HSMP Review - Advice appreciated

[briboy15]

I had sent my application back in for review on 10/29/07. I had earned the relevant points in age and education; however, I was contesting the lack of points granted for my previous earnings.

I just spoke with the Home Office today and they said a decision had been made on my review and the documents were sent out yesterday.

Here's where the problem arises. I wrote a very detailed 4-5 page letter explaining everything w/ my previous earnings and addressing any issues they may find w/ them. I provided numerous contact numbers for employers, banks, clients as an independent contractor for them to contact. I asked with the utmost respect for them to contact these individuals just to confirm my salary/earnings.

After speaking with the home office, I called up my previous employers and the bank and NONE of them had been contacted by the home office. I've read numerous times on this board, and the lady at the home office confirmed, that the agent reviewing your application will indeed contact your employer. This makes me believe that I was rejected approval of my review if they didn't even take time to confirm the salaries w/ my employers. Maybe my letter was that good but I am truly skeptical.

I just don't understand why they wouldn't contact the appropriate individuals when I provided all the information and they have done it in the past. Further, everything I provided is the complete and honest truth and I stated that. I don't understand how they can reject truthful people when they are having a tough enough problem getting skilled workers to come to their economy.

Thoughts/advice would be very much appreciated. I should receive my packet tomorrow or Friday with my final answer.

[gordon]

Some applications, it seems, are refused as a result of oversight or error, so it's not unreasonable to think that revisiting the evidence submitted earlier with further explanation (in the review) of how the evidence were to be evaluated, might have been sufficient to bring about an approval. That said, you might summarise what you submitted in support of your earnings and indicate how the refusal letter read with regard to the same.

In my own case, the independent-contractor earnings generated some confusion for the caseworker (and her manager), and in the end they never contacted the employers/contracting agency directly about those earnings. My conversations with them indicated that they wanted assurance that the pieces of evidence corroborated each other, not that the substance of the evidence was verifiable or that the evidence was otherwise authentic.

AG

[briboy15]

Gordon -- a lot of the confusion did seem to be with the independent contractor portion of the application. Would you mind taking a look at the letter I sent them and tell me if it seems clear/similar to your situation?

Many thanks.
Brian

[SYH]

My conversations with them indicated that they wanted assurance that the pieces of evidence corroborated each other, not that the substance of the evidence was verifiable or that the evidence was otherwise authentic.

AG

I agree that this seems to be the case and it is strange that the more you give them the more likely you will be rejected due to confusion. It is a tick the box mindset where if you were having a conversation with them and said in caveman grunt: INCOME and throw pieces of paper showing income and the corroborating evidence and they would grunt back MMM Income, You Approved versus an accounting conversation of where you explain dividends, salary, deductions etc and thus here is my gross and net income and they respond due to the lack of verifiable evidence your application has been rejected.
ARGH"!

[gordon]

SYH: It's the rock and a hard-place problem. Sending too little gets a rejection; sending too much creates confusion. I sent exactly what they requested (no more, no less), but that didn't make things any easier for them. But frankly when the work arrangements are not straightforward, it's hardly surprising that the documentation for that work will not be straightforward either. The fact that the documentation came from the US (from where they appear to receive relatively few applications and therefore with which they have less experience), cannot have helped.

Brian: I sent you a pm.

AG

[SYH]

I came from the USA but I was an employee at the time so that was straightforward for them.

however the method of corroboration is the same so the different country shouldn't have thrown them off

[sule]

I have recently faced a similar situation with my second application (self employed). They refused my application as they could not corroborate my claimed income to my personal bank statements even when I provided the CW with a spreadsheet to corroborate to my account and business account.The CW stated my analysis contradicted the evidence .

In my opinion, the CWs objectively look for reasons to refuse applicants, not having an open mind while caseworking. It also looks like there are unwritten rules the CWs have access to!.

The average caseworker is not caught up for any hassle, its all about turnover of applications!.

[gordon]

SYH: Generally, I would agree, but judging from their questions, they were unsure how to use the 1099 (tax return for indep contractors) to corroborate gross earnings. In my case, the contracting body paid me 24000 for my work and 8000 for supplies and expense reimbursement. The two figures are added together and given on the tax return as a sum of 32000 paid to me (no itemisation). Even though the amounts were itemised on the payment advice slips (invoices), the caseworker's manager decided that 32000 would be the 'gross earnings', not the 24000 that I'd thought would be more logically claimed as such.

Maybe I've made an incorrect inference about their familiarity with other tax systems; I have no idea how equivalent forms from other tax systems differ (or whether they even do differ). Or maybe the HSMP team have already worked out that they gave me credit for my expenses, in addition to what I'd called my gross earnings.

sule: I'm not sure that the caseworkers are predisposed to refuse; my caseworker and her manager were very helpful and quite keen to engage me in their evaluative process. Of course, they could have been the exceptions, but that would be a very pessimistic view.

AG

[sule]

Gordon: My initial application was refused because I failed to give my login details to view my income tax. Prior applicants from Lagos had submitted this and this became the status quo. I submitted my login details in my review but it was classed additional information.

My second application has been refused because they could not corroborate my personal bank account to the claimed income even when I provided explanations on how I was paid, business bank statements and a letter from my accountant. There is not much engaging to be done when your case has been refused. My personal bank statements aslo included business income and was also paid from the business accounts / drawings.

Being an independent contractor is is not as tricky as being self employed, you have a few invoices from 3rd parties to corroborate income. If I had to send all invoices and documentation I had it would amount to too much information and will again I will be refused.

Keeping fingers crossed on my review

[purplepple]

In my case, they did not consider some allowances but when they calculated my total earnings excluding the allowances, it dropped to less 10% of my original earnings. This is impossible because they are just small allowances.

So I sent a review request explaning why it cannot be so. Would you know how long they will take to reach a decision? When I emailed them, they said 6-8 weeks, which is too long!

[sule]

Based on the current processing rates I reckon it should be 1-2 weeks. I sent my review last Friday and looks like my letter came in today but missed it cos I was out.