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[musicismath]

First, the good news. I have been offered a fixed-term postdoctoral research position with a UK University. I have an offer letter in hand and am just about to start the terrifying visa application process.

I have a UK-born grandparent, so will be applying under the UK ancestry visa programme.

My worries are mainly financial. I'm a recent PhD grad and so my finances are about what you'd expect. I was hoping that the evidence of means of support would be slightly more lenient considering that I have an actual offer letter in hand and will be going straight into employment, but I can't find any confirmation of that on official sites. It seems that job holders are considered no differently from job seekers. Am I reading this right?

Lastly, I've seen indications that UK universities are worried about the impact of this year's tightening of entry requirements. Is there any evidence that there has there been an increase in new hires and post docs being refused entry?

I realise that I'm probably being overly paranoid, considering that this is the first time I've done this, but I'd be grateful for any advice, anecdotes, warnings, etc., before I start the application process this Monday.   

[lorelei]

Recent problems have occurred because employers failed to advertise jobs correctly, in order to enable them to hire foreigners under the new rules. As long as your university has done things correctly, I don't think there should be a problem. But I would recommend you discuss your concerns with HR at your institution, as they will certainly have had other employees go through the process recently.

[babbinacara]

I'm not sure that the UK Ancestry visa is the right way to go here.

Your job offer makes you eligible for a Tier 2 Work Permit visa. Your institution should take the lead in sorting out this kind of visa for you, and you will not have to work so hard to prove that you have means to support yourself--they will be promising to pay you.

With the Ancestry visa, you need to show that you can support yourself, and while having a job offer letter should cover that, it's a bit ambiguous.
The only advantage I can see to the Ancestry visa is that it gives you 5 years in the UK and you can then look for another job here after your post-doc runs out (and they are easier to extend further); your Work Permit visa would probably be limited to the 2 or 3 years of your post-doc. This kind of visa can be extended, but only by the same employer--so it's harder to move around.

So which you go for may depend on what you want to do next, but you might also consider the hassle-reduction of having your institution help you. I've not heard of anyone being turned down yet, but the process does take longer than it did.

[doctorhu]

The only advantage I can see to the Ancestry visa is that it gives you 5 years in the UK and you can then look for another job here after your post-doc runs out (and they are easier to extend further); your Work Permit visa would probably be limited to the 2 or 3 years of your post-doc. This kind of visa can be extended, but only by the same employer--so it's harder to move around.

So which you go for may depend on what you want to do next, but you might also consider the hassle-reduction of having your institution help you. I've not heard of anyone being turned down yet, but the process does take longer than it did.

The other advantage is that the UK university is likely to pay the full fees for a work permit, but may be reluctant to pay for an ancestry visa. 

[scotia]

With regard to the state of your finances, it may be worth asking if the university can help out with this. I know we are applying for a visa for someone (who has been offered a lecturer post) who does not meet the finance requirements and HR seem to be doing something to help them meet the financial criteria. I am not clear whether this involves reassuring the powers that be that the person is moving into a salaried position, or an interest-free loan, or what, but I do know that it is something that our HR department are concerned about (as am I - if this person does not arrive in January any hope I have of a sane workload will be out of the window).

[musicismath]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. I'm (very) pleased to say that the visa eventually came through and there were fewer hassles involved than I was expecting.

One piece of advice I would give to anyone going through this is to be aware that the stipulations given for each type of visa can, and do, vary quite a bit. So, what applies to one flavour of visa may not necessarily apply to another. It's worth having a bit of tunnel vision -- concentrate on what you need to provide to satisfy the requirements of the particular visa you're applying for.