Oliver deFanta

Greetings all. Pls am terribly bordered and I desire an urgent answer. I am a foreign student(on student visa) in UK. I have completed my studies and my visa's up by February 2012. I have a job offer (intensive care nurse)in Bermuda and my prospective employer's promised to submit my 3-yr work permit application next 2 weeks in the hope of having it issued after about a month. I have supplied all documents and will be given approval by Bermuda's nursing council. Please who knows actually how long this permit application takes to be decided? Is it true, I have read, I will still need to go the the Home Office to apply for a visa to travel when the permit is ultimately issued? What will the home office require of me in order to grant me such a visa? I have also qualified to apply for a nurse job here in the UK but it seems, is it true that the process will be more hectic than the Bermuda route?

randb

I have been in Bermuda 4 years so far.
You need a work permit, there is no VISA here. The work permit can be issued only by immigration and it may take from 2 weeks to 3 months to be issued.
It depends on the officer, nothing else.
About the landing, you can come here with the "fast track" which is a 3 months work permit that usually is issued while you are getting approval for the 3 years, but not many employers ask for that because it will cost them1K more ... Also, going "fast track" does not guarantee you having issued the 3 years work permit.

Bermudashorts

When we moved to Bermuda, we both got the short term permits initially whilst the three year one was being processed. I don't know what the official name is, maybe it is the fast track thing that randb refers to.

At that time it was very unlikely that the 3 year visa was going to come through in anything less than a few months, in fact I had two job offers and one company would only wait for the "proper" visa to come through whereas the other company was happy to sponosr me for the very temporary one initially.

There is no requirement for a visa as well as a work permit.

I have no idea how the system compares with the UK system.

trojanhorse

Hi Oliver
I worked in Burmuda at KEMH for two years and can answer a few of your points, firstly an few questions.
Most importantly did you qualify in nursing in UK?
What is your nationality?

On these points many things will depend:
The Bermuda Nursing counsil is very slow at approving most people and even UK citizens need all documents attested by a 'notary public', even trying to find someone qualified to do that these days is a problem let alone the cost per sheet of paper stamped!

But if you successful its not a bad place to work, pays well ( but again depends on passport), lots of social life and the beaches are to die for.
I would return to work there tomorrow if not busy on another contract in the middle east.

Trojan Horse

Oliver deFanta

Thanks all for your comments. Am sorry getting back this late. I hail from Ghana originally. I have settled for an option in New Zealand. I was told its very frustrating to live in Bermuda, that an expatriate could be treated badly towards the end of their contract, that most locals aren’t happy to see guest workers, that it is very expensive to live in Bermuda, that there is rising crime rate especially gang rivalry with gun shootings in Bermuda, and that it Is difficult for Bermuda immigration to approve visit visas for those who might need visa to visit someone in Bermuda.