Following months of negotiations with the UK Government, on 26th May 2009 BUNAC announced that it will shortly be launching its new Blue Card Internship Programme. The new programme will allow US students and recent graduates to come to the UK and work as an intern for a period of up to 6 months.
Under the previous arrangements, overseas nationals who wished to come to the UK for short periods of time to gain experience were able to do so under the Work Permit Student Internship arrangements or the Training and Work Experience Scheme (TWES). However, when the work permit arrangements were replaced by Tiers 2 and 5 of the Points Based System in November 2008, routes into the UK for such purposes became severely limited.
Tier 2 is a scheme clearly designed for skilled workers is therefore not a viable route through which companies can sponsor students and new graduates to come to the UK to undertake short internships. Tier 5, on the other hand, comprises a Temporary Worker category and a Youth Mobility Scheme but it is still very restricted in its scope. The Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme, for example, is currently limited to individuals from Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, with annual quotas being imposed on the number of applications permitted from each country. By May 2009, Japan had already reached its quota for the whole year.
The Tier 5 Temporary Worker category, however, comprises a Government Authorised Exchange category (GAE) and it is under this head that BUNAC has managed to secure its status as an overarching body, supported by the UK Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills. It will therefore act as a sponsor under Tier 5 and will be authorised to issue Certificates of Sponsorship to successful applicants under the Blue Card Internship programme.
Eligibility
BUNAC’s new programme is open to holders of a valid US passport or Green Card only. Applicants must be 18+ years of age and have a guaranteed internship in the UK. All internship positions must be paid at the National Minimum Wage or above. For full details of the requirements and process applicants should consult the BUNAC website at www.bunac.org/usa/InterninBritain.
