Employment: London law firms may face competition from New York for Australian staff

City law firms looking to Australians to fill shortages in their ranks face renewed competition from New York after changes to the US visa system, it has emerged.


Legislation passed last week has opened up a separate visa category, allowing 10,500 Australian professionals to enter the US every year.


Up until now, they have had to compete with other nationalities for the 65,000 annual H-1B visas, which allow foreigners in specialist occupations to work temporarily. Around 900 Australians won through last year. Some have seen the change as a reward for Australia's support during the Iraq war.


It has always been easier for Australians to work in London through work permits, working holiday visas or ancestry visas, while practice rights for lawyers are far more liberal in England and Wales.


As a result, many Australians have taken advantage of City recruitment shortages in recent years to move to London.


Kara Penridge, a director of recruitment consultancy Garfield Robbins, said London and New York are the two most attractive destinations for Australian lawyers looking to work abroad. However, 'London is such a done thing' for many that the prospect of New York opening its doors will be very appealing, she suggested.


Kelly Ryan of Australian Business, an organisation in the UK for professionals and companies with Australian interests, said that while London has always been a huge lure - especially with the travel opportunities of Europe on its doorstep - 'New York has even more prestige because it's not something every Australian can do'.


Julian Onslow-Cole, head of the business immigration team at City firm CMS Cameron McKenna, said that if a lot of Australian lawyers were to quit London, they would leave a hole in the City.


However, while recognising the novel appeal of New York, she said the closer cultural links between the UK and Australia mean a flood of departures is unlikely.


Meanwhile, Advance - a networking organisation for Australian professionals in the US - is to establish a presence in London shortly.