u/Hopy_7394

Hi everyone,

I have been working in the UK as a care manager in the private sector for nearly 2 and a half years. Recently, I was offered fully funded EPSRC funding from a Russell Group university, which covers both my international tuition fees and stipend. The project I’ll be working on is at the intersection of AI and healthcare, so it’s really interesting.

I accepted the offer and will switch my visa from Skilled Worker to Student visa. I know it was a very, very difficult decision. However, I made this decision for a few reasons.

First of all, I really dislike my job. It is full of stress and responsibility, especially as someone on a Skilled Worker visa, where you feel like you have to accept whatever comes from your employer. My work-life balance is below zero, and I am always stressed.

Secondly, given the new regulations and white paper, it seems more likely that the Health and Care visa route may become 10 years to get ILR, and I don’t want to be stuck in this job for another 7+ years.

Thirdly, I have always been an academic person and an active researcher, even when I was not a student. I have good publications and citations — 280 citations and h-index 5 — so I am thinking this PhD can improve my CV, and I may be able to apply for a Global Talent visa after my PhD.

Has anyone done something similar before and applied for the Global Talent visa?

Does it need to be from year 2 of the PhD? From what I understand, what you do during your PhD doesn’t count as experience for Route 4, unless you later get a postdoc or research associate role and apply through Route 3.

Is it possible to find eligible endorsing funders for Route 3 in the last year of the PhD? I also have less knowledge about Route 1 once you have a research role in an organisation.

I would really appreciate your thoughts or experiences.

Hi guys,

I need your input on something. I have been working in the UK as a care manager in the private sector for nearly 2 and a half years. Recently, I was offered fully funded EPSRC funding from a Russell Group university, which covers both my international tuition fees and stipend. The project I’ll be working on is at the intersection of AI and healthcare, so it’s really interesting.

I accepted the offer and will switch my visa from Skilled Worker to Student visa. I know it was a very, very difficult decision. However, I made this decision for a few reasons.

First of all, I hate my job. It is full of stress and responsibility, especially as someone on a Skilled Worker visa, where you feel like you have to accept whatever comes from your employer. My work-life balance is below zero, and I am always stressed.

Secondly, given the new regulations and white paper, it seems more likely that the Health and Care visa route may become 10 years to get ILR, and I don’t want to be stuck in this job for another 7+ years.

Thirdly, I have always been an academic person and an active researcher, even when I was not a student. I have good publications and citations — 280 citations and h-index 5 — so I am thinking this PhD can improve my CV, and I can apply for a Global Talent visa after my PhD.

But what worries me is that I am married and now 32 years old. I am thinking about starting a family and having a child, but I am very worried about whether this is doable during a PhD, especially as an international student with visa restrictions.

I read that apparently for 2 months you can still receive funding without the university needing to report it to the Home Office. I cannot leave the UK. After that, maybe you can arrange with your supervisor to work from home, especially in the writing-up stage.

I would like to hear your thoughts and whether anyone has done this. I searched this topic and surprisingly found a lot of people who got pregnant and had a child as PhD students, but they didn’t have visa restrictions.

I would like to know what the best strategy is in this situation. I am someone who works hard and always tries to plan ahead in life — obviously sometimes things don’t go the way you think — but planning makes me feel more relaxed. So I would like to hear people’s experiences and what the best strategy might be, like trying to have a baby in the second year or something similar?

Hi guys,

I need your input, I have been working in the UK as a care manager in the private sector for nearly 2 and a half years. Recently, I was offered fully funded EPSRC funding from a Russell Group university, which covers both my international tuition fees and stipend. The project I’ll be working on is at the intersection of AI and healthcare, so it’s really interesting.

I accepted the offer and will switch my visa from Skilled Worker to Student visa. I know it was a very, very difficult decision. However, I made this decision for a few reasons.

First of all, I hate my job. It is full of stress and responsibility, especially as someone on a Skilled Worker visa, where you feel like you have to accept whatever comes from your employer. My work-life balance is below zero, and I am always stressed.

Secondly, given the new regulations and white paper, it seems more likely that the Health and Care visa route may become 10 years to get ILR, and I don’t want to be stuck in this job for another 7+ years.

Thirdly, I have always been an academic person and an active researcher, even when I was not a student. I have good publications and citations — 280 citations and h-index 5 — so I am thinking this PhD can improve my CV, and I can apply for a Global Talent visa after my PhD.

But what worries me is that I am married and now 32 years old. I am thinking about growing my family and having a child, but I am very worried about whether this is doable during a PhD, especially as an international student with visa restrictions.

I read that apparently for 2 months you can still receive funding without the university needing to report it to the Home Office. I cannot leave the UK. After that, maybe you can arrange with your supervisor to work from home, especially in the writing-up stage.

I would like to hear your thoughts and whether anyone has done this. I searched this topic and surprisingly found a lot of people who got pregnant and had a child as PhD students, but they didn’t have visa restrictions.

I would like to know what the best strategy is in this situation. I am someone who works hard and always tries to plan ahead in life — obviously sometimes things don’t go the way you think — but planning makes me feel more relaxed. So I would like to hear people’s experiences and what the best strategy might be, like trying to have a baby in the second year or after PhD?