Company Merger or Change of name? Companies with same owners

UKVI will not take any notice of an explanatory letter... Don't waste your time on that

Frontier Mole wrote:UKVI will not take any notice of an explanatory letter... Don't waste your time on that

Thanks Frontier Mole. I will advise not to mention the previous application then.

On question 1 my employers intend to state that the reason for applying for a license is TUPE, companies consolidating etc. as you suggested. However, they also intend to give my information (Name, job title, job description) as I am the only worker that is being sponsored, and state the reasons for the consolidation/merger and need to transfer me.

Don't know if that would be too much (?) Maybe not make any difference (?)

Thanks again for your help

It is of no consequence to add your details. The licence is granted or not on the basis of the Sponsor information. The need for the licence does not determine if it is granted or not either.

Frontier Mole wrote:It is of no consequence to add your details. The licence is granted or not on the basis of the Sponsor information. The need for the licence does not determine if it is granted or not either.

Thanks a lot for your reply Frontier Mole

I am only worried about whether it would be detrimental to have my info in there. My employers argued to have it in order to make it easier for UKVI as the only reason for the license is to continue my sponsorship.

If there is no real effect in having my info and details of the merger there then I would go along with the letter. But if it's going to have a detrimental effect I would insist on removing that info, so it would be great to know (?).

Thanks again for your help. sorry about going into so much detail

You have to put the merger info in and that is it.

Thanks again Frontier Mole

ok. If that's not going to affect things then I'll not prevent them from putting my personal info.

I'm sorry. Some of the questions they ask seem open and the tendency is to put detailed info.

Regarding question 4

4. Please supply an up to date hierarchy chart detailing any owner, director, and board members. If you have 50 employees or fewer please also list all the people involved with the day-to-day running of your business. Tell us about the posts you wish to fill:

The company has around 10 employees. Should the employees be listed with job titles or just the names down in hierarchy under an 'employees' or 'workers' heading?

As they intend to transfer and accept responsibility for me and no other hires are planned for the future, should that be specified on all the other questions where they ask about vacant posts and identified potential workers?

Thanks and sorry again. Just trying to avoid any mistakes or issues. The forum has been really helpful

Sorry. I think I went too long again. I read other threads and will try to be more punctual

Question 5

What post(s) do you intend to assign a CoS for? This information must include:
a. The job title(s) and SOC code(s);
b. The duties of each post;
c. The salary you would guarantee for each post. if it were vacant today;
d. The skill, experience and qualifications required for each post.

Does company B need to put my information here? (I am being tranferred from company A to B so should they answer this question with "Not applicable"?

Question 6

6. Please indicate which posts are currently vacant and for which you intend to assign a CoS. If you have identified someone already that you wish to employ via the sponsorship system, please provide evidence of how you identified this person. If you identified this person as a result of a recruitment process you should include copies of advertisements placed to recruit for the post, details of any applicants and why they were not suitable for the post of offer. Please confirm whether the person is already working for you.

I am being transferred, so no CoS needed according to the rules. Should company B answer this question as "Not Applicable" too? or should they attach documents evidencing the RLMT that was done when company A hired me?

Questions 7 and 8 state similar questions. I just want to confirm that these don't apply to my case...

I'm sorry about this. I called the helpline and they confused me a bit... I read on other posts that licenses have been rejected for not answering all the questions and since some of them don't seem to apply to our case we need to make sure.

Thanks a lot

Hi everyone.

Just to keep things up to date. The company B has applied for the license and currently waiting for a response.

I have a question though. Company A has checked the SMS. My CoS appears as "used" / "expired". Is this right? My application with that CoS was succesful and I read somewhere in the boards that sometimes UKVI doesn't update the status of a CoS after a successful application. Is something that I should worry about? I don't want to have misunderstandings, especially now that I'm under this TUPE transfer process. Should I asume that things are ok and that the CoS appears as "used" because it was used for my application that was succesful and my sponsorship is ongoing?

Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone

I just wanted to revisit the topic. I was advised by Frontier Mole to tell my sponsor company (company A) to not do anything through SMS regarding TUPE transfers before having company B licensed. I understand and agree completely. I have a question though. Company B applied for the license on April 5 and they haven't heard back yet.

The plan is to inform via company A's SMS and confirm via company B's email once the license is granted. I was wondering whether it would be a problem if the license for company B takes too long as there are the 20 day deadline rules and so on. Can anyone give any insights/advice on this?

Really appreciate your help

The twenty working day deadline is to apply for the licence or attempt to apply if rejected etc. after the transfer is undertaken. There is not a requirement in this case for company A to do anything on SMS.

Frontier Mole wrote:The twenty working day deadline is to apply for the licence or attempt to apply if rejected etc. after the transfer is undertaken. There is not a requirement in this case for company A to do anything on SMS.

Thanks again Frontier Mole. Your advice is very helpful!

