Tier 1 Extension, Previous Earnings--Overseas Income

[Lantenac06]

Hello,

I am already on a Tier 1 General work visa, and will shortly be applying for an extension. My question pertains to the previous earnings criteria.

I earn about 33,000 pounds from my salaried job in the UK, which is 2,000 pounds shy of the 35,000 I need. However, I have a stake in our family business, and I can garner the rest of the income through consulting work I have done. I do occasional work for our company from England, and can invoice our company and have them pay 4,000 or 5,000 U.S. dollars into my U.S. bank account as payment for this. I can then have our U.S. accountant confirm that our company has paid me the funds for the consulting work I have done during the past year.

This will put me over the 35,000 pound threshold, and is entirely legitimate--as I have a stake in the company, I can do consulting work and request to be paid for it. My question is, will this be sufficient when I apply for my extension, or will UKBA look warily at overseas income generated in such a fashion?
Moreover, what would be the best way to provide evidence of the work? I planned on supplying 1) a consulting invoice to the company, 2) a copy of the payment cheque and proof of the payment into my bank account, and 3) a letter from our accountant certifying the whole thing. Would this be sufficient?

Finally, would I need to mention anything to do with U.S. tax, or is it sufficient just to have our accountant confirm the gross earnings?

I am sorry if any of this is redundant or stupid, but I would like to make sure I do everything possible to keep my application tight. Many thanks for any help anyone can offer.

[mulderpf]

I am not sure about this situation, but the thing which raises alarm bells in my head is the fact that you have a stake in the company. I don't think this allows you to derive income in a consulting capacity in this way, you would need to claim a share of the profits you are entitled to instead or claim it as dividends and a salary payment - although, it could be argued you are not involved in the day to day running. (What you are trying to do seem to be along the same lines as someone simply invoicing his own company in order to boost his income).

Another thing that would sound a bit odd is the fact that it sounds like you have done consulting work, but it doesn't sound like you've been paid for this yet, you would simply do this just to put you over the threshold. It would make anyone looking at your case wonder.

[Lantenac06]

Hello, thank you for your quick reply and honest advice. That was my concern, too. To be honest, it isn't as dishonest as it probably sounds; I misspoke slightly, made myself sound grander than I am. My family has a small company managed by my father and his brother. I don't derive any share of the profits, and am not technically a director or owner or anything like that. I help them with editing and advertising and number crunching, etc. from time to time. As much as this is true, even though I can understand how it might seem questionable--the company name features our surname, so there won't be anything remotely secretive about the family connection-- I was still hoping it would technically support the criteria. It might look a bit unusual, but I can substantiate it with an invoice, evidence of some brochures and work I've edited, proof of the payment into my bank account from the company, and confirmation of the consulting work from our certified accountant. As this broadly suits the criteria they are looking for, I was hoping they might accept it, especially as I am otherwise so close to the threshold with my UK income.

I don't expect a definitive answer to this--I suspect the only way to know for sure will be to bite the bullet and apply for the extension--but if anyone has any additional advice to offer, I would be very grateful. I know it is imperfect--I would be invoicing the fee specifically in order to meet the threshold, and have not been paid regularly; just the same, it is legitimate work, which I can, again, get certified by our accountant--but it is the best I can do. My visa expires soon, and I am otherwise going to be somewhere in the vicinity of 1500 to 2000 pounds short. As my family's company is willing to pay me for the work I've done, it seems my best option; it is clearly nepotism, but the work is still legitimate. In any case, thank you for your time.

[thebionicredneck2003]

Hi,

In addition to what the very knowledgeable Mulderpf has said regarding some of the possible issues that may arise for you with what you propose, I would suggest that the easiest thing for you to do is to get another job here in the U.K as £2,000 is a really small amount to make. You can probably work on the weekends or at night for a few months. This all depends on when your visa actually expires.

I have found that making applications with earnings that can easily be verified within the U.K makes things much more straight forward for you and the caseworker when you eventually make your application. Just my own two cents.

Good luck.

Kind Regards

[Lantenac06]

Hello there, thank you for your very thoughtful post. I think that looking for another job is not a bad idea. I did manage to secure my first Tier 1 visa using overseas income in this fashion, but I do think I got rather lucky before, and am nervous at my chances of repeating this. Especially as I am now a fair bit more settled here, and have a partner I do not want to leave.

You have already been kind enough, but I don't suppose you have any advice as to where to find quick part time work? I have five months to extend my visa--so realistically, four months to garner the earnings. I don't think it will be out of the question to make the money in this time, and will look into it; I would certainly rather have an airtight application if possible.

Once again, many thanks to you and mulderpf for your thoughtful advice.

[thebionicredneck2003]

Lantenac06,

Happy to help out and offer any suggestions where I can.

