I am 2010 graduate, i have worked for 2 years with law firm in mumbai and presently working with an IT company in legal dept. For better career prospects i had plans to do LLM from london (qmul, lse, warrwick etc.), but now that UK govt has announced the changes in their immigration laws which restricts us form wrkng in UK law firms, so my point is, whether is it worth doin LLM in UK after the changes in immigration laws ??
please help

any help on this would be really great !!

thanks in advance... :)

You are still able to work in the UK if you can find an employer who will sponsor your work visa or you qualify another type of visa once you complete your studies.
The point of an LLM is to learn more about a topic, it doesn't ensure that you'll have an open door awaiting you with a London firm at the end.

I'm not sure it will be as simple as finding an employer to sponsor a visa. There is now a quota on the number of work visa for non-EU workers, so it boils down to whether visas are available and whether an employer is willing to jump through bureaucratic hoops.

As EDIpostgrad says, an LLM is not a passport to a job.

Thank you guys for your response, and I very much agree with both of you that LLM s not a passport for a job in london and neither do i have any long term plans to settle down there, but my aim to pursue LLM in UK is purely based on professional aspects and therefore I feel that if along with LLM getting practical experience to a certain extent is must for me......and yes i know that it may not be easy and the chances are very less.....but chances arent zero...thts what i believe in !!

And I am also looking for a specialisation in LLM in commercial and corporate laws, so would be great if you can suggest me some good universities based on your knowledge and experience !!

Once again thanks a lot guys.....:)

'Commercial and corporate' is a broad field. Look at LSE, QM and KCL. You may be able to gain work exp while studying for your LLM, I believe you can work 20 hours a week on a student visa (though this figure may change), so you could look at doing some paralegal work.

You would do better to specialize if you are looking to distinguish yourself from the other 10,000 LLMs around London! Both QMUL and Essex have specialist IT Law LLMs - if you are not sick of information law in your current job.

@ Kerfuffle : thanks for sharing your views, i think i have got almost same views from other sources as well, however i havent recieved any positive response with respect to kcl and so I am not looking forward to get into it.

Further as you said about paralegal jobs, it would be great if you can explain me a bit in detail as to how and when do you apply for these jobs, are there any criteria for such jobs ??

@cmars: what you said makes sense, but doesnt suit me as though I am working in IT company however my profile is much more into contractual and corporate laws so have to deal more from commercial and legal aspect, further i also have additional qualification of graduation in commerce(accounting) and C.S. Inter(Company Secretary) which is about company laws, and so i want to do LLM on these lines only, i hope i make a point enough to justify my purpose for LLM in commercial and corporate laws...........

Any suggestion on these lines are welcome........:)

I dont think now even the top UK qualification in law field i.e. BPTC/LPC/LLB can be taken as a passport to a job in the entire UK, let alone a LLM.

The new immigration laws might be a great help to UK government as it allows them to control the immigration flood gates but at the same time this also makes UK qualifications less beneficial for international students who are looking for a job in UK (even for a short time), hence its becoming useless for them. Deans of different universities of UK are shouting out against these news rules via articles, interviews, blogs, etc for two main reasons. First, because now the students are heading more towards USA, Canada, Australia etc. for studying and working afterwards, as their policies are much more relaxed than UK's and it does make sense too, why would any international student invest £15K - £20K annually in their education in the UK if the UK government is not generous enough at least to allow them to work for a year or two. Secondly, and much more importantly, this has and will cost UK universities millions of £ every year. International students pays double the tuition fees than home or EU students for GOD knows what reason (this is discriminatory itself). Now all that foreign exchange and money will go to other countries. The UK government, I think, is willing to pay the price to control the always increasing immigration problem. However, on the other hand, they can't do anything about the immigration of EU nationals into the UK.

I have personally seen many students with LPC & BPTC struggling for pupillage and training contracts. I already have done GDL from BPP Law School London and then I was about to start my LPC this year but during my time their I was unable to find a training contract to start after my LPC (TC is compulsory requirement after LPC to enroll as a Solicitor with the SRA) and now these new immigration rules came so I didn't went for the LPC because there was no way I was getting any job sponsorship.

So, if you you're thinking to work after after studying in UK and if working in the UK is the sole reason why you're choosing to study in the UK then please be aware that its not going to happen under the new UK laws. However, if you think that LLM will benefit you to excel in your career in India then you may go for it.

I dont think now even the top UK qualification in law field i.e. BPTC/LPC/LLB can be taken as a passport to a job in the entire UK, let alone a LLM.

The new immigration laws might be a great help to UK government as it allows them to control the immigration flood gates but at the same time this also makes UK qualifications less beneficial for international students who are looking for a job in UK (even for a short time), hence its becoming useless for them. Deans of different universities of UK are shouting out against these news rules via articles, interviews, blogs, etc for two main reasons. First, because now the students are heading more towards USA, Canada, Australia etc. for studying and working afterwards, as their policies are much more relaxed than UK's and it does make sense too, why would any international student invest £15K - £20K annually in their education in the UK if the UK government is not generous enough at least to allow them to work for a year or two. Secondly, and much more importantly, this has and will cost UK universities millions of £ every year. International students pays double the tuition fees than home or EU students for GOD knows what reason (this is discriminatory itself). Now all that foreign exchange and money will go to other countries. The UK government, I think, is willing to pay the price to control the always increasing immigration problem. However, on the other hand, they can't do anything about the immigration of EU nationals into the UK.

I have personally seen many students with LPC & BPTC struggling for pupillage and training contracts. I already have done GDL from BPP Law School London and then I was about to start my LPC this year but during my time their I was unable to find a training contract to start after my LPC (TC is compulsory requirement after LPC to enroll as a Solicitor with the SRA) and now these new immigration rules came so I didn't went for the LPC because there was no way I was getting any job sponsorship.

So, if you you're thinking to work after after studying in UK and if working in the UK is the sole reason why you're choosing to study in the UK then please be aware that its not going to happen under the new UK laws. However, if you think that LLM will benefit you to excel in your career in India then you may go for it.

Thanks for the recent replies!

Quite elaborate and very logical, appreciate that.

However, i started this post in 2010 (and its 2015 now). So for the record, I did go to UK, completed masters from QMUL and am currently working with Maersk.

But i guess this detailed response will indeed be beneficial to those who are at the moment evaluating the possibilities of pursuing higher education in UK.

Many thanks!

@Vidhi. Before i started writing my pov on your post the first thing I saw was when did you started this post so I already knew I was too late to reply to you but the idea was to add to this post the info that I have so that it may help new readers.

If you feel comfortable, can you share how much did your LLM helped you in getting post study work experience and as Maersk is a global organization, where are you based?

Thanks