LondonCool:

Off Topic;

@paribus

If it aint broken,don't fix it, (so they say). Dont send what hasnt been asked for, whatever additional information needed from you would be requested from you during the course of your application.

Advice taken to heart. Thanks for the insight. Regards

@Londoncool

Thanks for the response. I'll stop worrying on this then. Does it make any sense to put in my employment contract with the application when it has not been explicitly requested or would it be going too far and trying too hard by writing a cover note explaining my employment circumstances? Thanks once again.

@Ty
No be me. I think these kinds of jobs are not uncommon in IT. Hannibal thinks same.

Regards

LondonCool:



2) STUDENTS DONT WORK MORE THAN 20 HOURS except during Holidays-You will get caught.
As a student you are only allowed to work 20 hours a week. Whenever you exceed those hours the Inland Revenue (now HMRC) will inform the Home Office who will then bring up the issue whenever you apply to extend your Student visa. Recently, text messages are being sent to the culprits by the Home Office

Students do circumvent this by using other peoples NI card to work 20 hours + but I am not encouraging that.

[

@LondonCool

Very informative thread you have here.  Your opinion is appreciated on this situation.

I have been working part-time (16 hours/2 days per week/8 hours per day/thurs and friday) with an IT company since february. The position is a job share with another full time person who have to go part time after her maternity leave. I get paid 12k p.a (which comes to 1k monthly) working 2 days a week - the wages was pro rated from the salary of the original employee which was about 31k p.a. Initially when I took the job I was concerned that when the time to apply for the post study work scheme comes, Home Office might miscontrue my wages/tax paid as evidence of working beyond 20hours per week. i raised this issue with the company and they have no problem with issuing me with a cover letter to indicate that I work part-time (my fixed-term employment contract already states this). I called the home office sometimes in march to clarify this and the lady I spoke with indicated that the amount of salary is not necessarily assumed to be commensurate with the violation/observation of the 20-hour rule. I made a post of my situation on another forum here being overtly concerned about this situation then.

Now I'm just about handing in my dissertation and the time is drawing near to apply for the post study work scheme. I have been studying the form and on the list of documentation required to be submitted alongside the application, no payslip or employment information is required. Now my thinking is if on the basis of my NI number alone (which is required on the form), Home Office have to contact Inland Revenue, won't the amount of tax I've paid monthly (about 170/month taking net pay of 830) indicate that I'm working more than 20hours a week when in reality I'm not. I presume you would have some insight into how best to handle this situation.  Your opinion highly appreciated.

Regards

Thanks so much for the info. I'll look them up.

Regards

I take it no one has a clue on this ?

Sorry if I have to catch your attention this way. I believe you are quite knowledgeable in this field so I decided to ask. I need to purchase an automotive diagnostic equipment for a friend in Nigeria that has an auto repair workshop. One that could work with various brands such as Mercedes, Toyota, Honda and Peugot. 

Could you recommend any good one readily available here in the UK. His budget is about 500 - 700 pounds. How good are the ones that installs on a PC compared to the standalone self integrated ones that do not run on a PC. Thanks for your time

Regards

Anyone with a clue is welcomed to contribute as well. Thanks

I take it you don't see the google adsense ads on nairaland pages ?

sayhi2ay:

very wrong !

for a WPA enabled network, all you need to do is capture a full authentication handshake from a real client and the AP, bingo !

If I may ask - how does capturing a full authentication handshake from a real client and the AP gives you access to WPA keys. Have you stopped to consider that the WLAN admin might be using WEP key that are over 20 characters long including non different case and non-standard characters? Brute forcing on this would take years millions of years to crack even with extreme processing power.

Not saying WEP is impossible to crack but there are more variables to consider and usually not as easy as you've made it look. Really depends on how it's been configured. Regards

I posted this some time back on if expensive church buildings are necessary. I think the post makes sense here as well.


The title reminded me of a 2Pac interview some time way back. The snippets are below:

If the churches took half the money that they was making and gave it back to the community, we'd be alright. If they took half the buildings that they use to "praise God" and gave it to motherfuckers who really need God, we'd be alright. Have you seen some of these god damn churches lately? There's one's that take up the whole block in New York. There's homeless people out here. Why ain't the church lettin' them stay there? Why these niggas got gold ceilings and shit? Why God need gold ceilings to talk to me? Why does God need colored windows to talk to me? Why God can't come where I'm at where he sent me? If God wanted to talk to me in a pretty spot like that, why the hell he send me here then (reference to the ghetto)

I don't necessarily share Pac's views on religion but i'm inclined to agree with him on this.  In a similar manner, I don't quite agree with using $20million to buy a jet for the church when majority of the church members possibly lives on less than $500 a month (and that's a humble estimate). $20 million by way of scholarships, education funding, small business startup assistance, soft loans etc would likely save more souls than a private jet would do IMHO.

