Got the HSMP Approval - What I did for that.

Hi All,

I got my HSMP approval on 20th September 2007. I was reading, for a long time, the posts in this forum and that helped a lot to plan my application. My case was not straight forward and hence I needed more information on how to go about the procedure. I was applying from US with the data of my work experience in India.
I would like to share the problems I faced and the solutions I adopted to overcome it. I am sure there is somebody who is in the same situation as mine in part of whole of the procedure. So I really hope that this post helps them. Also I searched a lot in the forum to find out how to arrange for courier but could not find one. So I thought I share that also here.
I had approached some consultants also who could represent me. One they charge a lot and the other they did not assure me that they will submit my application with the proofs I was submitting. I am in US and hence it was not possible to get any documents, ex: some letter from a past employer, in the time frame they asked for. I was running short of time as well so thought of giving it a try on my own.
I can say that at least I saved 700 pounds but that was only because of the information I got from this forum and the way I could use it to plan my application.

I provided covering letter for using the information from http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=15879 and of course I had to alter the contents and the information to suit my profile but it was a good baseline.

Applicaiton Sent: 8th Sep 2007.
Application reached BIA : 11th Sep 2007.
Debit card charged : 11th Sep 2007.
Amount cleared : 13th Sep 2007. (International transaction)
Got the reference number by emailing the wpcustomers id: 15th Sep 2007.
Got the email from the immigration officer to arrange for courier : 20th Sep 2007.
Got the package will all the documents and the approval letter: 25th Sep 2007

The areas I claimed points:

Main Covering letter provided to summarize my profile.

Bachelor’s Degree : Bachelor of Engineering. (30 points)
Proof Provided : Degree certificate.

Age proof : Original Driving license. (5 points)

English Proof : Letter from university (Bangalore University). Please see below for the contents on the letter and this was sufficient.

Wages Proof: (40 points) (Covering letter provided)
Period claimed: Jun 2006 to Feb 2007 (8 months).
Number of companies worked: 2 (Jun – Aug) and (Aug – Feb first week).
Proofs submitted:
1. Salary slips from both the companies. Printout of the salary slips with company attestation (seal and signature). My last salary slip was a settlement slip with format different from the usual salary slip and that was still accepted.
2. Income returns acknowledgement document (luckily it covered the entire period).
3. Bank account statements to cover the period from May 2006 to May 2007. (not mandatory but better if it helps).
4. The first company among the two had changed its name. So I provided my experience letter that mentioned in a NOTE section that they have been acquired by the other company. I also sent a printout of the press release on the buyer company official website where they mentioned that they have acquired the “boughtâ€

It is not easy to get the english letter from Bangalore university. If you have some influence, use it otherwise it is very difficult to get one.

Hi Jammy,

Did the stamp on your salary slip include the name and designation of the employer who signed.

Please reply.

Thanks

No, it contains only a signature and the seal. The seal is more important that should clearly say the company name. It can be like "For <company name> but that is OK.

congrats mate

Jammy,

I understand that you worked in both these countries for the period for which you claimed.

I am also in similar situation, just that my employer has been the same. In which country did you spend the 8 months that you you claimed on?

In you application, what did you put for 'Country where income was earned'. India or US.

Similarly for the 'Amount you earned', did you put pro-rate earnings of the 8 months and put the pro-rated figure.

Thanks for your reply.

Regards.

Both the companies that I worked for were in India. I put the income I earned when I was working in India and that is what I have claimed for too. I did not prorata since the rules clearly say that there should be no gap between work even if you work in more than one country. I had a break after Feb. So my 8 months salary was taken as my earnings for 12 months, no pro rata, it was the same amount.
September was the last month when I could have applied to take advantage of my Indian earnings. If I missed this month, then I could not have applied for the next 1 year or till I earn the amount that can qualify.

What about the tax return document? Did it have the stamp in English or Hindi?

The tax return was in english and had the city name also in it.

Is it ok if i get a written document from my college instead of university stating that my course was taught in English?

If their name is on the degree certificate, yes.

Victoria

But it is very rare that a degree certificate contains the college name in it. I think if the letter from your college could mention your name, the month and year of passing, the degree you obtained, your registration number, mention that English was the medium of teaching AND that they are affiliated to the University that issued you the degree, it should be fine.

You could provide a covering letter stating that the letter is issued by the institute where you studied and the institution is affiliated to the university it should help. Also mention the registration number as the linking parameter.

Hi Jammy, did you create the account in the UK website or your country's website? Also, did you sign as the shipper in the Air Waybill?

Thanks.