At the top of my head, I can recommend a few things, some may be more suitable to you than others and I am sure other members can chip in as well.

Here it goes:

1. Call centre jobs: They always need people all year long and if you work at nights or on some weekends, you can get 1.5 times or 2 times the standard rate.

2. Bars
3. Retail Chains: Specifically shops like M&S, Tesco and others that need people to work overnight or during the weekends also pay a higher rate for those types of shifts.
4. Taxi services

Obviously, there are more options and I am sure someone can even tell you to become self employed and offer some services, but like I said in my earlier post, I am just giving suggestions on what I feel is easiest and will eliminate any unnecessary complexity when you finally make the application.


Good luck.


Kind Regards

[Lantenac06]

Thank you so much for your detailed response; once again, I really appreciate it!

I will look into some of those options and see what I can come up with. Thank you. I suppose I have been hesitant in the past to look into those kinds of things just because I am rather well educated from good US/UK institutions, and it seems a bit pathetic to have to turn around with a Master's degree and attempt to work something so rote. Still, beggars can't be choosers, I suppose! And as you say, I expect it would be best to find something uncomplicated for documentation purposes. I don't expect anything self-employed would be ideal for this.

I do work as a writer and am a good editor, but I expect four months is a bit of a tight window to try to find way to turn this into £1500 of additional income.

Just the same, any additional advice from anyone who has been in a similar position would be welcome. Otherwise, I shall start an urgent weekend job search.

Many thanks again for your help!

[thebionicredneck2003]

I understand how you feel, but on the plus side if you do get another part time job, it will only be for a very short time.

Kind Regards

[Highly_Skilled]

What most applicant's don't understand is that Oversea's Income (especially Self-Employed) is looked upon with extreme scrutiny.

I advise my client's to look at it from a UKBA perspective. If you have been granted 2 or 3 years under Tier 1 initially using Oversea's income, then you have that same amount of time to find a job in the UK that pays well.

So when you come to extend the UKBA will be asking you while you are still using oversea's earnings when you have been in the UK for 2/3 years. Afterall, it isn't in the spirit of the scheme.
The scheme was designed for highly skilled migrants to develop their profession in the UK.

Just something to be aware of.

[Lantenac06]

'The scheme was designed for highly skilled migrants to develop their profession in the UK.'

Thank you for your advice, and I do think you are correct--I worry my overseas income would not stand up to scrutiny if they choose to scrutinise, and I am now convinced to try to sort out the income myself in the UK. However, though there is nothing constructive to be done about it, I do think your comments highlight a major flaw of the current visa system. What I have done is precisely in the spirit of the scheme--I have gotten a Master's at a top UK university and now work for one of the most prestigious arts organisations in the world. In this field, I make a very good living; it's just that it nonetheless falls short of the income threshold set by UKBA, a threshold it would be very difficult to meet in my sector.

This is not an attempt to launch an attack on you or on UKBA in general--I am extremely grateful they have the provision for Tier 1 extension in place at all, and count myself very lucky--but as the implication seemed to be that in needing additional income I have not pursued a good enough job in a highly-skilled sector, I thought it worth casting in my two cents. I trust I will make my application work, but I think it a great shame that it is so difficult for those in arts, non-profit, or public sector jobs to meet the threshold, even if they have a good job and *are* clearly highly skilled migrants developing their profession in the UK.

Just the same, thank you for your input.

[Lantenac06]

'I understand how you feel, but on the plus side if you do get another part time job, it will only be for a very short time.'

This is very true, and I am truly grateful for your advice. I am now quite convinced to go this route, which I think will make a big difference to my application. I can't thank you and everyone enough for being kind enough to offer advice; many thanks again.

[mulderpf]

Fully agreed - the current system highly favours IT and financial professionals working in London. No concessions are made for differences in salary across different industries and sectors and for different regions of the UK. (I would love to move somewhere rural and not have to work in London, but until I have ILR, I'm staying around London specifically just to meet the income criteria).

I believe that part of the justification of the demise of Tier 1 (General) and the introduction of Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) was specifically that - to have something aimed at people across various professions and have the criteria "fairer", rather than something as cross-cutting as salary.

It just the nature of things as they are at the moment I suppose.

Something else I was thinking was whether you could ask for a payrise to bring you over the threshold? (Or overtime or something like that???)

[Lantenac06]

Thank you, mulderpf; that is also something to look into. I have drafted an e-mail to my supervisor to look into what options might be open to me within the comany. Unfortunately, it is unlikely I will be able to get any more overtime than I already work due to company budget constraints in the current economic climate. Still, I will see what they can come up with; I am not optimistic, but there is a chance they may at least be able to help a little, and it is worth a try.

Thank you again for your help.