What are the requirements of a 'beauty therapist' when transferring from US license to UK? I've been doing hair for 3 years *as of the time of planned move*
Also, when i move, i want to start work asap. i was told in order to get a work visa I'd have to be sponsored. Was also told that this can be expensive for the employer. I know im not the only hairstylist to move from US to UK. Can someone please guide me as to how to do this whole thing?!
*side note* I'll be planning a trip in January just to get a feel for the place to make sure I like it before i move, being that Ive never been. Was hoping to ask around at a few salons.. good idea/bad idea?
I looked up How to transfer cosmetology license from US to UK, and someone said they call it beauty therapist there. Instead of cosmetologist or hairstylist.
Heather J M
Posts: 637
London, England, United Kingdom
Yeah, we have beauty therapists, hair stylists and massage therapists. No cosmetologists or estheticians. And sadly for you, we have an abundance of beauty therapists already and few if any salons will be earning enough money to consider paying for you to come over from the USA. As well as all the UK beauty therapists they already have, we also have an open borders agreement with the European Union, so anyone from there can come and work here.
If you really want to come I suggest you look at student visas etc.
Hugh Alison
Posts: 1,297
Aberystwyth, Wales, United Kingdom
S W I N S K E Y wrote: Great Britain:
bland people
bland food
bland weather
it's got to be better then dallas..
Bland Food?
Starbucks?
KFC?
Burger King?
MacDonalds?
Beef raised knee deep in shit and full of hormones and antibiotics, contaminated by the occasional poor Mexican that loses a body part in the slaughterhouse...
Simire MUA
Posts: 91
London, England, United Kingdom
S W I N S K E Y wrote: Great Britain:
bland people
bland food
bland weather
it's got to be better then dallas..
Wow....considering this ignorant statement, it would be very easy to get caught up in a mud slinging battle at this point but ill refrain from this.
To the OP, ditto what Heather stated. Probably best to get a students visa and do a short course to supplement your existing credentials. Beauty therapists are aplenty over here. You could talk to BABTAC who are one of the main bodies responsible for insuring beauty related specialities. I wish you well and the best of British.
Would you say maybe move over there and work at something else besides hair? I want to be there for 3/6 months at first to make sure I really like it before looking into moveing permanently. Ive read probably every immagration page on the net about visas, and theyre all so confusing. I just dont know what to do to move there legally. Do you think big companies like Paul Mitchell could sponser someone?
Heather J M
Posts: 637
London, England, United Kingdom
Only if you already work for them. In my experience of overseas friends, they have had a short working visa but have ultimately had to return home at the end of the period - usually no more than 3 years. Sponsorship is very unlikely in your field, you are too easily replaced. Sponsorship is more common in large companies that move staff from one territory to another, or for extremely hard to fill roles (NOT beauty - more beauty therapists than jobs here.)
If when you get here you find you like it, find a husband asap. Even if you marry for a visa you have to prove 2 years minimum relationship prior to being allowed the visa. They check very thoroughly.
Why did you want to move to England if you've never been here before?
Heather J M wrote: Only if you already work for them. In my experience of overseas friends, they have had a short working visa but have ultimately had to return home at the end of the period - usually no more than 3 years. Sponsorship is very unlikely in your field, you are too easily replaced. Sponsorship is more common in large companies that move staff from one territory to another, or for extremely hard to fill roles (NOT beauty - more beauty therapists than jobs here.)
If when you get here you find you like it, find a husband asap. Even if you marry for a visa you have to prove 2 years minimum relationship prior to being allowed the visa. They check very thoroughly.
Why did you want to move to England if you've never been here before?
This is one of the hardest things ever. Feel like ill have to give my first born to live there. Damn.
I want to live there because its always been a dream. Since i was little.