While it's a very laudable enterpreneurship idea, do ensure you could not be held liable for violating the terms of your student visa by engaging in a business especially if such online purchases and reselling reflects in your bank statement. Regards

Most win32 applications requires much more than their files in the program file folder to run. They need specific registry entries and system environmental paths to retrieve configurations required for their correct operations.  Even when you are able to launch a .exe from a program file folder to load the app, without the correct registry entries, their is little chance that the application would run or behave the way it was originally intended. So yes, you would need to reinstall the applications under the new OS if you wish to make it available to that OS. Regards

Goethe Institute in Lagos would be a good place to enquire about German translation services. They are sort of like the German equivalent of the British Council. Regards

Flowers:

@ Paribus

Some schools require TOEFL or an evidence that English is one's official Language, what if my transcript show my English score and a letter is attached stating that my English Language is proficient. Will my application be considered?

I studied a science course for my 1st degree and PGD in management, will I be considered for MSC. in Human Resources and Change Strategy with my science background?

The school I intend going to stated that students would pay for accommodation during vacation though one's things could be in the room if there is an alternative. Is it cheaper to stay on campus during vacation or outside school?

Kindly send your excel spreadsheet showing a breakdown of living expenses for 1 year to me. helenflorish@yahoo.com


Dalu

With regards to TOEFL requirements by the school, I would think a personal statement requesting for a waiver of this requirements should suffice to get an exemption. Most schools especially the ones with educational representatives in Nigeria are aware that English is the primary language of instructions in Nigerian Universities. In your personal statement requesting for a waiver of english language test requirements, indicate that you have a combined educational history of x years (pry, sec , uni) and that the only language of instruction at all levels is English. Indicate also that you have passed an SSCE/WASC/GCE (whichever applies) in English Language and that you possess adequate fluency in both oral and written english to meet the language requirements of your intended course of study. This was what i did as I didn't really want to go through the hassles of TOEFL or IELTS.

I think you should have no issues with being accepted on your intended programme as long as the schools does not enforce any strict pre-requisite requirements for studying that course. Also make sure you give a well detailed statement on why you wish to pursue that course despite having a first degree in a different field. Changing from a science 1st degree background to a business or arts oriented PG degree is usually possible with no issues, it's the other way round - from arts/business 1st degree to science PG that might be pretty difficult in some cases.

If cost is an issue, private accomodation is most times cheaper than school's accomodation as you have more letting options available. However if you are new to the UK or maybe have no close friends or relatives living in your school's area, then you might find schools accomodation more appropriate with regards to proximity to lecture halls or being closer to schoolmates.

Regards.

I've seen this come up quite often. Income without payslips or tax clearance.  I think it might actually make sense to direct an email enquiry to the British High Commission in Nigerian to get a definitive response. I think if well worded, you might get a good response. At least that would clarify all the gray areas on this. Regards

Passport Office. Depends on where you are staying. This is directly under the Nigerian Immigration Service with offices in each capital city in Nigeria. If you live in Lagos, you could go to Festac or Alagbon, I think these are the 2 offices. Also you can find out more here:

https://portal.immigration.gov.ng/index.htm

@Lucabrasi - Your course combination is interesting. Politics and Criminology. I bet you'll be one of the few Nigerians taking this combination. Just out of curiosity, do you primarily intend to stay back and work in the UK or seek employment in Nigeria? Please no offence meant at all. Regards

@Funkybaby - I was right after all. Brothers here dv do recognize good feminine qualities when they see one. I'll say lay back and enjoy the chase.

I'll say on the basis on the general costs of living, Scotland might be more attractive to International students than England. Quite interestingly and on the contrary, most people I know stuyding in Scotland would prefer to work in England after graduation as there are more opportunities. However one cannot use a sample size encompassing only a circle of friends/acquaintances and some few students studying there as indicative or to generalize the opinions and outlook of the entire int'l students population.

Again most students I know (doesn't necessarily represents most int'l students in scotland) studying in Scotland indicated the Fresh Talent Scheme (which allows them to stay back in Scotland to work for two years) as a major point of attraction in choosing between Scotland over England for studying. However this attraction would be insignificant in the next couple of weeks when the Post Study Work Scheme is introduced across the whole of UK as this replaces the fresh talent scheme.

Scotland have good schools no doubt, but so does England. The Oil and Gas advantage is definitely there for studying and maybe even working in Scotland. However broadly comparing availability of opportunities, I think England would be Preferable to Scotland. With only 3 major cities Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland would have less opportunities available than England for students seeking to stay back and work.

