UK Immigration: Inspired by Vancouver Olympics to Work for London 2012?

Has watching the Vancouver Olympics inspired you to want to work for London 2012? They’re on a hiring spree right now and will be for the next couple years as they ramp up for the games in London in August of 2012.

If they hope to fill all their open positions, they’ll need to recruit from abroad. So, I shot them an e-mail and asked them what their policy was on sponsoring qualified Americans for a UK Points System Tier 2 Visa.

This was their response:

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, there is no short answer to your query – however, you should find the following useful:

VISAS

• British and EEA (and Swiss) Passport holders are eligible to work in the UK
• If you are Canadian or from a Commonwealth country e.g. Australian and have a Grandparent who was born in the UK, individual can apply for an Ancestry visa and qualify for UK working
• If you are Canadian and qualify for the Youth Mobility Visa, this is only valid for a maximum of 2 years and you cannot then switch to another UK immigration permission on an in-country basis. Therefore, this type of visa would only work for a 2 year time-frame, e.g. 2011 and 2012.
• In order for LOCOG to sponsor you to obtain a visa (points-based visa schemes), we need to satisfy a number of criteria to obtain the required number of points: e,g, satisfy the resident labour market test (e.g. prove we have advertised a role within the UK) and justify why we want to appoint someone who is not a British or EEA passport holder due to the specialised nature of the role requirements, minimum salary requirements, qualifications and knowledge of English language.

For further information visit the UK Border Agency’s website: http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/

Thanks,

HR & Recruitment team

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd
One Churchill Place, 22nd Floor
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LN
www.london2012.com

So, essentially, they are open to sponsoring someone qualified for a certain position. However, they have to make sure there is no one in the UK who can do the job first. That means there’s a chance – a lot of the positions they’re looking to fill are very specific so the UK job market may not have someone suitable.

If you fancy giving it a go, check out the current London 2012 job openings here.

Good luck!