Work Permit to Tier1(General) Visa in-person application

[abhijoshi09]

Hello Experts and Advisors,

First of all, thanks for such a wonderful website and good community service ! I have gone though most of posts on Tier(1) topics on this forum for last 2 days and also through official UKBA website, however I have few queries which are still unanswered / confused. Appreciate your help and support on these.

Currently my WP is for 5 years until June 2013. I will be completing 2 years on WP stay in June 2010 with 3 more to go.

(1) From this year onwards, Tier1(G) is issues only for 2 years first time and then extended for 3 years second time. I think this is reverse of earlier policy. So this means if I apply in THIS year it will be valid only for next 2 years, completing only 4 years of stay till 2012 and hence I will have to apply again for Tier1(G) extension for 1 year to complete 5 years to claim ILR.

(2) From your experience here, will you suggest to wait for 1 year and then apply for Tier1(G) next year or just go ahead apply now without worrying about having to do another extension in 4th year of stay (and spending 1000 GBP!)

(3) Or is it just better to be on WP for 5 years and then apply for ILR. I am pretty much happy with my company (and hopefully will remain happy for next 3 years) so changing company is not a big concern for me. However, again I head some conflicting news that ILR can be applied only if you have Tier1(G) as recent visa and not as WP (as per recent rules).

(4) Can I apply for WP -> Tier1(G) first time application through in-person appointment at PEO at Croydon. I had gone through all websites and forum but could not get satisfactory answer for above.

Lastly, thank you very much for your selfless help, in advance.
Regards,
Abhijit N Joshi

[[iD]]

Hello Experts and Advisors,

First of all, thanks for such a wonderful website and good community service ! I have gone though most of posts on Tier(1) topics on this forum for last 2 days and also through official UKBA website, however I have few queries which are still unanswered / confused. Appreciate your help and support on these.

Currently my WP is for 5 years until June 2013. I will be completing 2 years on WP stay in June 2010 with 3 more to go.

(1) From this year onwards, Tier1(G) is issues only for 2 years first time and then extended for 3 years second time. I think this is reverse of earlier policy. So this means if I apply in THIS year it will be valid only for next 2 years, completing only 4 years of stay till 2012 and hence I will have to apply again for Tier1(G) extension for 1 year to complete 5 years to claim ILR.

Yes, if you apply now then you'll have to go through another extension to cover 5 years

(2) From your experience here, will you suggest to wait for 1 year and then apply for Tier1(G) next year or just go ahead apply now without worrying about having to do another extension in 4th year of stay (and spending 1000 GBP!)

Ideally yes, if rules stay the same but no one can guarentee as the new goverment might look to change or even scrap T1, you never know.
It's really up to you what you rate most, £1000 or something else

(3) Or is it just better to be on WP for 5 years and then apply for ILR. I am pretty much happy with my company (and hopefully will remain happy for next 3 years) so changing company is not a big concern for me. However, again I head some conflicting news that ILR can be applied only if you have Tier1(G) as recent visa and not as WP (as per recent rules).

Again, you know your situation well, there is always chance that your company may pull out or gets rid of you or something for any reason. I would personally prefer T1 because of the flexibility it offers

(4) Can I apply for WP -> Tier1(G) first time application through in-person appointment at PEO at Croydon. I had gone through all websites and forum but could not get satisfactory answer for above.

Yes it is possible to go for in-person at PEO Croydon

Lastly, thank you very much for your selfless help, in advance.
Regards,
Abhijit N Joshi

[geriatrix]

ILR and naturalisation, as it is applied for currently, will be ending in July 2011 with the introduction of "earned citizenship" laws.

regards

[[iD]]

ILR and naturalisation, as it is applied for currently, will be ending in July 2011 with the introduction of "earned citizenship" laws.

regards

as far as I could understand, the so called "earned citizenship" law wont apply on people who came here on HSMP, Please let me know if I am correct.
Also, UKBA website for earned citizenship is gone. So is the transitional arrangements website

here is the archive of Transitional Arrangement Website for UK Residency which says

Code: Select all

The government will continue to meet its obligations to migrants who entered the United Kingdom on the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) and had a legitimate expectation that they would be able to apply for and be granted indefinite leave to remain, in accordance with the Immigration Rules that were in place when they applied to the HSMP.

Thanks
[/color]

[geriatrix]

as far as I could understand, the so called "earned citizenship" law wont apply on people who came here on HSMP, Please let me know if I am correct.

