VISA and WORK PLACEMENT
ORIENTATION
Ithaca College London Center
Summer/Fall 2016
What’s in a name?
• If asked by an Immigration Officer at the UK
border about your programme of study, always
use the term ‘work placement’.
• In UK law, an ‘internship’ is a full-time, paid opportunity
to work for a firm as part of the firm’s normal
recruitment process. The intention is that the firm will
take you on if you successfully complete the internship.
• If asked about the amount of time you spend at your
placement, confirm that it is less than 50% of your
course.
You need a visa if:
 You are a work placement student (intern).
 You are hoping to get part-time work (very difficult)/or do
work-study at the London Center.
 If you plan on studying in the UK for more than 6 months
i.e. spending another semester at the London Center.
 If you are a visa-national (you do not hold a US or EU
passport) please contact the London Center to find out if you
need a visa – email iclondoncenter@ithaca.edu).
 If you have a European Union passport then you will NOT need a visa.
Email us to let us know what passport you hold and to check that this
does in fact mean that you do not need a visa.
More visa details…
 Please note that the cost of the visa is about $500 (this fluctuates due
to exchange rate).
 You will work closely with the Program Coordinator and other staff at
the London Center who will guide and support you through this
multi-stage process. You will be required to pass certain info on to us
as well as the British consulate in order to get your visa.
 You MUST be very organized and be sure to read
everything about the visa process that is provided to you
promptly and thoroughly.
 There are many details, and everything must be done precisely in
order to successfully obtain a visa.
 If you wait too long before applying, you will need to expedite the process,
which will incur additional costs of approx. $200 plus additional worry &
anxiety about having your visa in time!!
Your visa: Tier 4 (General) student visa
• To acquire the Tier 4 student visa you need:
1)
£1,265 ($1,794 as of March 29) per month you will be in London.
Summer total: £2,530 or approx. $3,587, minus partial cost of housing
 Fall total of £5,060 or approx. $7,175)
 Financial aid received in excess of tuition costs can be subtracted from the total funds needed.
 These funds must be held in a personal or joint bank account or parental account for each month
& part month of your stay in the UK.

2)
You must have this money held in the bank account a minimum of 28 days before
submission of the online visa application.
3)
Some students MAY be asked to submit ‘official’ documents to prove that they meet
the financial requirements.
This can include bank statements, birth or adoption certificate/court order and a letter of
support from your parent/guardian.
 Have these documents on hand in case you are asked to send them, but do not send
them if you are not asked for them.

4)
If you are a national of a non-majority English speaking country*, you may also need
to take a language test, and submit your results with your application.
*check with the London Center asap if unsure (iclondoncenter@ithaca.edu)
Visa Process
1.
Hold your money for 28 days (if you have money in excess of tuition through
Financial Services, you may hold less or be able to skip this step. Confirm
with ICLC if you have an excess)
2.
In the meantime, submit passport details to the London Center online
application. When 28 days are over and passport details have been submitted,
email ICLC to inform them and request your CAS number
3.
Complete online visa application, using the detailed template that you will
receive. This is where you pay for the visa, £328 or $500 [approx], and book
your biometrics appointment for the soonest possible date.
4.
After submitting the online application, print out a copy of it and
sign it! You will need to take it with you when you go to your biometrics
appointment
5.
Attend biometrics appointment
6.
Send complete application and passport to British consulate. The consulate
must receive your application, paperwork, and passport no later
than 2 weeks after attending your biometrics appointment.
What is 50-50 and what does it
mean for my work placement?
• The UK government defines ‘work placements’ as ‘work’, even if
unpaid.
• From 1 April 2009, to prevent illegal working, students will be
allowed to work for no more than 50% of their time in the UK,
i.e., term time. This averages to about 2 to 2.5 days per week.
• They must study at least 50% of their time in the UK.
• We will be strictly monitoring 50-50 as we have a duty to report
violations.
• PENALTIES for breaking 50-50: Student can be deported, IC
can lose its sponsor license.
What we require from you
• Clarity and some flexibility: we need to know what you want, and
back-ups if we cannot get what you want.
• While we try our best to get your first choice, sometimes it is impossible. For
example, the BBC is not possible. So too are the Premiership football teams.
Big name marketing and advertising firms are also difficult.
• The most successful placements are generally in smaller firms that actually
NEED the help.
• Patience: Students need to be patient. Some firms don’t know their
requirements for a particular time period until close to that time.
• Placements often take a week or two to begin.
• You need to ‘give your placement a go’. Don’t expect to be the Chief
Executive’s personal assistant from the start. Placements take time to mature.
• Responsibility: It is important that you act professionally and
responsibly in your placement. You represent not only yourself, but Ithaca
College, and the US, as well.
Your Coordinator
• We assign you a ‘COORDINATOR’, several of whom are subject
specific.Your coordinator is your first point of contact. S/he will be
contacting you prior to your arrival in the UK.
• Your coordinator will grade your work and set the academic portion
of your placement (journals, projects, presentations, etc.). They will
also contact your site supervisor and monitor your progress.
• In many cases they will find you a placement, but if you have your own
contacts and will be placing yourself, please notify the ICLC
(iclondoncenter@ithaca.edu) ASAP and keep staff informed of your
progress. You will need to explain the 50-50 rule to your placement
site, and staff will help you clarify it if needed.
• All of our coordinators work differently.
Your Site Supervisor
• This is the person your coordinator has arranged your placement
through. They may be the person you meet at your interview on
site.
• Your supervisor may not be a person you work closely with on a
day to day basis.
• If you have any issues at your placement, try and resolve them
through your site supervisor first. If that doesn’t work, your next
point of contact should be your coordinator. Your final point of
contact for a resolution is the London Center Staff.
The ICLC Staff
• Assign students to coordinators after receipt of cover letter,
CV and online interest questionnaire
• Organize a mandatory work placement orientation session
during the first week in London
• Contact students at midterm to see how placements are
going and/or address any issues which have arisen.
• Monitor the number of days/hours worked each week by
the work placement student.
Our expectations
• Students adhere to the 50-50 and hand in their timesheets
EVERY week. We have a duty to report any violations to the
Immigration authorities – e.g., exceeding number of work
hours.
• Students take the placements seriously: This is the professional
job market, we have had ‘sackings’ in the last year.
• Students don’t get ‘placement jealousy’.
• Students are prepared to travel outside zones 1 and 2.
Difficult placement areas:
 Stage management, company management
 Set design, props and scene painting
 Costume design
 Performance
 Advertising
 Banking and finance
 On set film and TV production
 Newspaper journalism
 Football clubs
 Students interested in placements in these fields should also have backup
fields of interest. If you have any questions about placements in these fields,
please get in touch with ICLC staff at iclondoncenter@ithaca.edu.
Questions, Questions, Questions…
 Email enquiries should be sent to
iclondoncenter@ithaca.edu
 Join the Facebook group if you haven’t
already…it’s a great way to get to know other
students and to get responses from both
students and staff.
 Summer 2016 Ithaca College London Center
 Fall 2016 Ithaca College London Center