HSMP Extension - Tier 1 - Fund Maintenance Requirement

I'm back again and in full steam as I'm about to apply for extension for HSMP.

The only thing I can say about Fund Requirement is that Home Office has gone mad and are completely insane specially with Tier 1.

First it was English Language requirements for which I went furious but not any more as I got IELTS results and got enough point to prove that I can survive in this country with my English language abilities.

Thank you very much HO for this, I have to spent £100 and WASTE whole day (£600 worth) of time just to prove it.

Now Fund requirement pops up. It seems there is no end of insanity from Home Office.

What exactly they want to show? Why they don't say just get out, at least there will be no confusion then.

Okie enough ranting now lets come to reality.

I just started going thru the documents and posts here and came to conclusion that

===========================
If your bank account (whether one account or multiple accounts or others) is less than £800 you are out. Pack your bag and leave mother country is calling you.
===========================

Obviously my personal bank account went below £800 plenty of times and that is why I'm ranting.

I've one important query here for this requirement.

Quote from http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workin ... tionhsmp/=

==============
Section Z - points assessment - maintenance (funds)

You should say if you are claiming points for maintenance (funds). You should read the supporting evidence page for maintenance (funds) for full details of the documents you should send with your application.
==========

Line in the bold, does it mean if I don't want to claim point for it I can get away with this requirement?

Or
Everyone has to get 10 points in this section and this is MANDATORY?

Can anyone clarify on this please?

Following are few points which I'm trying to clarify.

1) Is the £800 is a number or kindness?
What if I get a letter from Bank (another impossibility) stating that £800 was available for me all the time even though the number £800 went below at any given point of time. Would that keep HO happy?

2) Would they consider my Business Bank Account?
Even this went below £800 plenty of time at any given point of time.

3) I'm business so at any point of time there are always invoices to be paid by my clients and in excess of £800, would this help? After all this is also fund available though not paid?

4) Do they consider spouse's fund?

I've written a lot but blame it to HO they keep on creating mess.

Life was simpler and easier in old days, I got my initial HSMP in just one day and my last extension was just a formality, now life is nightmare with Tier 1.

I'll keep trying to clarify on this issue and if I come across any answer I'll keep updated.

Meanwhile if anyone has got any suggestions then feel free to contribute.

Thanks
Ajay

Just in case if all goes wrong.

Which is the court to knock at?

Do I need a solicitor with such type of cases or I can do it on my own?

Any ref of good Solicitor please.
Send in PM.

Ajay,

I am in the same boat as u are...HO keeps moving the goal post...First it was new HMP in Nov -06, then new PR rules ,now new Tier 1 rules...OOOPS i foogot new 750 GBP fees for extension..

Belive you me, if you are highly skilled (which i belive we all are as we have proved as per points), get out of this country..You will be appreiated some where else ...If you stay here, you will pay max Tax,NI etc but you wont get any thing..I was waiting for PR, but it seems like a distant dream now...So now you know what to do..

My motto is :NEVER fall in love with you employer/company ,|bocz you never know when your employer will stop loving to you!!!!

Now i have changed it to :NEVER fall in love with you employer/company AND alien country ,|bocz you never know when your employer AND alien Country will stop loving to you!!!!

ashishashah wrote:Ajay,

I am in the same boat as u are...HO keeps moving the goal post...First it was new HMP in Nov -06, then new PR rules ,now new Tier 1 rules...OOOPS i foogot new 750 GBP fees for extension..

Belive you me, if you are highly skilled (which i belive we all are as we have proved as per points), get out of this country..You will be appreiated some where else ...If you stay here, you will pay max Tax,NI etc but you wont get any thing..I was waiting for PR, but it seems like a distant dream now...So now you know what to do..

My motto is :NEVER fall in love with you employer/company ,|bocz you never know when your employer will stop loving to you!!!!

Now i have changed it to :NEVER fall in love with you employer/company AND alien country ,|bocz you never know when your employer AND alien Country will stop loving to you!!!!

