Does anyone have any advice for Sharon?

I think its a tough one. Many (probably most) organisations wouldn't "support" people getting renewals of their VISA and would leav eit down to them (which ultimately it is). But its potentially a good thing that you are.

As you grow yes the burden will grow but so arguably will your ability to handle that burden - so its an important part of your engagement strategy then theres no reason not to keep it going.

The alternative is to provide resources, advice etc and support if say they need to attend meetings with the visa people, attend things etc.

In reply to Keith:

We offer a Visa Loan Scheme which can be used for new starts and renewals of visas too (after all we want them to remain employed by us) with the payback time of 2 years or length of contract if shorter. (Some employees can also use the Relocation Policy to claim first UK visa fees). Both of course incur an upfront outlay (though the individual needs to get the visa themselves before we will advance a loan/pay a claim). We partner with a professional organisation that offers support and advice to individuals in the application of their visa, at discounted rate. We have to recognise it is a large upfront cost for us (and the individual) but also that we are a reasonable sized (2,200 UK employees) global university and need to compete for international talent both with overseas universities where visas and fees are less onerous/expensive and other UK universities who can afford to offer more financially generous support such as full reimbursement (where the outlay is not recouped unless the employee leaves within a certain period). This is only going to get worse given the huge increase in fees announced recently. I don't have any real solutions to offer but it's one of the things we of necessity need to include in our budgeting for our engagement and attraction strategy, especially in globally connected research.

Hi Sharon,
We do the same in my company. We usually ask the candidate to pay 50% upfront and thereafter deduct the remainder over a 6 month period. Hope that helps :)

Kind regards, 

Carianne Elliott

In reply to Carianne:

Thanks, Carianne ... and welcome to our Community!