Scotland possibly have other things going for her like reduced crime rate, low property rates, less congestion, but in most cities where these factors are touted as advantages, these would normally translate to less in terms of industrialisation, employment opportunities etc. Taking London for instance offering most opportunities in terms of employment, most people wishing to benefit from living in a low crime rate environment would have no choice but to live in the surburbs and commute to London. But Scotland is far from anywhere, and commuting into any other cities from Scotland major cities (or vice versa) would be not be quite as feasible.

So if solely from the perspective of living costs, crime rate (maybe) and studying, I would prefer to study in Scotland. However if I have to consider employment opportunities, definitely England. Regards

For the guys in financial arena,  I do 'presume' that an MBA from the London School of Economics carries a lot of weight with employers especially those in the banking sector. However the programme is quite expensive.

@Funkybaby

My initial thinking was that this would be a big help for applicants that would have otherwise been faced with the challenge of proving that funds from tendered accounts would indeed be available to pay for the applicant's education. A sponsored applicant could for instance arrange to have their sponsor channel funds through this scheme to confer credibility most especially applicants that would probably have planned to present corporate accounts (where they, their sponsor or relatives is a/ are director(s)).

Also I think depending on how the applicant is able to present to the BHC their choice (or sponsor's choice) of using this route - such as flexibility of the spreaded-out repayment plan helping affordability, this might be to the applicant's advantage. Being that the english society thrives a lot on credit, I would hope that an applicant's personal statement declaration indicating preference for this loan arrangement on the basis of affordability might help in the overall scheme of things. However how this would be interpreted by BHC with regards to evidence to returning to Nigeria after studies would be something to watch out for i.e I've taken a loan so I'm bound to come back to Nigeria after my studies to work in order to ensure that my collateral or sponsor's collateral is not forfeited to the bank OR I've taken a loan so I'm bound to stay back in the UK by all means to work in order to send money home to pay off the loan otherwise the risk of collateral forfeiture. We'll be more likely to know how this plays out in months to come from refusal statements possibly posted on your popular thread by applicants that have taken this route. My outlook could be nothing but mere speculations.

Like you've rightly pointed, if applicants that have paid the full school fees with a significant amount still left as account balance could have their visa refused, then going through this scheme definitely offers no guarantee. Also considering that the BHC guys might as a matter of policy or 'political correctness' want to ensure that the scheme does not give any undue advantage to applicants using this route compared to other applicants. In all, I'm still inclined to think that as the bank has partnered British Council in this scheme, there might be some slight unpublished advantage to beneficiary applicants who have no 'gotchas' in the other parts of their application but only time would reveal the trends/pros/cons of going down this road. Regards

Are you coming over for grad studies this year. Historically from your posts, you come across as someone that would go very far in your field of pursuit, a quite uncommon and outstanding combination of 'b' and 'b'. Qualities I know the eligible brothers out there with a good eye won't miss. That's if you're not already spoken for.

I'll go with Virgin N or Virgin A. Services I can identify with.

@Funkybaby - That's too flattering.   You're one of the strong minds well admired on this forum.

@Travelcare - Ordinarily I don't have a problem with your posts. But if you do charge for the immigration services you offer, the least you can do is to come across as having adequate knowledge in the domain where you offer services that people would end up paying for.  But regardless, your last post have clarified a lot of things.

My post was meant to be a subtle one. If the error was made innocently by an individual, I wouldn't have bothered with a response. It's a different case when someone comes on the forum with an air of authority on immigration matters and claiming to represent a corporate entity that offers such as a service, adequate care ought to have been taken before such proclamation are passed as factual. Regards

I'll suggest you do your research well prior to posting especially as you are coming across as someone knowledgeable enough to offer UK immigration services.

The Seasons Agricultural Worker Scheme (SAWS) is only available to Bulgarian and Romanian citizens.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/saws/

Regards

Mr Wanle Akinboboye is someone I know as well and in as much as he has a grand vision for his company and tourism in Nigeria as a whole, I believe that comes with ensuring that staff with the right attitude are employed otherwise all the vision in the world would simply come to nought.

Havent we seen it all before, the staff you hire, the training and the orientation you give them would either make or mar your business. In as much as one could come up with excuses for a not so good customer experience as identified here, what suffers at the end of the day is the bottom line of the business. La Campagne Tropicana cannot be up there with the top tourist spots around the world if the staff orientation and service delivery is flawed from the onset. I hope the owner pays attention to this.

Delta007:

I'm glad you took up the challenge . . .hopefully, you learnt something! 

