Tier 2 start date

Hi,

I am currently on a Tier 4 visa which is expiring on 17th of January. Finally a company I interviewed with is willing to sponsor my Tier 2 visa but they are clueless about the visa process.

So my questions are:

1. The HR is not sure if they have the sponsorship licence. But I can see the company listed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... onsors.pdf Does it not mean that they have the sponsorsip licence then? Is there also an offical way to find out from UKBA, I know they return their emails within 48 days but is there a telephone number?

2. Since the company is not even aware whether they have the licence or not I am also guessing they did not request any COS allocations for this year. As I am on Tier 4, I can have Unrestricted COS. How quickly can they get one for me? Is there a premium service to speed the process up?

I would really appreciate if you could inform me so I can guide the company with offical evidence.

Many thanks

Every sponsor has a contact person who handles the company's sponsorship duties. If the company is registered and they don't know, then it's likely that the person handling the account has left the company without handing over. They could lose their licence for that.
ONLY AN AUTHORISED PERSON CAN REQUEST FOR COS. And as it stands it appears the company is registered but doesn't have any authorised person to managed the SMS.

In short, tell the HR to download all the guide notes for tier 2 sponsorship management system and read.

Thank you for your response. Let's say the person handling the account has left without handing it over, if they contact that person and get the details can they switch the authorisation to someone in HR quickly and smoothly ?

I guess once we sort that out we can request the unrestricted COS and keep chasing them to get it on time ?

If the authorising officer has left the company then they have to be replaced before any action can be undertaken. That will require making contact with UKVI outside of the SMS. It takes a fair bit of time to change the AO.

Try to establish if there is a level 1 user in the company. They can use SMS and it will become a whole lot easier to manage.

If the level 1 and AO were one of the same it will take even longer to remedy the situation.

If there is an attempt to use an account of an individual that has left the company that is a serious breach of security and can lead to a licence being suspended or even revoked. I strongly suggest that if the person has left the company that there is no attempt made to contact them for their login / password.

Same situation here, switching from Tier 4 to Tier 2 and my employer is not sure of the process. They requested for additional UCOS which got rejected by the Home Office. I'm wondering what an be done while resubmitting the request.

Hi all,

I'm planning to switch from tier 4 to tier 2 general. My sponsor company is hesitating to agree on a start date until they know that they can have a COS allocation before the expiry date of my visa in the middle of January. That's why in the contract we did not put a start date however isn't it important to have the start date specified for when they assign the cos to me ? Am I also going to give the signed contract with my visa application ? In this case we will have to amend it to include a specific start date ? Can the start date be after the expiration date of my Tier 4 visa ? (Please note that I'll apply for the tier 2 before my tier 4 visa expires)

ir_mel wrote:Hi all,

I'm planning to switch from tier 4 to tier 2 general. My sponsor company is hesitating to agree on a start date until they know that they can have a COS allocation before the expiry date of my visa in the middle of January. That's why in the contract we did not put a start date however isn't it important to have the start date specified for when they assign the cos to me ? Am I also going to give the signed contract with my visa application ? In this case we will have to amend it to include a specific start date ? Can the start date be after the expiration date of my Tier 4 visa ? (Please note that I'll apply for the tier 2 before my tier 4 visa expires)

Your employer can use the new premium service to request for cos. It will be issued within 5 days. I don't think you need your contract as part of supporting documents. Nevertheless, a contract is not complete if work start date is not included. The start date on Cos could be different from the start date in your contract. While the start date of COS refers to the day your employer starts taking responsibility for your sponsorship, the start date in your contract indicates the day you start working for them. This will have to be a date after your visa has been issued.

ir_mel wrote:Hi all,

I'm planning to switch from tier 4 to tier 2 general. My sponsor company is hesitating to agree on a start date until they know that they can have a COS allocation before the expiry date of my visa in the middle of January. That's why in the contract we did not put a start date however isn't it important to have the start date specified for when they assign the cos to me ? Am I also going to give the signed contract with my visa application ? In this case we will have to amend it to include a specific start date ? Can the start date be after the expiration date of my Tier 4 visa ? (Please note that I'll apply for the tier 2 before my tier 4 visa expires)

Your employer can use the new premium service to request for cos. It will be issued within 5 days. I don't think you need your contract as part of supporting documents. Nevertheless, a contract is not complete if work start date is not included. The start date on Cos could be different from the start date in your contract. While the start date of COS refers to the day your employer starts taking responsibility for your sponsorship, the start date in your contract indicates the day you start working for them. This will have to be a date after your visa has been issued.