Extension Approval - Can we post here please!!

[ssheik]

Hi Ocrossford,
Thanks for the clarification!
I did send across my application today and will keep the forum posted on the status of my application.
Regards,
Sami.

[webhunter]

Hi ssheik,

Can yo please post your application details in 'ALL FEBRUARY APPLICANTS' thread? There you will have the details of the february applicants and will be easy to follow timelines/results etc.,

Thanks.

[goldfish]

Yay my HSMP Extension has been approved for 4 years (I initially had 1 year)!!!

Thanks lots to everyone on this board for their help, it has been so stressful preparing an application so soon after the changes in rules.


TIMELINE
-----------

Visa due to expire on 20 Feb 2007

Fri 26 Jan - sent documents by courier
Mon 27 Jan - documents delivered at 11am (called courier to confirm)
Thu 1 Feb - payment processed and sent to case-working team
Fri 9 Feb - not assigned to caseworker yet (called to check)
Fri 9 Feb - faxed urgent treatment request for result by Fri 16 Feb (had been requested by the company where I am consulting to confirm whether I could extend the engagement, otherwise they would have to look to hire someone else!)
Mon 12 Feb - urgent treatment request not processed yet (called to check)
Tue 13 Feb - urgent treatment form processed but not assigned to caseworker (called to check)
Wed 14 Feb - decision made and documents posted
Thu 14 - documents arrived back, extension approved


DOCUMENTS
---------------

I work through a limited company (I am sole director and shareholder) and I applied as "Salaried". The new HSMP FAQs published around 26 Jan say limited companies are now considered "Self Employed" so applying as "Salaried" might not be possible any longer. But I consider myself as "Salaried" - I am paid a salary from my company plus dividends.

The documents I sent were:
- Application form
- 2 x passport photos
- 2 x passports (old one with visa plus new one)
- Letter from my Uni stating degree taught in English
- Uni degree certificates (I sent these with my initial HSMP but included them again for the English language requirement, this may not have been necessary)
- Bank statements for last 3 months (I had to include some for the evidence of earnings but I included my other savings accounts as well since most of my money was not in the account where my salary is paid)
- Evidence of earnings, see below

EVIDENCE OF EARNINGS

The earnings period I claimed was 1 May - 31 December 2006 (8 months since my original HSMP was for 12 months). I did not include a P60 because all my earnings were after the end of the tax year, but if I was applying now I would probably include it - can't hurt to have it in!!

For the evidence of earnings, I included:
- On the application form, request for exceptional consideration for no P60 on the basis that none of the claimed earnings period is within the last tax year so no P60 is available
- Payslips (these are produced by my accountant are are on payslip paper not just plain A4)
- Personal bank statements showing salary payments + dividend payments into the account
- Company bank statements showing salary payments out of the account (I had to include these because on my personal bank statements the salary+expenses were sometimes a single amount and I needed to show the salary component)
- Dividend voucher (including net & gross payment, signed by my company secretary - there are templates available on the internet if your accountant will not prepare it)
- Letter from my company (signed by company secretary, showing net & gross salary, net & gross dividends, dates of earnings period, and a statement that my earnings package includes both salary and dividends
- Letter from accountant (personal account & company accountant, showing showing net & gross salary, net & gross dividends, dates of earnings period)
- Company registration certificate
- Directors statement from Companies House (this costs about £3, you can ring the number on their website and they will post you a copy, it shows the names of the directors and company secretary. I included this to show I was active in the "day to day management of the company" which is required under the Guidance Notes if you want to include dividends in your earnings).

I also put in a list with the documents I had enclosed and headings
- "Evidence of Salary"
- "Evidence of Dividends"
- "Evidence that Dividends are part of earnings package from the company I am working for / running".
I numbered each item and put corresponding numbered flags on my documents so it was clear I had provided sufficient evidence in each category.

[ajex-2000]

Hi All,

I have applied for FLR-HSMP.

I will highly appreciate if any one could help me by clarifying

1>> Is there any urgent treatment request form???
2>> What numbers to call / fax the Urgent request form...

Many Thanks

Ajex

[goldfish]

Hi Ajex,

The information you need is on the workingintheuk.gov.uk website.

For an HSMP Extension ie FLR-HSMP, the form is here (use the Urgent Treatment Form 540k, the fax number is on the form)
http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk./worki ... forms.html

(if you are applying for your initial HSMP there's an HSMP specific form further up the page)

The phone numbers are here. For FLR-HSMP questions I used the Work Permits (UK) Customer Contact Centre number. But it usually takes them a few days to process an Urgent Treatment Request.
http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk./worki ... /hsmp.html?

