Work visa: The new pull for international students

“No matter what, students want jobs when they graduate.” Betsy Massar, CEO of Master Admissions, a California based admissions consulting service, is very clear on this. Over the last couple of years international students have put more and more emphasis on placement rates and the strength of the career services office, she continues. A new issue that has arisen in this context are visa options and as per usual business schools had to learn their lesson quickly.

When BI Norwegian School of Management started recruiting students from overseas, they had to make visible what the school has to offer in terms of employability, explained Feite van Dyk, the school’s project manager for international programs in The Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this month. Due to the lack of a national immigration policy in Norway, the MBA students at BI Norwegian School of Management have to concentrate on finding an employer that sponsors their visa: "We're not guaranteeing jobs when they come to Norway, but the framework we present is that this is a country where you can get an opportunity to find a good job because the economy is still strong.” said Mr. Dyk.

On the other side of the North Sea, at Warwick Business School, international students have a long-time standing, making up more than 80 % of the full-time MBA class. Here applicants as well as students are provided with a free and confidential advice service on different visa types. For work visa the school offers entire workshops. John Lees, Executive Director at Warwick, has also noticed how sensitive the topic is: “With the launch of the UK's Points Based System for non-European students in 2009, more students were concerned about the different system, but we've seen no significant problems so far and we haven't had to make any changes to our application process.”

In the “immigration nation” Australia where a points based visa system has been in place for quite a while now visa applications are almost dealt with on a routine basis. “We have engaged the services of a network of agents that work with international applicants to the MBS MBA program, guiding them through Australian visa options. This can prove particularly useful for students who do not have access to a local embassy.” explains Anna Parkin, Director of Global Development at Melbourne Business School (MBS). For the school the higher awareness regarding visa issues is actually a benefit, because of new visa policies which have been announced for mid-2010: “The new rules will favour permanent residency applicants with higher degrees like Masters so this will be of advantage to our international students looking to stay in Australia after completion of their studies.” adds Ms Parkin.

Despite all efforts the influence of business schools is limited and the best advice service does not make any difference, if the MBA program ends at a time when an application deadline for a visa scheme has just passed. Hence, prospective international students prefer programs that will allow them to graduate before the application window for their respective visa scheme opens. Just like Krishna Shetty from Mumbai, who needed a school that allowed him to finish in December: "I didn't even bother with Columbia or NYU, because they don't have programs with those dates," he said to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Even worse, if the school cooperates mainly with companies that don’t need international candidates. Betsy Massar from Master Admissions puts it into a nutshell: “The bottom line is the employer. If a student is looking to stay in the US, then he or she wants to go to a program with a career resources center that can get the student placed in a job with a company that sponsors international students.”

• BI Norwegian School of Management
  Executive MBA
• Melbourne Business School
  Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Executive MBA
• New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business
  Full-Time MBA
• Warwick Business School
  Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Distance MBA
• Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
  Full-Time MBA, Executive MBA