Self-employed while on Tier 2

Hi everyone..

I realised this week that I made a terrible mistake due to ignorance of the Tier 2 rules. I work as a university lecturer on a Tier 2 visa and have been in the country for the past 5 years. My ILR application is set for 8/8/2018 at a premium service centre. I was extremely careful throughout my time in the UK in terms of absences outside the country, police registration, and so on. My income is above the threshold and I have a permanent contract with the university. I'm also a home-owner and plan to stay in the UK.

In 2016, I accepted a couple of odd jobs: one was a consultancy, and one was a translation job for a text within my area of expertise. As I said, I'm a lecturer but my work focuses on gender, and the two jobs I accepted had a higher education and gender focus to them. Not wanting to be on the wrong side of the law, I declared this income to HMRC and submitted a self-assessment tax return and paid the tax due.

It was only this week that I realised that accepting these jobs was a breach of the rules. I can't tell you how devastated I am that I have broken the rules, and I feel worse for having done so due to ignorance. I was trying my best to be careful and respect the law, which is precisely why I declared this income.

My question is: is this now a hopeless case? Or is there anything I can do at this point to fix the situation?

With thanks for any and all advice you can offer. Please be gentle, I'm feeling quite hopeless at the moment.

Hi,
Is the issue you are thinking about Having done extra job ? Is it the same SOC code as your main Job for which you hold your Tier 2 ?

Hi aja. I work as a lecturer, and the two jobs I did were 1)consultancy, and 2)translation (both short-term). I doubt they're the same SOC code as my sponsored job.

It wouldn't have been a problem as long the supplementary work you did has been the same SOC and less than 20 hrs/week.

Experts & Mods in the forum can probably guide you in here.

Dinaaa wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:36 pm

Hi aja. I work as a lecturer, and the two jobs I did were 1)consultancy, and 2)translation (both short-term). I doubt they're the same SOC code as my sponsored job.

They must be the same SOC code at the same professional level. Basically exactly the same job with another employer. You could argue that they are both highly related to what you do therefore fall under the same SOC

Thanks UKLL. Any idea about my options at this point? What am I looking at in terms of my upcoming ILR application? Will I even have scope to argue that?

UKLL wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 02, 2018 4:51 pm

Dinaaa wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:36 pm

Hi aja. I work as a lecturer, and the two jobs I did were 1)consultancy, and 2)translation (both short-term). I doubt they're the same SOC code as my sponsored job.

They must be the same SOC code at the same professional level. Basically exactly the same job with another employer. You could argue that they are both highly related to what you do therefore fall under the same SOC

Thanks UKLL. Any idea about my options at this point? What am I looking at in terms of my upcoming ILR application? Will I even have scope to argue that?

There are at least two things to consider: whether you must disclose to HO that this work ever took place, and what exactly has been fixed on paper (HMRC forms, etc.) It's been a while since I applied for ILR, but I do not remember having to list anything but permanent employment. You should download fresh ILR forms and check carefully yourself. If there is no such requirement, simply do not list it. As to HMRC part, check what you have written in work description in your tax forms and see if it can be argued to be in the same line of work. I do not recall a requirement to have the same SOC code. There may not even be a meaningful or official SOC code for a freelance job.

onlooker wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:03 am

There are at least two things to consider: whether you must disclose to HO that this work ever took place, and what exactly has been fixed on paper (HMRC forms, etc.) It's been a while since I applied for ILR, but I do not remember having to list anything but permanent employment. You should download fresh ILR forms and check carefully yourself. If there is no such requirement, simply do not list it. As to HMRC part, check what you have written in work description in your tax forms and see if it can be argued to be in the same line of work. I do not recall a requirement to have the same SOC code. There may not even be a meaningful or official SOC code for a freelance job.

The rules clearly state that you can only do supplementary work of 20 hours max per week if you are doing in the same profession and SOC code as your main Tier 2 General sponsored job.

If not in the same SOC, the person would need a CoS and a visa to work in another field.