Good luck!

[ajex-2000]

Goldfish.....

Many thanks for the quick reply....

Cheers

Ajex

[ssheik]

Hi,

I have received my HSMP extension approval for 4 years.
Here are my timelines.
Application Sent : 12-Feb
Decision made : 27-Feb
Decision received : 28-Feb

Here are the documents I have sent in

----
1.Degree
Evidence not included as original certificate was submitted with the initial HSMP application.

2.Earnings
Payslips for 8 months(June-Jan)
Evidence for requesting exceptional consideration: Letter from employer stating the inability to submit P60 as the tax year hasnt been completed.
Alternative evidence
Bank statements for the 8 month period
Letter from the employer stating the total salary for the last 8 months

3.English Language requirement
IELTS score report.

4.UK experience
No additional document.

5.Age
Passport

-----

Regards
Sami.

[ajex-2000]

Thanks to all my friends here I got 4 yr FLR HSMP extension today...

My details are as follows

Date of submission of Application - 14 th February

Details as under


( 80 points/IELTS 8 ) Masters degree , not submitted as it was submitted at the time of Initial application,Salary slips , Bank statements,NI Number letter,Employer letter certifying claimed gross income as p 60 not available.

Important thing : No rent receipts or anything property related submitted ,declared staying with friend.

Receipt of Acknowledgment - 19 th February

faxed Urgent Treatment form - 21 st February( business travel on 3 rd March) No additional document required

Called and Work permit confirmed receipt of Urgent Treatment - 22 nd Feb

Called up on 27 th - Got reply - Decision made and Despatched

Got the pass port on 28 th with 4 year extension...Used special delivery for dispatch and included self addressed envelope..


Thanks once again....

Ajex

[alijamal77]

I have applied as a self employed person under transitional arrangement on 19 Feb 2007 and waiting for their reply.I have attached all documents which asked to provide in section 8 (under Trasitional arrangements) and I al self employed since I entered in country and attached the following documents

-Last 8 months services contracts ,invoices and remittance advices
-registration documents with HMRC

Also

-Business Plan (detailed)

Alternative evidences

-Draft management accounts
Plus

-companies house registration certifcate
-business insurance documents

Actually , I could attached other piece of information like business bank accounts , letter from acountant firm etc but did'nt provided intentionally because these are not asked to provide so I thought these are necessary but now I became litle confused because you have included lots of other documents which were not required , So did I do the mistake ?

Appreciate if you answer this

regards

My husband is the HSMP holder. He was just granted an extension (1+4) under the transitional arrangement for businesses. Our visas expired during the suspension. Our timeline is way longer than expected due to all sorts of things going wrong.

FLR-HSMP app sent in ~Nov 23. We sent the new form. We didn't have time to get together some of the required docs. We called the Cust Service line and they said unequivocally NOT to send in any additional docs until the caseworker requested it, but that it was ok to send in an incomplete app during the suspension time period. They even checked with a supervisor. This was WRONG.

The week before Christmas, the caseworker phoned. Our photos were missing, along with the other required docs. My husband was out, so I spoke with him. He told me that if the photos hadn't been missing (which he found while speaking to me... ), the application would've been refused. He said that we should have sent in docs as soon as we had them. At that point, we were having trouble getting a letter from HRMC showing our partnership status. For some reason, they couldn't locate it. The caseworker said to wait to send in all of the docs until we had that HMRC document.

Fast-forward to mid-Jan. HRMC finally located the info and sent a letter stating our partnership. We sent in the missing docs.

The complete application contained:

- covering letter with detailed description of business
- usual docs, like marriage cert, birth cert of son, etc.
- uni transcripts and letter from uni stating course taught in English
- business plan (detailed)
- business bank account
- paperwork for business loan
- press releases for product announcements for last year
- letter from project manager for free-lance writing jobs in software development (sent this to show expertise and ability to find regular job if necessary - probably not needed).

We got delayed a bit longer, because our passport pics wouldn't work with the visa printer. So, we had to send those in and that added on about another week. But at that point, we knew the visas were approved, much to our amazement.

We almost didn't send in the extension app, thinking that there was no chance of approval, since we lived off our own funds for the last year, while setting up this business.

I hope this gives others hope. It's been one long, nerve-wrecking road.

[rikos]

My 1 year is expiring on Mar 12th.
Unfortunately I had to return to my native country last week due to personal reasons.