Or you two could get married and sit tight for 2 years.. Oh an MM wedding! I'll get a hat!
hahaha thats cute! I'll totally swap identities. I just keep thinking, surely I'm not the only hairstylist in history, to move to UK and start working. I have a friend that said her friend moved there and started waiting tables. How did she do that? im so confused. I'm trying to make a list of people/places to visit for more info once I visit in Jan, but I'm drawing a blank as to whom to ask
TiffanyDiane wrote: I'm trying to make a list of people/places to visit for more info once I visit in Jan, but I'm drawing a blank as to whom to ask
Try making a list of the bigger salon's etc in the towns / cities you will be visiting and go visit them and ask questions.. You might also want to visit college's that list your profession and ask them how you need to proceed with getting the UK qualifications you need..
They will more than likely tell you the same thing(s) you have been told on here, about trying to transfer over to GB and work / live there.. and how difficult it is..
By the way, I moved the other way.. for a lot of reasons... You will like GB as a place to visit, but you wont want to live there..
Try making a list of the bigger salon's etc in the towns / cities you will be visiting and go visit them and ask questions.. You might also want to visit college's that list your profession and ask them how you need to proceed with getting the UK qualifications you need..
They will more than likely tell you the same thing(s) you have been told on here, about trying to transfer over to GB and work / live there.. and how difficult it is..
By the way, I moved the other way.. for a lot of reasons... You will like GB as a place to visit, but you wont want to live there..
I'm going in Jan just to check it out and make sure thats what I want. Its a big move. I need to be sure. I've emailed Taylor Taylor, HOB, RUSH, currently still looking. Know of any more?
I wish you the best of luck, I love living in England. Great food, great views If you know where to go! Let me know if you do make the move and i'll throw you a few places to visit down my way!
All the best,
Jade
JadeArmstrong wrote: I wish you the best of luck, I love living in England. Great food, great views If you know where to go! Let me know if you do make the move and i'll throw you a few places to visit down my way!
All the best,
Jade
Thank you. I actually got a reply from a salon, telling me THEY dont sponser but to send them my CV and they'll direct me to a salon that does! So keep your fingers crossed for me! Getting my airplane tix/ hotel next month for Jan! so excited!
I'm glad you posted this! I'm a MUA in the US also wanting badly to move to the UK. I understand it's a silly desire, never having visited.
I have done so much research on what London is like and how it compares to NYC (I lived there for a bit). I've also looked into the immigration process and the applying for work visas. It's very complicated. It looks as if it's possible to do, but you've got to have a lot of money.
I thought about applying for a BBC trainee scheme, but honestly my skill and portfolio aren't there yet and I don't have enough money to just move there.
I know a MUA who worked in NYC for a while, get with a makeup agency who sent her to London to work for a bit. So you might look at getting repped by an agency and if they ever get international work coming in.
Heather J M
Posts: 637
London, England, United Kingdom
Dani Snow wrote: I thought about applying for a BBC trainee scheme, but honestly my skill and portfolio aren't there yet and I don't have enough money to just move there.
BBC wrote: Can I apply for BBC Trainee Schemes if I am not a UK resident?
You can apply if you have the right to work in the UK. However we will not be able to cover any travel or living expenses that you might incur.
You still need to sort your own visa, also the trainee schemes are not open to people with more than 18 months experience. Bummer.
Yeah Heather I read that on their site. It's like they want you to be a little experience, but not too much haha, less than 18 months of television experience, which I have none. I can't imagine that I'm more talented than any of the British MUA's applying so I just dream about it haha.
Elizabethmakeup
Posts: 338
Hereford, England, United Kingdom
It is possible to get a visa without sponsorship from a company but everyone before me is right: beauty therapists are a dime a dozen plus we're in a recession and jobs are hard to come by for everyone. Also, beauty therapists don't need a licence to work in the UK so you may find that you don't get many points for that line of work.
Elizabethmakeup wrote: It is possible to get a visa without sponsorship from a company but everyone before me is right: beauty therapists are a dime a dozen plus we're in a recession and jobs are hard to come by for everyone. Also, beauty therapists don't need a licence to work in the UK so you may find that you don't get many points for that line of work.
What visa do you reccomend I try for? That is the most confusing part. And I had a salon say they were going to direct me to a salon that does sponsership. Hairstylist are a dime a dozen here too, but a good one is hard to come by
You can also go for a work-visa through a programme such as BUNAC.
