VISA Breakfast 2018
A breakfast seminar hosted by Liverpool School of Architecture to help support graduating international students move into UK employment by addressing potential employers about visa options and helping break some myths surrounding them.
Speakers
Justin Richardson - UoL careers service
Chris Fawn - International Students' Adviser Student Welfare Advice and Guidance
Siyu Wang – 2017 graduate and Part one employee of Falconer Chester Hall architects Liverpool
Conception and host Sandy Britton RIBA
Supported by School of the Arts
This year from our Part One Architecture undergraduate programme we will have around 200 Architecture graduates with many being high performers achieving 2.1 or 1st class BA honours degrees. Over half of our graduates are International students, primarily coming from our partner institution XJTLU* in China. A majority of these students choose to move straight into further education, often in London, Europe or America. This is because the route to becoming an Architect in China is slightly different. As a result we lose the potential of this talent from our practices and our locality. The potential from students who already have a global perspective and speak at least two languages fluently. Some of these talented students however would like to remain in North West or in the wider UK and enter a year out but often face difficulty where practices can be worried about taking on an international student due to practicalities over VISAs and/or sponsorship.
The initiative of the breakfast seminar is to inform and allay such fears for architects and practices who may in the near or more distant future be considering working with international graduates.
Practical advice was offered from our International Support team and we heard directly from Year Out graduate Siyu Wang, currently working at Falconer Chester Hall Architects in Liverpool. Advice was also available for students wishing to work abroad, the event ending with a Question and Answer session.
*XJTLU
In September 2004, the University of Liverpool and Xi'an Jiaotong University agreed to establish a new autonomous institution, the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. XJTLU was officially approved by the Ministry of Education and established on 22nd May 2006. After an initial intake of just 164 students, the university has grown rapidly to over 7,400 students on campus. XJTLU is the largest international collaborative university in China.