International Student Advisors 4U

henry57 · Oct 6, 2008

I agree with Sharrie, not sure where all the other information has gone on this thread, but NVQ's are not worth while for nurses. However Degrees are, in particular if it will allow you to study and work in the UK for up to 4 years. Here is the link you need to see that the information being given about restrictions in hours of work are wrong, just look up the facts from the UK Borders Agency it spelt out very clearly.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf5students#Q13

Can I work?

You can take part-time or holiday work, but you must not:

work for more than 20 hours a week during term time unless your placement is part of your studies, has been agreed with your educational institution and leads to a degree or qualification awarded by a nationally recognised examining body

Marconiusantonius, I wish you luck, you have a visa and whether on a NVQ course or a Degree course you can legally work more than 20 hours, 30 or 40 if you want to and don't allow anyone to tell you differently as long as it meets the above requirements. By the way the minimum wage is now £5.73 from 1/10/08, not £5.52.

ennairam · Nov 6, 2008

Hello there! I'm glad I was able to read through this forum. My friends and I have been visiting some agencies lately here in our city in the Phils that assists in acquiring UK student visas and to enter a program exactly like what ISA is offering. Of course, the prospect of going to the UK for study as well as to earn gets us all excited. Actually,some of my friends have started to process already, and they're are already RNs and NCLEX and IELTS passers, but they're a bit frustrated from waiting for their US visas to arrive so they've decided to enter this study-work program.

I've had my doubts about it, though, while we were attending orientation. They practically guaranteed that after finishing the NVQ3 & 4 for nursing grads that we will be able to practice as a nurse at an international level. Is that true? Will that be enough for us to apply as a registered nurse in the UK or some other country (regardless of whether there is a shortage or not in the UK)? Will the Nurses & Midwifery Council of the UK allow us to register as a nurse after finishing that BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care?

Sorry for this really long question. It's just that this is really bothering me and I'm just cautious about these things. I hope someone can give me some info on this. Thanks a lot for the insight you've shared in this forum!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 6, 2008

Hello there! I'm glad I was able to read through this forum. My friends and I have been visiting some agencies lately here in our city in the Phils that assists in acquiring UK student visas and to enter a program exactly like what ISA is offering. Of course, the prospect of going to the UK for study as well as to earn gets us all excited. Actually,some of my friends have started to process already, and they're are already RNs and NCLEX and IELTS passers, but they're a bit frustrated from waiting for their US visas to arrive so they've decided to enter this study-work program.
I've had my doubts about it, though, while we were attending orientation. They practically guaranteed that after finishing the NVQ3 & 4 for nursing grads that we will be able to practice as a nurse at an international level. Is that true? Will that be enough for us to apply as a registered nurse in the UK or some other country (regardless of whether there is a shortage or not in the UK)? Will the Nurses & Midwifery Council of the UK allow us to register as a nurse after finishing that BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care?
Sorry for this really long question. It's just that this is really bothering me and I'm just cautious about these things. I hope someone can give me some info on this. Thanks a lot for the insight you've shared in this forum!

If you meet NMC requirements then they will not stop you from registering with them However you will find it extremely hard to find a employer willing to assist you with a work permit to stay in the UK and work as a nurse. At the moment the requirements is UK citizen then EU before the rest of the world and in most cases your application/CV will not even be shortlisted. Just doing in the course will not benefit you as a nurse it has nothing to do with nursing. Shame on them for telling you this as they are not the ones that give out work permits but the government and they are clamping down with immigration and making it much harder

5cats · Nov 6, 2008

Despite of so many posts in this forum it still seems to be not clear to many people that to be able to register in a certain country doesn't mean TO BE ABLE TO WORK.

Nobody can promise you anything, only goverments are issueing visa/work permits. It's the same in every country worldwide.

We don't have a nurses shortage in the UK, there's a hiring freeze for many NHS Trusts, as in many other countries in Europe. That' means no visas!