Thanks Buddy,
But I'm not the type of person giving up easily without a fight for good cause

I'm going nowhere I'm going to stay here despite of HO all ill-effort.

And who says I fell in love with this country? No way.

I'm saving enough even after NI/Taxes/etc.

Thanks for Fee clarification though, my next question was on that.

Just to reconfirm the fee you need to pay for HSMP Extension is £750 and NOT £350?

I just clarified that the Fund Requirements point is mandatory.
So you need to pass this or you will be disqualified immediately without mercy.

So striking off this point and working on workarounds

Just curious would they consider Credit cards as source for instant availability of fund?

Just clarified that the fee is £750.

£350 is for those who have HSMP approval letter but yet to obtain associated LTR (Leave to Remain)

Refer to Page 3 of the Tier 1 Application Form.

I've been going thru the guidelines and found that it is mandatory to have Fund Requirements met.

Overall one must score

75 points for attributes

AND

10 points for English Requirements

AND

10 Points for Maintenance (Funds)

My weekend got spoiled in this new system...

see thread http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=24154

see if the suggestions of cash mini isas help u. if you have been in the uk for a while hope you would have made this tax saving investment. this might save your neck now.

vinay shanthi wrote:see thread http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=24154

see if the suggestions of cash mini isas help u. if you have been in the uk for a while hope you would have made this tax saving investment. this might save your neck now.

thanks Vinay. I've already read that post.

Unfortunately I'm not into saving much. I've been into Contracting/business/sending back money to India, and money was scattered in other forms, invoices, with clients and so on so forth.

What I've are
1) Personal account
2) UK Business Account
3) My India Business Account (Not sure if it will help)
4) My Wife's account (Not Sure about it too)
5) Money with clients as unpaid Invoices
6) Paypal account I also maintain fund there
7) Various other Internet portals where I maintain fund.

In the guidelines it just says personal account.

Any way I've to get clarified with them, which I'll do on Monday. Already it gives me nightmare ...

It is complete pain....

P.S. Finally I'm on HSMP Forum.

other types of accounts are also personal accounts. nowhere have they said it needs to be a current account etc. so you can club accounts as long as the money is yours and readily accessible.

about ur wifes account. its my understanding that u can use it to show her maintenence requirement of £533 and not for your requirements. how ever if it is a joint account then you can use it too.

is the paypal account money instantly accessible via your bank etc or by other means

dont know about foreign accounts and internet portals. if the foreign account comes with an international debit card, then that should count as an instantly accessible account as well. same goes for the internet portals if they are clubbed to some debit facility etc. even if u dont have a debit card for your foreign account, you can still get one for the same before you apply for the renewal and show debit card approval letter or letter from foreign bank mentioning debit card is instantly accessible in uk and that has required funds as per wording required by BIA.

best of luck

vinay shanthi wrote:other types of accounts are also personal accounts. nowhere have they said it needs to be a current account etc. so you can club accounts as long as the money is yours and readily accessible.

about ur wifes account. its my understanding that u can use it to show her maintenence requirement of £533 and not for your requirements. how ever if it is a joint account then you can use it too.

is the paypal account money instantly accessible via your bank etc or by other means

dont know about foreign accounts and internet portals. if the foreign account comes with an international debit card, then that should count as an instantly accessible account as well. same goes for the internet portals if they are clubbed to some debit facility etc. even if u dont have a debit card for your foreign account, you can still get one for the same before you apply for the renewal and show debit card approval letter or letter from foreign bank mentioning debit card is instantly accessible in uk and that has required funds as per wording required by BIA.

best of luck

Thanks Vinay.
All accounts are current and fund is always available just few key taps and mouse clicks away. I've debit cards/ATM cards to withdraw fund.

Shall I say I see some light?

P.S. I'm on right forum, I can't miss that

Ajay Kumar Singh wrote:Thanks Vinay.
All accounts are current and fund is always available just few key taps and mouse clicks away. I've debit cards/ATM cards to withdraw fund.

