I was one of the last applicants for immigration under the HSMP from India—my application was received in the last week of March. Now, I have been out of employment since the end of November—and since that date was within three months of the end of March, I was able to provide payslips for the previous 12 months, i.e. the first twelve months in the 15-month period prior to my application.
I have chosen to stay on sabbatical since then (out of choice; I haven't been looking for jobs, especially since worthwhile temporary jobs in my field are hard to find here), with the result that I've been out of employment for over eight months now. I received HSMP approval last month (approval letter dated the middle of the month). I have read (for instance at the erstwhile EC HSMP blog, at http://echsmp.blogspot.com/2007/12/proo ... yment.html which doesn't seem to be publicly readable any more):
Now, not only have I not had a source of income for the past eight months (so my income for the six months prior to applying for entry clearance will not match the income indicated on the HSMP application), I don't have an employer either.While applying for EC, you should be able to give enough proofs to convince the case-worker about your employment. It is advisible not to change your employer between your HSMP application and EC application. If you have changed the employer due to some reasons, explain it cleaarly in the covering letter.
Your earnings at the time of EC application also should be inline with the earnings, you have mentioned while applying for HSMP. VFS will do a verification of documents (Integra screening), which you have provided. They may contact your employer in this regard.
My questions:
- Is it advisable for me to apply for entry clearance now? I note from the initial few posts in this thread that the British High Commission or Consulate may try to see if the HSMP criteria still apply, in which case I will not qualify, since the bulk of the points I earned were based on income.
- If not, is it advisable for me to find work in India now, in order to bolster my income, and then apply once I have earned a substantial amount?
- If it is advisable for me to work here, how long should I work? I have about five months left to apply for entry clearance (nearly a month has passed since the HSMP approval letter was issued) which is clearly a smaller interval than the six months for which I would have to indicate income to apply for entry clearance (and it will take some time for me to find a job especially after a long absence from employment, as well as some time for the application forms for entry clearance to be processed towards the end of the period).
- If it is not advisable for me to look for work, what else might I have to do to be able to gain entry clearance successfully?
These issues have had me worried sick over the past few days as I realize I should've checked and rectified these things at a much earlier stage, and that it may be too late to do anything about it at this juncture. However, now the damage is done and I need to make the most of my situation. Has anyone had experience applying for entry clearance in a situation even remotely similar to mine? If so, please help me in resolving the situation by providing advice.
Thanks in advance for any advice.