Is it possible to apply for extension from my native place (by giving a friends address for correspondance) or is there any other way to get extension in this situation.

[scorpionking]

Hi All
I send my application for HSMP extension on 28th february and got a confirmation receipt from home office on 2nd March. I now need to send Urgent treatment form as I have to travel abroad. In the urgent treatement form there is a section 'HSMP reference number' and this is confusing as which HSMP reference number needs to be filled there. Either this is the reference number we got when we first got our original HSMP approval or it is the reference number which I just got in the HSMP extension application acknowledgement? I will be highly thankful if some one can give a quick response.

Regards

[iyanu]

Hi scorpionking,
You wrote

Hi All
I send my application for HSMP extension on 28th february and got a confirmation receipt from home office on 2nd March. I now need to send Urgent treatment form as I have to travel abroad. In the urgent treatement form there is a section 'HSMP reference number' and this is confusing as which HSMP reference number needs to be filled there. Either this is the reference number we got when we first got our original HSMP approval or it is the reference number which I just got in the HSMP extension application acknowledgement? I will be highly thankful if some one can give a quick response.

Regards

The reference number you need is the one after your extension application acknowledgement.

[dx1129]

Hi, all

got HSMP extension for 1+4 years today

timelines.
Application Sent : 15-Feb
Got Reference No and payment confirmation: 23-Feb
Urgent Treatment Sent (Business Trip requested 8-Mar): 1-Mar
Called to Confirm the Urgent Treatment received and case reviewing by case worker: 2-Mar

Letter received from Home Office states --Qualification points not given, employer should arrange work permit application--7 Mar

(I felt so strange as the points was given on my initial application one year ago. Called company lawyer and personal lawyer for advices. My steps for action:

- Paid and sent photo copies to NARIC for certification - Cost Pounds....
- Writing Cover Letter to Home Office--Using hours over night (can't slept)
- Send original degree which used for initial HSMP application by Special Delivery and cover letter requesting review --- 9 Mar

Got direct call from IND Team, said reviewed my case, the first caseworker didn't notice the certificate had already sent to HO on Intial application, qulification points should be given and approved my extension--- 12 Mar

Received my passport with 4 years visa and other documents ---13 Mar
(Missed an important business trip, but anyway, got the visa, I am now planning to Spain for holiday after Easter!)


The documents used

----
1.Degree
Evidence not included as original certificate was submitted with the initial HSMP application. (In my case, re-sent again) so it's better to send the original one even you used for initial application to avoid time wasting.

2.Earnings
Payslips
Evidence for requesting exceptional consideration:
-Letter from employer stating the employment and stated salary. (P60 not issued as the tax year hasnt been completed. )
-Bank statements for the stated period


3.English Language requirement
IELTS score report.

4.UK experience
No additional document.

5.Age
Passport

Thanks all of you to provide the timeline for me, it helped me a lot in the past few days.

[Bipolar Bear]

Hi all,

received my 4 year HSMP extension yesterday (13/03/2007).

documents sent 21/02/2007:

2 x passports
8 x payslips
1 x letter from employer confirming payslips
1 x original degree certificate
1 x letter from university stating degree taught in english
1 x marriage certificate

I also included a prepaid return special delivery a4 envelope.

Good luck to everyone going for HSMP,
kris.

ps. big thankyou to my old university in Australia - James Cook University of North Queensland, faculty of Science, Engineering and information Technology, for the letter on such short notice.

[nithinmanohar]

Application reached home office on 19th feb
approved on 6th march
recieved passports and documents on 8th

got on basis of self employment

[t4tahir]

Hi All

Received My Passport today with 1+4 Extension

Documents sent on 09.03.2007

3x Passport
8x Pay slips
1x Letter From Employer
1x Tenancy Agreement
1x Marriage Certificate
8x Months Bank Statments
1x IELTS Band 6.5 Result


Acknowledgment Received on 12.03.2007

Urgent Treatment Form Sent on 19.03.2007

Received Phone call From WPUK Case Worker for Confirmation about my Travel & Details 21.03.200

Received Passports with 4 Years visa Extension. 22.03.2007

[rzsattar]

Hi All

Received passports back from HO todays with 4 yrs extension.

Documents sent : 14th May
Recceived and payment deducted from cc: 15th May
Decision made: 22nd May
Docs rcvd back: 24th May (Today)

FYI, I applied at my own (no soliciter was consulted even) and following documents were sent along-with the application:

Passports
photos
Pay slips (6 months)
Letter From Employer
Marriage Certificate
Months Bank Statments (6 months, covering salary period)
IELTS Band 7.5 Result
Birth certificates of kids

I really found this website helpful to arrange and prepare docs for my extension.