Shall I say I see some light?

P.S. I'm on right forum, I can't miss that

well u certainly are in the right forum.

if things work out, celebrate by haviing a few tipples and please do consider donating a bit to the various legal actions regarding immigrant issues. just a personal request

have a nice day

Instantly available funds?

Does the BIA guidance specifically mention that above term.

If so, what about conventional foreign currency accounts overseas without the debit card facility (with like cheque books and demand drafts etc)? Are they not acceptable?

mmmsa5 wrote:Instantly available funds?

Does the BIA guidance specifically mention that above term.

If so, what about conventional foreign currency accounts overseas without the debit card facility (with like cheque books and demand drafts etc)? Are they not acceptable?

see link http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=24154

the BIA website does not mention anything about instantly available funds. but in the link above, see a person called 'hur' has written that he had spoken to home office and that they have told .... i quote

As written in my earlier post, HO person told me that a proof must be shown that we have 'instant access' to any such balance shown

also i remember someone else saying in one of the thread on this forum mentioning about fixed deposits not being acceptable as not accessible instantly.

hope that helps. but since it isnt mentioned in the bia website, i dont know if it is in the internal case worker notes. we will know better once some one posts a copy of the case worker manual in case anyone has a link to that.

about ur other queries about foreign currency accounts without debit cards etc, i have no idea.

even my earlier suggestion to ajay about foreign accounts with debit cards etc was a suggestion to ajay as his uk accounts didnt have adeq balance. so i was suggestion an escape route as an alternative but home office needs to accept the alternative, whether they will accept that we dont know. this was just a back up plan incase people didnt have uk bank account with necessary fund limits. dont know if it will be acceptable. best to confirm via email with BIA. there wont be proof for any phone advice.

mmmsa5 wrote:Instantly available funds?

Does the BIA guidance specifically mention that above term.

If so, what about conventional foreign currency accounts overseas without the debit card facility (with like cheque books and demand drafts etc)? Are they not acceptable?

Well the whole idea of Instant accessibility to fund is coming from the reference to the term availability of Fund itself. Basically they would like to see that you always had the access to 800 quid at any given point of time and all the time so in case you are dying with hunger you wouldn't knock Home Secretary's door in the middle of night.

Regarding non-saving accounts, I would say include it, include all you can include you have nothing to loose except being kicked out so why to take any chance.

I'm going to show whatever I have in bank accounts saving or otherwise and all sort of funds no matter where they were in past 3 months.

Now what is instant accessible/Available is debatable and court would love it.

Even I'm thinking to show my Gold Bars as proof to instant accessibility of fund. you can go to any shop and get cash from Gold. And same applies for any other type of goods, rest is up to your imagination.

When this world has gone insane then why to pretend to be sane? Lets go insane too They started it didn't they?

i guess u forgot the FSA approval bit regarding banks etc. i remember reading something like that regarding the fund requirement. so i doubt if they will allow foreign funds. debatable point.

You must send one or a combination of the following:

personal bank or building society statements covering a period of three months;
building society passbook or passbooks covering a period of three months;
letter from your bank confirming the level of funds in your bank account and that they have been held in that account for at least three months;
letter from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Services Authority confirming funds.
This evidence must be an original document, on the official headed paper or stationery of the organisation and bearing the official stamp of that organisation. It must have been issued by an authorised official of that organisation
The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:

your name;
the account number;
the date of the statement;
the financial institution's name and logo;
transactions covering a three-month period;
that there are sufficient funds present in the account on a regular basis that meet our minimum level of maintenance (funds) requirement; and
the receipt of funds along with regular withdrawals from the account.
Internet statements are acceptable provided they have the above information.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workin ... intenance/

it doesnt say FSA compulsory, so i guess any bank ok. whether it means outside uk ok, who knows.

