Temping on WHM Visa - Want to switch to Tier one -Confused !

[devilish]

Hi All,

I have been a silent member of this forum from a long time and I must admit that this forum has really been very helpful in clearing a lot of my doubts regarding Tier one General visa. I really appreciate the efforts being put in by senior members like sushmehta and all those you have contributed in making this forum a must read for all visa aspirants.

I have these very specific queries and have tried searching these forums but have not read any discussions relating to my queries. It would be a grt help if any of you guys could help me by giving some positive feedback to my queries.

Bit of my back ground:

I had originally arrived in UK in May 2007 on a Working Holiday Maker visa and have been working from September 2007 till present with the same company. I have done quiet good for myself until this stupid rule change from HO that you have to apply for your Tier one visa from your own country had got me in a big mess and there seems to be no way out other than going back home and applying from there.

I had been working with company X from September 2007 till present on temporary basis. Although I have been working with this company but I am actually contracted with Hays Recruitment agency who supplies temporary workers to company X. Now every Monday my time sheet gets authorized by my manager in company X but I still get paid by Hays every Thursday. I had not formed any private ltd company nor have I used any service of Umbrella companies like Giant and that’s why I get paid directly by my recruitment company on a weekly basis (so I have 48 payslips till today).

Now my Queries are:

1) Do you guys feel that I would fall under the rules of independent contractor as I had been temping with company X or would I fall under salaried employment (PAYE) as I am directly paid by the company who has recruited me? I know a person would require different sets of documents if a person falls under Independent contractor or as a PAYE and that’s why I am really confused. Please advice?

2) I know that a WHM visa holder has to restrict his work to a maximum of 12 mths but I am bit confused regarding the procedure that HO uses to derive whether a person has worked over twelve mths or not? Do they do it by counting the no of weeks a person has worked in there whole 2 years, in which case it should not exceed 52 weeks or do they count the period of twelve mths from the first day a person started working. I had started working for company X from 24 September 2007 and have been working till present but within this time frame, I had taken four weeks holidays. Now if I assume that HO catches 12 mths from the day you first started working than my working limit would end on 23 September 2008 but if I assume that they catch the no of weeks a person has worked than as off 23 September 2008 I would have only worked 48 weeks and this would mean that I can work more four weeks as my WHM visa expires on 24 October 2008. Please advice?

3) I could not understand the definition of formal payslip. My salary slip comes on very plain paper and it includes all my details but does not contain either the name of my recruitment company or its logo. Now would this be considered a formal payslip, if it is than I would not need to get them stamped but if they are not considered as formal payslips than I would have to get these stamped which I feel is difficult as I would have 48 payslips to get stamp on. Please advice?

4) My company pays me on hourly basis and that’s why in our weekly time sheet we have to put in the no of hours we had worked in last week. There had been several instances where I had worked more than 48 hours in a week. Would this be a problem as I recently came to know that you should not work more than 48hrs when you are temping as it is not legally allowed?

5) My recruitment agency pays me at the rate of £10 per hr and this also includes my holiday pay which is £1per hr. So if in a particular week I had worked 48 hrs than my gross salary for that week would be 480 pounds but as this amount includes my holiday pay of £1per hr my company only taxes me on £432( £10 Basic-£1 Holiday pay = £9 Net per hr * 48 hrs = 432). This means that my salary slips contains two different amounts one is my gross pay and other is my net taxable salary. Which amount do you feel should I use to claim my earnings attributes for my Tier one?

Lastly I have come across many cases where individuals have successfully switched into tier one from WP visa, Student visa but I have not yet not come across any person on these forum who has successfully switched from WHM to Tier one. Please advice if you have been successful in switching from WHM to Tier one.

Guys thanks a lot for going through my long post and would appreciate if I can receive as many feedbacks as possible.

Thanks,
Devilish.

[devilish]

Frds,

50 visits but no reply. Please help me as I need to get answers to these queries as soon as possible.

Thanks.

[geriatrix]

1. Salaried employee.
2. A total of 12 months / 52 weeks in the 24 month period - so you could work for 12 months in one go or you could take up for 4 jobs of 3 months each during the entire period of WHM visa validity. Paid holidays will be considered as part of employment only (so will count towards your work weeks / months).
3.Payslips on plain paper must be signed and stamped by the employer (clearly mentioned in the policy guidance). See how formal payslips look
4. Earning calculations for Tier 1 are done using Gross Salary (clearly mentioned in the policy guidance).

Read Tier 1 (General) policy document

I hope you are aware that WHM visa holders cannot apply for Tier 1 from within the UK. So if you wish to apply for Tier 1 you'll have to return to your home country and apply there.

regards

[zayedshah]

Hi Devilish, nice post u ve posted. I am in the same situation, WHM wanting to switch to Tier1. Can you tell me if you ve applied for tier1 and got it? Thanks.

[devilish]

Yes Mate,

I have got my Tier one. Dude if you have any specific queires than its always good to pm me as I visit this site just once a month.

Thanks,
Devilish

[zayedshah]

Yes Mate,

I have got my Tier one. Dude if you have any specific queires than its always good to pm me as I visit this site just once a month.

Thanks,
Devilish

Hi Devilish, I sent you a pm but I am not sure if u received it or not. It would be nice if you can can get back to me thru this forum or thru my email zayedshah@gmail.com or 07796115332. Thanks again.