The account you create is a global one. I created my account from the US FedEx website and could log in through the UK fedEx website. But I used the US FedEx website for all my transactions. Honestly speaking, it should not matter which country website you are booking through as long as it is FedEx one.
I did not sign the air waybill. It is like a tool on the FedEx website which basically takes all the information needed to ship a package. Then in the end creates a air waybill as a PDF file. I just sent this PDF file to the immigration officer who printed it out and gave it to the FedEx courier guy when he went to pickup the package.
One more thing is that, FedEx in sheffield knows about the HSMP. I got a call on the day of pickup asking my the reference number since the HomOffice was not releasing any packages without the reference numbers. So that means they have already collected a lot of packages from the HSMP team and they are well aware that the HSMP team does not sign any document.

Thank you Jammy. That is very helpful. I have already made a request on the Fedex website for an account number. The details asked didn't include my credit card, though. I wonder why.

Hi moderators, please make this a sticky. I think what Jammy shared is very helpful!

Hi Purplepple,

I think you have created a login currently. Anyway when you want to ship something, then you will be prompted to create an account and at that time it will ask you your credit card details. Once you have created one account and associated it with you login id, it will use this account for your login the next time you ship anything.

Jammy

Hi Jammy,

I have one question. How did you create the account on FedEx site?
I could create a login but was asked to contact customer care for creating an account. I am from India and want to have FedEx collect my documents and ship them to India.

Thanks.

Hi Andy,

Usually the site prompts to create an account when you want to ship something. After you created the login and logged in, did you try to prepare a shipment?
For me, when I tried to create a shipment, the first thing it asked was creation of an account or if you already have an account, you can associate it with your login ID.

Thanks
Jammy

Hi Jammy,

I have one question. Did you provide in your application package an NARIC letter of comparability to verify that your bachelor's degree is equivalent to UK's?

Thanks.

Congratulation

Hi Jammy,

thanks for all the info. I have a couple of questions:
1- do all of my payslips need to have a stamp/seal or signature on them?
2- On the claimed earnings section on the application, it states to list all the previous employers contact info? do i do this on a cover letter? also how far back do I have to list?
3-I have been told that i don't need to provide a 1040 rather just w2 forms for the period covering the claimed amounts, did you do the same?

Thanks so much!

Hi Crossrapids,

No, I did not provide any thing else other than my Degree certificate. Just for more information, my degree certificate has both English and the local language (kannada) in it.

I used the same degree certificate to suffice English language requirement along with the letter from university.

-Jammy

Hi Kellyson,

1. Yes, all the payslips need to have the seal and signature on them. That is to authenticate that the information provided in the payslip. In my case the last payslip was actually not a payslip instead it was a settlement slip and I had that also sealed and signed and that was accepted.
2. You need to give the contact info of those employers who fall under the claim period. If it is only one then you need to provide only that one employers contact info.
3. I am very sorry that I may not be able to help in this since I used my Indian salary and tax returns for my application. But trying to map the documents, I think a W2 is the statement of income from the employer and the 1040 is an actual tax returns filling document. If this is correct and according to what the HSMP guidelines say, you might need to submit the 1040. But as I said, my understanding of 1040 could be wrong.

hi,
i am almost in teh similar situation u were in..

i joined a company in september 1st on 2006 and resigned on july 31st 2007..
so i have 11 payslip and i get 30 points for that..
this august i cam to another country and i am here for last 3 months..

so i am not interested in showing this company and planning to show only the company that i were working in india..

i am getting 80 points for that..

1. my doubt is whether i can calculate like totoal earning for 11 months and divide by 11 and multily by 12 for getting 12 months earning..by doint this i will get 5 more points ...
there is gap of 15 days between the employer form india and the employer in the country i am living..

2. i have payslip sealed and signature byt the employer but the company changed their name during the month of march..
so pay slip has different log for the months from sep to march and from march to july..
is it sufficient if i attach a print out taken in website and put a link in teh covering letter?

3. is it ok if i apply from the country i am living?

Well the guidelines say that there should not be any gap between the jobs you do in more than one country. But I think if it is the same month, then it should be fine since you will have two pay slips from the two companies for the same month, even though it is for a lesser period.

If you are using only the Indian company and not the company you are working now, then they will take your 11 months gross salary as the one for 12 months, not pro rata but as it is.

1. To be able to do pro rata, you must have worked in two different countries and different companies without any gap. As I said, 15 days could not be a gap if it is in the same month. If it is only one company then they just consider the total earnings from that company for a valid continuous 12 months or lesser.

2. Yes, provide a printout of the page on the company's official web page that says about the name change. Also provide a link to the site in your covering letter. I did the above things and in addition, I also sent my experience letter which had in its Note section the information about the company being acquired by a different company.

3. You can apply from any country. It does not matter if the country you are claiming points for work in one country and your contact address is that of a different company. In my case, I used my Indian salary and actually applied from the US.

Hope this helps.