Also a word of caution re sponsorship: I had a friend who went to work abroad and was sponsored by a company. They had to sponsor him for five years in order for him to qualify for residency, then six months before the end, they fired him and he had to return home.
Kelly Ager MUA
Posts: 138
Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Whilst all you want to get over to the UK to live, I'm desperately trying to think of a way to get over to the USA to live! It seems its almost impossible to get to the US without actually marrying an American, maybe I should ditch my boyfriend and partner up with a (hot) American guy, dual citizenship would do me nicely! One must keep trying!
Kelly Ager MUA wrote: Whilst all you want to get over to the UK to live, I'm desperately trying to think of a way to get over to the USA to live! It seems its almost impossible to get to the US without actually marrying an American, maybe I should ditch my boyfriend and partner up with a (hot) American guy, dual citizenship would do me nicely! One must keep trying!
Ugh. Don't you wish our countries could just let us switch? How sad is it that you want to be here and I want to be there? Like a foreign-exchange student, but we're not students, and we want it to be pretty permanent.
Ugh. Don't you wish our countries could just let us switch? How sad is it that you want to be here and I want to be there? Like a foreign-exchange student, but we're not students, and we want it to be pretty permanent.
Simire MUA
Posts: 91
London, England, United Kingdom
TiffanyDiane wrote: I've emailed several differnt places. Looking to interview at at least one place a day on my stay.
By different places do you mean within and outside London? If so, that's a great approach. Try not to limit yourself to London. Well done for getting the interview. Fingers and toes crossed for you:-)
By different places do you mean within and outside London? If so, that's a great approach. Try not to limit yourself to London. Well done for getting the interview. Fingers and toes crossed for you:-)
Several diff places meaning different salons. I have a question though, here each paycheck is taxed about 17%-18%, but we get paid every two weeks. What is the percent of tax for a middle class person in UK? I know you get paid sometimes only once a month. How much should I budget for taxes? I'm trying to see if this salon price list is enough to make money to pay bills/live on.
Simire MUA
Posts: 91
London, England, United Kingdom
TiffanyDiane wrote: Several diff places meaning different salons. I have a question though, here each paycheck is taxed about 17%-18%, but we get paid every two weeks. What is the percent of tax for a middle class person in UK? I know you get paid sometimes only once a month. How much should I budget for taxes? I'm trying to see if this salon price list is enough to make money to pay bills/live on.
Tax rate over her really depends on your basic income and can vary depending on this from nothing to 50%. Have a look at this for further info on how it works http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/basics.htm#1
London can be extremely expensive as with most cities i guess. From my personal point of view, apart from budgeting for rent, utility bills(water, electric, phone, council tax- which varies wildly depending on your location band, groceries) and the exhorbitant public transport and/ or petrol/diesel, you'll be very lucky to squeeze any savings from that. I am lucky enough to be paid 'London weighting' in addition to my basic pay. This takes into account the additional costs faced with living in London. Not all employers pay or care about this, but you could ask about this very diplomatocally and AFTER you have been offered the job. There are
very cheap places to stay in London but cheaper might not necessarily equate to safer. This is why i suggested applying outside London also. Safety is relative i know, and i suppose crime exists everywhere one goes to but realistically our great metropolis can be scary even during the day in certain areas as observed by my German friend who recently relocated here and is living in Stockwell with her boyfriend to save money.
Having said that there are other cities with similar expensive rates in the uk, but having worked outside most of my life it just equates to less money or better facilities(accomodation
space, utility bills etc) for what you are paying.
I really would advice a lot of additional research to what you are currently doing. It is great to carry out a trial run......january right? Brrrrrr! Don't forget your wooly hat and socks during this time.
Sorry about the length of this, i was going to type some more but i had better stop now
before i bore you silly.
We could always try swapping identities. I'll need to get a wig from somewhere though...
If you know where to go! Let me know if you do make the move and i'll throw you a few places to visit down my way!
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