Tier 2 (Gen) Getting promoted - how to proceed?

[flowerking]

Hi,

I am currently in a tricky situation, Any help will be highly appreciated.

I work as a Developer (IT) and I am in Tier 2 General category and my SOC code falls under 2136. I work in a small team which was consistently failing projects for the past 2 years. The team is under severe scrutiny and the current project managers are being demoted for their poor performance over the years. In Jan 2015, I got my certification as a Scrum Master and the new Head of IT wants to promote me to Project Manager position as I got good Idea of the team and I have been with the company for 4+ years (all others in the team are <2 years in the company, and since the projects are failing, no new recruitment has been authorized for more than a year).

The problems I got -

a) No new recruitment has been authorized for past 15 months at least, and my resource manager's requests have been ignored all times. Even now, the new head of IT is strictly not in the mood new recruitment drive, hence wants to promote internally and reshuffle roles based on qualifications. If I get a chance to be promoted to Project manager, I am not sure how to go for RLMT as there is no genuine vacancy - but only internal promotion.

b) The reason for the promotion is due to my knowledge of the team, in-house technologies, and in-house programming paradigms and legacy systems. If I even get the company to agree for an RLMT, the vacancy description cannot fit the person they are looking for! And that might look like violating Annex 5 - AE - (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _v_1_1.pdf)

it contains an exaggerated or incorrect job description to deliberately make it
appear to meet the requirements of the tier and category you assigned it under
when it does not

Please help.

Thank you.

[moonlight55]

There are few constraints that the employer have to live with when they hire someone on Tier 2. One of them is that they cannot change the role of the employee as freely. Based on the info you've provided, it looks like a role-change for me (developer to PM) and your employer has to conduct an RLMT to show that they cannot find a suitable local candidate for that role.

Will you continue doing developer role with PM as your added responsibility? Or you will move to PM role altogether?

[flowerking]

HI moonlight55,

Thank you for the response.

The promotion would mean a change in core duties. Not as an additional duty.

Also, there currently are 2 Project Managers (resident UK workers) in the team being demoted to developers and team leads. So there is no genuine vacancy. I am really confused on how to proceed. I found the following article interesting - http://www.mondaq.com/x/84980/work+visa ... der+Tier+2
but it is a bit outdated and it might be something of a legal action in case the application is rejected, but not something mentioned in the guidance documents.

Even if the company goes for Experienced project managers, I might not fit the profile as I have no experience as a project manager, but only got a qualification to climb up the ladder and put my skills to test. So, if the RLMT is a pass, I am not sure if my application to a different SOC is a valid one!

Any insights are highly appreciated and I will also contribute and update here, as I found previous discussions in this area (tier 2 promotions) is a bit dry in the forum.

Cheers.

[moonlight55]

The article is indeed outdated, may not be valid now. Do note that it's written by a 3rd party to which UKVI has no connection with. This may not hold good to challenge UKVI.

Back to the article, it mentions - "It has now been clarified that where the employee's duties and responsibilities remain essentially the same, and there is only a "small" increase in pay and responsibility, ("small" not being defined), then this would not merit a change of employment application.".

That's the reason I asked about your change of role. I personally think that your case is a "change of role" scenario and not a straight-forward "promotion" where normally your responsibilities increases by few additional tasks that you need to take care.

I would request seniors like Manci, Sushdmehta and others to comment on this.

[geriatrix]

The promotion would mean a change in core duties.

Doesn't this say it all?
No matter how your company wants to spin it internally, immigration rules are clear on the matter.

[flowerking]

flowerking wrote:
The promotion would mean a change in core duties.
Doesn't this say it all?
No matter how your company wants to spin it internally, immigration rules are clear on the matter.

Hi sushdmehta,

Thanks for the reply.

But I still cannot see how it is clear?! The policy guidance says there must be a "genuine vacancy" for the advertised job for RLMT. I can't see how my scenario has a genuine vacancy? We already got 2 project managers. We are not even firing them. They are demoted to much lesser duties without change in pay or title. So, Just for the sake of RLMT, does the company needs to recruit a new manager ?

The tier 2 policy guidance is actually more clear on penalties to the company and the threat of losing the license if a manipulated RLMT is made without a "Genuine Vacancy."

[geriatrix]

You did not get the point I made!

No matter how your company wants to spin it internally, immigration rules are clear on the matter.

You are required to make a "change of employment" application. Read 218 of Tier 2 policy guidance.
The employer needs to do what the law requires them to do, e.g. - new CoS, RLMT, etc. etc.
You too must do what must be done - a new FLR application as a Tier 2 (General) migrant with the new CoS.

[flowerking]

HI sushdmehta,

I understand what you are saying and I have read the guidances several times, but i have trouble understanding the "genuine vacancy" part of it to conduct an RLMT.

Could you please help me understand if the COS be a restricted or unrestricted one? Since the one I am now on is unrestricted as I switched from PSW to Tier 2 while I am still employed with the same employer. Should I be ok with an unrestricted COS if the RLMT is a pass? Or does the employer needs to apply for a new restricted COS and assign it to me after submitting the RLMT results?!

Thank you for your patience and quick replies.

Have a good day.

Cheers.

[Shah1698]

You need unrestricted CoS.

[flowerking]

You need unrestricted CoS.

Thanks mate. That's the only relief in the whole part.

Cheers.