Yeah you bet I did learn something - That the OPT is in no way compared to UK PSW/IGS. Also that when you don't have first hand information on a subject, never hurts to say 'I don't really know or I'm not sure' than shooting that age old blank saying 'why don't  you google it, it must be online somewhere". If it was really that obvious, I'm sure you could have pointed it out yourself in the first instance.

Never the one to take lightly some mediocre challenge, I did a quick research on any scheme available to allow international students graduating from U.S universities to stay behind and work in the US. Here is a summary of what I found out.

A scheme called OPT (Optional Practical Training):

Pros (my opinion):
Allows you to work full time after graduation for up to a period of 12 months.
No need to have an employer before being able to apply.
Can change into H1-B after completion (however getting an employer to sponsor H1B is not exactly easy and no guarantees whatsover).

Cons (my opinion):
Can only work in a field related to your course of study.
Cannot be self employed.
The spouse or children of a student on OPT may not accept employment.
Must report any change of employment (beginning new employer, ending employment, moving from one site to another with same employer) including employer’s name and address and employment dates.
Working over 40 hours a week must be authorised.


While it is still an option for graduating students, to me the scheme is not as flexible as what obtained in the UK based on the 'cons' i've outlined above.

http://www.ips.mtu.edu/Forms/Immigration/opt_checklist.pdf
http://www.graduatingengineer.com/articles/20010814/Don't-Pack-Your-Bags
http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/views/2008/03/14/pandiyan

Also do note that my perspective does not take into consideration other routes to get a leave to remain such as 'marriage, winning the dv lottery, seeking asylum etc' but strictly routes attainable on the basis of your educational qualifications or professional experience.

This is not intended to be a knock on US education for foreign students. Individuals have their own different opinions with regards to benefits between studying in the US against UK. However, information such as these might be helpful in guiding your decision.

For people always rushing to say 'why don't you google it'. I take it that you know that Google do not author majority of those information they give referrals for. So if people don't post information how would google find it. I still maintain that the essence of public forums like this is the first hand information we get from fellow members. If it was a forum to teach Google 101 - that would have been a different case. Is it surprising that OPT has never been mentioned on this travel forum despite all the prospective students wishing to study in the US or am I taking it for granted that every one know about it or that out of all the Nigerians going to study in the US, no one really cares to stay back to work? 

Guys studying  in the US or that have studied in the US and now working there. I am still very much interested in the schemes you followed to regularise your stay there after studies. Purely for informative purposes and not to knock anyone. Regards

We come on this forum to get valuable first hand knowledge. Doesn't mean we expect to be spoon fed.

For students going to UK to study for instance. I can advise in a definitive manner that after your studies, you can apply for International Graduate Scheme (to work for 1 year) and later this year for Post Study Work (to work for 2 years) to work in the UK after graduation without the need to have an employer to sponsor you. This permit to remain has no quota (so you won't be refused because the quota has been filled) and you are sure to get this (save for extremely exceptional cases) as long as you can prove that you have graduated, intend to work in the UK and able to sustain yourself during this period without recourse to public funds.

This is a first hand information that can help direct your google search for more information.

Better still, you can visit www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk for official information from the UK govt on this.

It would be ideal if fellas studying in the US could provide such similar information with regards to working in the US after studying. So at least prospective students know their options.

Regards

Delta007:

That's not true. The US has a post graduate program. . .geez, all these info is online. If you are misinformed, that's one thing. . .but I don't understand the point in spreading falsehood. Pal, google is your friend. There are thousands of students that take advantage of these schemes on a yearly basis. The only downside (in my opinion) to this scheme is the yearly quota. There are a few hundred thousand students that apply for the work visas when they graduate but some are unable to get it because there's a pre-determined number of visas they allocate yearly.

Nothing about spreading falsehood here mate. The H1-B visa I've mentioned because I've applied for that with IBM some years back as an IT profesisonal so I knew what it involves. It is not for graduate students, it requires a sponsoring employer and it has a quota. If you are aware of the US scheme for graduate students, you could have done well to mention it than assume I'm being misinformed. First hand knowledge is often better most times, otherwise if it were for google, nobody would be asking any questions here.

@Delta007

That's great that you get 3 years in Canada after studies. I might have considered there as well if I'd knew before heading to the UK. But good to know anyway.

I had really wanted to do a postgrad in the US but that was one of the factors I had to strongly consider before deciding on the UK. I don't want to base my ability to remain in the US on some probalistic scenarios like getting an employer to file work permit - or the other 'you-know-what-routes'. I was more comfortable with a clear and well defined scheme targetted at graduate students to give them free reign to look for work after graduation without any pressure - well at least within that period. This for me is where studying in the UK really shines.