[quote=UKLL post_id=1653314 time=1530550283 user_id=181955]
[quote=Dinaaa post_id=1653251 time=1530542160 user_id=197930]
Hi aja. I work as a lecturer, and the two jobs I did were 1)consultancy, and 2)translation (both short-term). I doubt they're the same SOC code as my sponsored job.
[/quote]

They must be the same SOC code at the same professional level. Basically exactly the same job with another employer.
[/quote]

From OP's description it doesn't sound like it was an employment in the sense of UK law. If it was, he would not have paid taxes as self-employed, the employer would have him on PAYE. I have a vague recollection that contractual work like that is plainly prohibited under Tier 2, but the OP is welcome to check it.

onlooker wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 03, 2018 9:12 am

From OP's description it doesn't sound like it was an employment in the sense of UK law. If it was, he would not have paid taxes as self-employed, the employer would have him on PAYE. I have a vague recollection that contractual work like that is plainly prohibited under Tier 2, but the OP is welcome to check it.

Indeed, if the OP was not paid through PAYE and did it as a 'contractor', then yes, it creates another problem.

I would honestly suggest you to speak to a good immigration lawyer about this as non-disclosing of material facts could be worse than breaching the conditions. If you have paid taxes, it is probably recommended to declare this yourself for your ILR application rather than waiting to be caught

Thanks everybody.

To clarify: I was not paid for these jobs through PAYE, which is why I had to declare the income myself and pay the tax as self-employed. In my HMRC self-assessment I put "consultancy/translation" only, no further details. I can modify my tax return to clarify this but I fear that will mess up things further.

I have indeed spoken to my immigration lawyer about it and his suggestion is not to declare it. He says it is very unlikely the caseworker handling my ILR application would check. I remain worried, however, because I agree that not disclosing something is worse than disclosing it and dealing with the fallout.

I am stunned that I made this mistake.

Did you actually register as self employed? Normally this is for ongoing self employment rather than ad hoc contractor.

So think a home music teacher who takes on students for a living, versus a musician who gave one or two lessons at some point, as an example.

Akorotaeva wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:52 pm

Did you actually register as self employed? Normally this is for ongoing self employment rather than ad hoc contractor.

So think a home music teacher who takes on students for a living, versus a musician who gave one or two lessons at some point, as an example.

You're quite right, these were two odd jobs I did rather than continuous self-employment. I wasn't sure if I should but after several chats with HMRC they told me that I should. That's another thing I'm worried about, as I am still on record as self-employed even though I'm not actually!

Ah. Well, call them and deregister yourself ASAP for a start.

Hi again!

I've just checked the ILR form and nowhere on it does it ask or have space for declaring my situation. It asks for information about the Tier 2 employment and income related to that, which I have supplied.

I'd appreciate advice on what to do, besides de-registering myself as self-employed (which really shouldn't be the case anyway as I am not self-employed)...

Dinaaa wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 03, 2018 2:39 pm

Thanks everybody.

To clarify: I was not paid for these jobs through PAYE, which is why I had to declare the income myself and pay the tax as self-employed. In my HMRC self-assessment I put "consultancy/translation" only, no further details. I can modify my tax return to clarify this but I fear that will mess up things further.

I have indeed spoken to my immigration lawyer about it and his suggestion is not to declare it. He says it is very unlikely the caseworker handling my ILR application would check. I remain worried, however, because I agree that not disclosing something is worse than disclosing it and dealing with the fallout.

I am stunned that I made this mistake.

Not sure if that is the right thing to do... I would get a second opinion - I know a very good one based on my own situation if you are interested - even if the caseworker didn't spot it as he suggested, if later Home Office discovered this and considered this to be material, Home Office always has the right to revoke an ILR or even a naturalised citizenship if you are planning on getting one - sometimes saying sorry that you made a mistake might be the best thing to do in my opinion
At the end of the day, I would really say it depends on the type of game you wish to play and each has its own upside and downside
Not disclosing it - Upside: you might never get caught and if they don't find out you might get your ILR
Downside: if this is deemed as deliberate omission of material facts - it could be way more serious
Disclosing it - Upside: Home Office might still give you an ILR
Downside: the worst is 5 year again but there is no more mistakes on your side
The feel the worse thing to do is to compound mistakes - I am a risk-averse person so I would pick the latter personally...

I just wanted to give you a quick update: I met with my solicitor again and also got a second opinion, and I was advised not to disclose this information as the Home Office regulations do not require this disclosure if the supplementary employment is less than 20 hours a week and within the original area of expertise (which mine was).

I applied for and obtained ILR a couple of days ago!

Good luck to everybody

May i ask what is your outcome of your ILR, i am running into a similar situation...