Hi everyone

Just catching up in order to ask a couple of things

The license for company B has been granted. The company received a confirmation letter and I was informed that the TUPE is mentioned there so I wanted to know:

- They mention the duty of reporting the transfer accepting responsibility for the transfered migrant. However, they state that original or certified TUPE evidence or similar will be required. What kind of evidence will they need to prove TUPE? What sort of documents?

- The letter also mentions the 20 day rule. How is that determined?

So the next step would be to report from both companies through SMS and wait whether they ask for more documents?

Thanks a lot for your insights. It seems to be on the right track but the TUPE evidence and deadlines are not clear

Really appreciate your help

Hi guys

Any insight on this please?

Thank you

Hi everyone

Today my employers filled a change of circumstances form via SMS in order to report about the consolidation of Company A and Company B and about transferring me from company A to B under the same circumstances. The Change of Circumstances form was filled on the SMS of both companies. After filling the form online they had to print a submission sheet that needs to be signed and sent within 10 days along with documentary evidence of the companies consolidating. I would like to ask 3 questions:

1. My employers told me that as evidence an affidavit signed by the company director explaining the change was the way to go, including the details of every employee that is being transferred (I'm the only T2 sponsored worker). Is there a special template/requirement for this type of document?

2. The change of circumstances form was done under the "merger" category which is the closest option to the reestructuring (both companies under the same ownership consolidating). I understand there was not a buyout, but a transfer of assets (including employees), will this be an issue?

3. Should they send both forms with the same documentary evidence separately? As I stated both companies have the same owners/directors.

Thanks a lot for your help

Hi experts

I need your help urgently. My employers have logged a change of circumstances form from both companies Sponsor Management Systems reporting company B taking over all activities of company A and all employees from company A continuing their work under company B with identical circumstances through TUPE.

However. a submission sheet needs to be sent along with documentary evidence of the transfer (TUPE). I was informed that there are no documents that state that TUPE was triggered and that the option would be to sign an affidavit that explains about the shared ownership of both companies and that it was agreed that TUPE regulations apply while doing the change.

Would this be sufficient?

Please help me advice my employers on this. There is a 10 day deadline and the company director only has today and tomorrow to prepare the documents.

Really appreciate your help

If anyone could help me out with this, I would really appreciate it.

I will try to simplify this as much as possible, but here is my situation. Sorry if it is a little long.

I work for Company A, which is our registered name and the one we have the Tier 2 licence with. Company B is our parent company which holds all of our shares (and only the shares of Company A, it's the holding company), but does not hold a Tier 2 licence.

Recently the company has decided this structure is too complex for a small company and will be transferring all of the shares and such of Company A into Company B, ultimately changing it to our trading name (which is almost identical to Company A's name), but changing things like our company's registered number with companies house, bank accounts, etc.

When I asked for more clarification to determine if this was a name change, merger, or acquisition, this was the reply I got:

'Technically this is considered as a transfer of employer under TUPE, as the company that directly employs you will change. You will be employed by the parent company of your current employer company. This is common when companies are acquired by other companies, although here there is no change in control.'

Am I right in thinking that this is Company A, my current employer being essentially acquired by our parent company, Company B my soon to be employer. And if this is so, does Company B need to apply for its own licence (which is what I would assume), or is there a way to transfer our current licence to our parent company?

Also could someone please clarify what the 28 days thing is, is it that this is the time they need to apply for the licence from the time of the change/notify the home office of the name change once it is official? It's the change is control staying the same that is throwing me off.

Any help anyone could provide me I would really appreciate it, as I feel it is a similar situation to the one that started this thread. Thank you in advance

@ dialectic
@ hopeforall9

The procedure is described in section 13 in the sponsor guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 6_v1.2.pdf

If your present and/or future employer are unclear about what to do they should ring the UKVI employer helpline on 0300 123 4699 or seek advice from an immigration solicitor rather than turn to one of their employees who himself is not familiar with the subject.

Keep in mind that advice carries responsibility and if you tell the company something that is incorrect, and your advice has some adverse consequences, you will be held responsible.

Hi experts

Just wanted to ask and follow up. My employers submitted a change of circumstances request to report about the merger and me continuing to work under the name of company B. This was done from the SMS of both company A and B and the application form/ documents were sent on early May. My employers have been checking both SmS often and told me that the request appears with the status "pending".

It's been around a month. Should my employers contact UKVI about this or is it advisable to wait? I have been working under company B for a while now since the transfer of undertakings was made. Should I be concerned?

Thanks a lot for your insights

Hi fellow members and experts,

I just wanted to ask again regarding this. As I mentioned, I have been transferred under TUPE from company A to company B and both companies sent a request via SMS of change of circumstances informing about the merge on early May and sent the required evidence. I am checking with my employers constantly and they keep informing me that the status of the request appears as "pending" on SMS. Both companies are still on the sponsor list.

I also found out that our company director, who is the key contact and officer will be away for 5 weeks so I don't know if that would affect his ability to send UKVI any documents that they might request.

Is this situation worthy of advising my employers to call the helpline and find out about the status of the request?. Is this waiting time normal?

I really appreciate any insights that you might have

Thank you

Any insights on this?

Thanks a lot!