The government will continue to meet its obligations to migrants who entered the United Kingdom on the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) and had a legitimate expectation that they would be able to apply for and be granted indefinite leave to remain, in accordance with the Immigration Rules that were in place when they applied to the HSMP.

The key of the HSMP JR debate was legitimate expectation. Only HSMP pre-Nov 06 have that legitimate expectation because the HSMP guidelines,until Apr-06, clearly mentioned that the HSMP migrants would be eligible for settlement after 4 years and, between Apr-06 and Nov-06, stated that HSMP migrants would be eligible for settlement after 5 years.

HSMP migrants who applied post-Nov'06 cannot claim to have the same legitimate expectation because it was mentionned on their application form (and perhaps in the guidelines too) that they will have to meet the settlement criteria in place at the time of their settlement application. And the migrants signed the application - confirming that they accept the said condition.

IMHO ...


regards

[abhijoshi09]

Thanks to iD and sushdmehta both for your prompt response.

That means I indeed need to apply for T1(G) twice - inital and extension - before I can reach ILR eligibility which is just 3 years from now ! Fine, have to leave with it.

Can you please also help me with the following queries (sorry could have posted in first post, but they evolved based on your response abpve):
1. If I get T1(G) now, and if rules change, then will it be problem for me for T1(G) extension ? I guess the rules for extension remain same as those at time of initial application.

2. I had applied for T1(G) in March 2009 but it was rejected due to lack of maintainence funds - in fact it was (in)famous mistake of HSBC Flexi Saver account statements, and that time I did not come across this forum , anyways, the worst thing was UKBA buggers lost my and my wife's passport in transit and blamed it on Royal Mail. Of course Royal Mail blamed it on UKBA. Finally after 3-4 months of frustation, I had to apply for new (duplicate) passport at Indian embassy in London, and have to re-apply for existing visa work permit on new passport. All costed around 1000 just becasue of mistake from UKBA. Anyways, that is past - now I have UK foreign national card as Work Permit, and today I managed to book PEO appointment at Croydon office. With above context, will my case be considered as complex to deal with in-person appointment ? I have all documents pretty clear and good record of savings, earninings, experience and education, but just worried with above issue, they might turn it down for in-person same day processing.

3. I have read sometime on this forum people saying that T1(G) is "stamped" - does it mean that it is actually stamped on passport. I thought UKBA changed policy from last year for all to issue foreign national card instead of stamping visa on passport pages. Can you please clarify.

Thanks a ton for your terrific help.
Regards,
Abhijit.

[kiranchinnu]

[quote="abhijoshi09"]Thanks to iD and sushdmehta both for your prompt response.

That means I indeed need to apply for T1(G) twice - inital and extension - before I can reach ILR eligibility which is just 3 years from now ! Fine, have to leave with it.

Can you please also help me with the following queries (sorry could have posted in first post, but they evolved based on your response abpve):
1. If I get T1(G) now, and if rules change, then will it be problem for me for T1(G) extension ? I guess the rules for extension remain same as those at time of initial application.
A: Same Rules should apply for extn.

2. I had applied for T1(G) in March 2009 but it was rejected due to lack of maintainence funds - in fact it was (in)famous mistake of HSBC Flexi Saver account statements, and that time I did not come across this forum , anyways, the worst thing was UKBA buggers lost my and my wife's passport in transit and blamed it on Royal Mail. Of course Royal Mail blamed it on UKBA. Finally after 3-4 months of frustation, I had to apply for new (duplicate) passport at Indian embassy in London, and have to re-apply for existing visa work permit on new passport. All costed around 1000 just becasue of mistake from UKBA. Anyways, that is past - now I have UK foreign national card as Work Permit, and today I managed to book PEO appointment at Croydon office. With above context, will my case be considered as complex to deal with in-person appointment ? I have all documents pretty clear and good record of savings, earninings, experience and education, but just worried with above issue, they might turn it down for in-person same day processing.

A: if u satisfy all rules ,they will not turnit down but however they might check why it was rejected last time.

3. I have read sometime on this forum people saying that T1(G) is "stamped" - does it mean that it is actually stamped on passport. I thought UKBA changed policy from last year for all to issue foreign national card instead of stamping visa on passport pages. Can you please clarify.

A: not for Tier(1) Genaral

Thanks a ton for your terrific help.
Regards,
Abhijit.

All the best.