Thank you very much indeed and do keep up the good work.

Cheers

[victorind]

HSMP Forum a non profit making organisation formed after the Nov 2006 retrospective changes has now launched its only official website www.hsmpforumltd.com , for regular updates on its Judicial Review and various other activities register now at its forum at http://forum.hsmpforumltd.com

The retrospective changes implemented by the UK Home Office in Nov 2006 have caused lots of hardships for HSMP holders who have already been in the UK since 2002.

Due to these changes majority of the HSMP holders do not qualify for further leave to remain. The UK Government is backing off from the very promises they made to HSMP Immigrants on which they were invited to UK. After the retrospective changes implemented on 8th Nov people are being asked to re-qualify for their visa extension thru an unfair points based system (PBS) rather than initial promise of extension on economic activity alone.

The Commission for facial Equality (CRE) after a meeting with HSMP Forum recently wrote to Immigration and Nationality Directorate informing that the new rules does indirect discrimination towards non EEA nationals and penalizes ethnic minorities.

After several requests made by CRE to provide the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) copy, the REIA was provided by Border and Immigration Agency (IND) to CRE next day after HSMP Forum raised the issue during the meeting with the Immigration Minister on 26th March 07. CRE criticized BIA on not publishing the REIA (or making it available), lack of consultation for the changes and basically conducting a flawed REIA.

Many HSMP immigrants don't qualify for further Extension due to these new changes and are being forced to wind up their establishments, careers, schooling of their children, and investments and are being forced to leave the Country. This is after making innumerable sacrifices like leaving their well established careers back home, selling their properties and overall uprooting their family to settle in the UK based on the undertaking given by the UK Government.

A Judicial Review has been filed against the changes by HSMP Forum Ltd and further development on the same is still awaited.

Join now at the forum, support the campaign and discuss your issues and get support at www.hsmpforumltd.org

[drhafeez]

i am i uk from last three years on student visa, now my wife hsmp approved so we have to go back to india for entry clearence, i dont have any idea about INtegra check, plz can body advise me on integrah check

[Oxican]

I am in the 1+3 category. I was approved for extension and received a further 3 years. The accompanying letter stated that I need not wait until the end of the new 3 years before applying for ILR; that I could apply for ILR as soon as I passed the 5 year threshold (next year).

Processing time on mine was 25 days, but it would have been about 7 days quicker had I not needed to submit to my caseworker another document.

[schin]

From looking around the forum there seems to be only 1 person who applied for FLR (HSMP) in August. are there any people who sumbitted their applications in July or August at all. I am sure there are many FLR (HSMP) applicants.
Please let us know your timings to give the rest of us some hope!

[pravtech]

Hi guys,
This is Praveen from bangalore,I been to UK few months back,i need to discuss lot abt extension stuff,can u guys respond consequently..i keep be posted as the reply comes

[pravtech]

Hi There,
no one to discuss in this forum abt HSMP extension?plz come forward to help eachother and discuss ..

Thanks,

Cheers.

[HSMP_Extension]

I have been reading this forum for quite a while however never felt the need to get registered. However today I had to register to post a helpful feedback for all of you.

I was a single applicant with no dependants. I had done IELTS band 6.5. I had bank statement of 3-4k. I came to U.K just 5 months before the expiry of my initial HSMP visa.

After the change of rules, I was very worried that if i will qualify for extension because I claimed 50 points for experience and 25 points for education in my initial education. But all is well that ends well.


My timelines are:

Applied 3 Sep 2007
Fee charged: 5 Sep 2007
Acknowledgment Received: 6 Sep 2007
Passports received back: 24 Sep 2007

I claimed extension under transitional arrangements of HSMP for self employed person. I was not able to claim 75 points for extension. I was just able to score 35 points (just for the education). Luckily I came across a company who has successfully helped one of my friends in similar situation as mine in getting HSMP extension. I took the services of a company. Who helped me with my application process, who helped me in getting self employed and put everything on track in only 1-2 months (business registrations, advertisement, trading, accounts, stationary) of the business and also lodging the application. My application was very well prepared and so was the result. So one thing is for sure, you can still claim HSMP extension if you do not claim 75 points under the transitional arrangements however you need to be self employed to claim extension. And this company will help you in getting self employed www.hsmp-extension.co.uk

Wishing all of your good luck in your future endeavors.

Many thanks

Meenu

[SYH]

Thanks for the ad spaming hsmp extension