, but after then it’ll be a mad rush to find an employer to sponsor me to stay in the country while my money dwindles away.
I was offered sponsorship 2 months ago by a company that currently is not able to offer sponsorship. The CEO informed me that they have never sponsored anyone, but would be willing to do it for me. Now, this would be such a Godsend if not honestly for the sheer time constraint placed upon me. Due to the nature of the situation, the company in question would have to apply for a sponsor license which not only costs £1545, but also takes about 4 weeks to process. Fun part about having a UK visa is that you cannot apply to stay in the country after the date on your current visa expires.
That’s it.
Time’s up.
So given that in mid-December, I finish my current job and open talks with this other company (who wanted to have me on by mid-January), I would need them to compile such an exhaustive list of company documents, and hopefully pass all the little tests the UKBA officer has for them within 1 week, and then apply for sponsorship through them also within 1 week. Talk about asking a lot of your employers, right?
What if this company feels that all this visa work is too much of a hassle? Well then, I have to pray a Class A sponsor employer just pops up in front of my face with a skilled job I can have. Even another barrier I have is that the job needs to be ranked NQF level 6 which essentially means VERY skilled essentially requiring Master’s Degree level education to do. Like WHOAH.
So that’s a look into my stress-filled head as I look at the 2 months and 4 days I definitely have left in this country and start to squirm. Thanks for reading this. If you’re in a similar situation, my thoughts go out to you. It’s a scary world out there for an American living in the UK.