5cats

allnurses Guide · Nov 6, 2008

Despite of so many posts in this forum it still seems to be not clear to many people that to be able to register in a certain country doesn't mean TO BE ABLE TO WORK.
Nobody can promise you anything, only goverments are issueing visa/work permits. It's the same in every country worldwide.
We don't have a nurses shortage in the UK, there's a hiring freeze for many NHS Trusts, as in many other countries in Europe. That' means no visas!
5cats

Thank you 5cats, short, to the point and very well said :yeah:

ennairam · Nov 7, 2008

Yeah, I figured that that was the case, so yesterday we visited another one of these agencies that process student visas (to observe how they presented their program). I think they tend to leave out the part where nurses from here DO NOT become qualified as a nurse there after finishing the NVQ, and this only qualifies them to be senior carers. They focus more on "brighter future" and "experience European culture", which is naturally very tempting for many young nurses.

I asked some questions after their presentation and it was the only time that they were able to clarify this. They answered truthfully that we will not be trained as nurses there, but carers. This 2-year diploma will not even count as nursing experience (if we ever plan to apply in other places). Well, I guess I should have expected that coz this program does not even require IELTS and is open to just about anyone who just has some experience on health care. I'm a registered nurse here and I worked hard for it and there are certainly other opportunities where I can practice as an RN and not a caregiver.

Also, there was another agency who said that nurses who have passed their NCLEX and IELTS can take up this NVQ while waiting for their US visas and the retrogression to lift, but that is actually not allowable because they will be breaching their contract. They also said that you can have sideline jobs, but that is also illegal, right?

thanks guys for your info! :)This thread really made me open my eyes to this issue and I've started to tell other nurses I know about the part these agencies usually leave out.

allnurses Guide · Nov 7, 2008

Also, there was another agency who said that nurses who have passed their NCLEX and IELTS can take up this NVQ while waiting for their US visas and the retrogression to lift, but that is actually not allowable because they will be breaching their contract. They also said that you can have sideline jobs, but that is also illegal, right?
.

Well done for asking the right questions, i am glad you got the information that you needed to make an informed decision.

As far as taking the NVQ whilst waiting for retrogression to lift, I suppose you could as it is on a student VISA rather than working VISA but as you have said the hours will not count for nursing experience which makes you less attractive to prospective employers and "sidelining jobs" hmm that sounds very dodgy, and I imagine illegal athough without knowing exactly what they mean by that would be difficult to say for sure. In the UK you would not be able to work as a nurse so I imagine the sideline job will be a minimum wage care giver.

mark22 · Nov 10, 2008

Really? There's a placement fee? how can i procure such amounts. anyway, anyone tried the Student visa like the ISA in Visacenter.org

ericsonranchez · Dec 9, 2008

There is a address and phone number in Makati City

Iv tried to contact them but the phones numbers listed couldn't be reached.. THE NUMBERS ARE LITERALLY "NUMB" ERS. no response!

Check it for yourself.

maan29 · Jan 3, 2009

Good day!

I've heard just recently about ISA in the news papers & television news here in manila and It was really tempting to apply to them but now i've learned a lot from this forum , Im confuse if im still want to pursue applying for UK...If I work as a caregiver in UK I think its much better than to work as a nurse here in the philippines....but I need to think more...

allnurses Guide · Jan 3, 2009

Maan, you really need to check out the thread about working and studying in the UK which is a sticky at the top of the forum, as a carer you will be earning minimum wage if that, the course that you are studying for is not going to allow you to work as a nurse in the UK and it will not count as nursing experience so at the end of the course when you have to return home you will have no current nursing experience to help you find a job. It is very expensive to live in the UK and you really will struggle to survive on what you will make.

chelseaxyrene · Jan 3, 2009

In my opinion, it would be better to gain a nursing experience here in the Philippines and then go to other countries that will surely issue work permits. I know it is hard to find a job here in the Philippines for I am also looking for one. And I have once considered going to UK as a student. But when I think of the fact that after 2 years I will still be going home to the Philippines with zero experience, I think it's not worth it. By the time you are done with the 2 year study in UK, there will be more nurses here in the Philippines which will make it harder for us to find a job to gain experience. Well it's just my opinion.