HSMP Refused due to incorrect advice given from HSMP team

[kiwi dog]

HI,
I applied for HSMP in March 2005 using my income from September 2003 - September 2004. I made sure I was able to use this time frame and I quote from an email from HSMP stating

"As your annual salary is over the minimum required to score points, you should claim the points and include a covering letter stating that, as you are on a Working Holiday Maker Visa, your salary is less in the last 12 months than it had been previously and ask that your salary for the previous 12 months be used for this category."

I had my application refused on the grounds that my income was not for the 12 months prior to my March 2005 application.

I called HSMP and they advised me to appeal and include the email.
I did this and my appeal was declined. After calling the HSMP team I got the following email

"I have spoken with a manager from one of the HSMP teams. He said as it was
someone from Customer Relations who gave you the advise you should contact
them as to why you were given the incorrect information. They should have
made it clear to you that earnings from a different year may or may not be
considered by the case worker, instead of leading you to think that they
definitely would.

He also stated that only on rare occasions do they take a different years
earnings in to account instead of the last 12 months. It all depends on the
flexibility of your case worker and whether they think the reason is valid
enough to be considered.

There are no set guide lines for this sort of situation and therefore we
cannot give you direct answer. It just depends on the opinion of your case
worker.

You are still entitled to one more review of your case. However, if you now
have the previous 12 months earnings, I think you would be better to submit
a new application .

I hope this is helpful to you and I am very sorry for the inconvenience you
have been caused."

So as of October 01 2005 I have 28 days for my final appeal. My current working holiday visa expired April 2005 and I have just received back my FLR (Refused) and passport.

Does anyone else think this is a little harsh? I made sure my income would be allowed before I applied and now I get refused.

More importantly I now have 20 days until my right to final appeal runs out. Does anyone have any tips on how to word this final appeal?

Thanks for reading.
KD

[stedman]

Why don't you submit a fresh application with the previous 12 month earnings? Don't think there's any mileage in applying if the information you're supplying hasn't changed, as the rules regarding earnings haven't changed.

Your best bet is a fresh application IMO.

[kiwi dog]

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunatly i turned 28 in June 2005 and I haven't earned £40000 to date.

Cheers KD

[Vayu]

Bugger!!

Good luck with the review.