I like the idea of gold bars.

vinay shanthi wrote:You must send one or a combination of the following:

personal bank or building society statements covering a period of three months;
building society passbook or passbooks covering a period of three months;
letter from your bank confirming the level of funds in your bank account and that they have been held in that account for at least three months;
letter from a financial institution regulated by the Financial Services Authority confirming funds.
This evidence must be an original document, on the official headed paper or stationery of the organisation and bearing the official stamp of that organisation. It must have been issued by an authorised official of that organisation
The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:

your name;
the account number;
the date of the statement;
the financial institution's name and logo;
transactions covering a three-month period;
that there are sufficient funds present in the account on a regular basis that meet our minimum level of maintenance (funds) requirement; and
the receipt of funds along with regular withdrawals from the account.
Internet statements are acceptable provided they have the above information.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/workin ... intenance/

it doesnt say FSA compulsory, so i guess any bank ok. whether it means outside uk ok, who knows.

Yes it didn't say that bank must be in UK.

mmmsa5 wrote:I like the idea of gold bars.

What about my shiny Laptop, Plasma TV, idiot-phone, iPods etc etc. combined together they will be always worth more than 800 quid...

I spoke to HO yesterday.
The following things are accepted as proof
1. multiple overseas bank accounts ( there was no mention of easy accessibilty / debit cards etc)
2. Fixed deposits ( which can be withdrawn at any time)
3. Spouse bank account ( to show 533 GBP for spouse as dependant )
4. For children the money should either be held in the main applicants name or a joint account ( but should have the main applicants name on it )

Hope this helps
Rajkumar Chandran Swansea UK

I spoke to HO yesterday.
The following things are accepted as proof
1. multiple overseas bank accounts ( there was no mention of easy accessibilty / debit cards etc)
2. Fixed deposits ( which can be withdrawn at any time)
3. Spouse bank account ( to show 533 GBP for spouse as dependant )
4. For children the money should either be held in the main applicants name or a joint account ( but should have the main applicants name on it )

Hope this helps
Rajkumar Chandran Swansea UK

Appendix E - Immigration rules contradict with point 4 above.

(d) Where the applicant is applying as the Child of a Tier 1 (General) Migrant, the relevant amount of funds must be available to the applicant, the Tier 1 (General) Migrant, or the applicant's other parent who is Lawfully present in the UK or being granted entry clearance, or leave to enter or remain, at the same time.

this means that the funds can be in either the mother or father's accounts.

In addition, dependant policy guidance para 34 state

The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:

the name of the main applicant and/or the family member making the application, or (for children only) the name of their other parent who is also legally present in the UK;


Any ideas???

spoke to HO again today,
yes fixed deposits can be shown as proof of maintenance funds as long as they are not bound to a maturity period ( should be able to withdraw it at anytime )
- regarding the debit card facility - all the statement should show is that it has been in your name and they dont need anything else.
so lets not invent things and give new ideas to HO and make our lives even more miserable!!!

as said by HO ' any number of accounts, overseas is fine, fixed deposit is fine, the cumulative should be more than 800 + 533 per dependant...
hope this helps

before we start telling people not to invent things. let us understand that different people manning the phone lines at BIA sometimes give different advice. see all relavant maintenence funds threads and in one of them one person has clearly mentioned he spoke to home office and that they clearly told him funds have to be instantly available. i have been through all the funds related threads on this boards and two other boards.

also in past as well when i have called home office regarding other matters, they have given me advice which was slightly different from what they told others. it all depends on how much the person manning the phone line knows. sometimes even after speaking to supervisors all they say is they cant say for sure and caseworker will decide and no guarantees.

hope that helps to sort out the issue of different versions being said by different persons

EDITED: regarding where i saw the mention of instantly available funds. please read page 1 of this thread itself. if u had read that, then see my post on it where i have given the link to the post where the other person (a person called 'hur' ) has said that he also had called home office and they clearly told him that funds have to be instantly accessible. his words not mine. just because home office said something different to you does not mean that they didnt say anything different to the other person. just imagine if someone assessing your application follows the logic of what advice was given to the other person