Tier 2 Sponsorship App Help required with few questions!

[ILRApplication01]

Dear All,

Our company is a small Software Development company with 5 employees and have been in the business for 8+ years. We employ two migrant employees: one is currently on Tier 1 (general) and the other one is on ILR. The visa for employee on Tier 1 will be expiring in May and he is not eligible for Tier 1 extension because his current salary is 25000 and he needs minimum of 35000 in order to meet the required points. In April, his salary should be increased to 26500 as part of his annual appraisal.

We have following queries and would appreciate if someone could help us out!

1) [i]Does your organisation NEED to be registered or accredited to a governing body to operate legally in the United Kingdom? [/i]Does the software company needs to be registered with such body? We are registered with ICO (Information Commissioner's Office).
2)[i]Is your organisation currently employing migrant workers (non-settled workers) or sponsoring overseas students?[/i] Do we need to count the employee who is on Tier 1 for this purpose? Although we are not sponsoring him at the moment because he is on Tier 1.
3) Do we need to conduct RLMT, if yes, do we need to let the Ad run for two weeks or 28 days? Can we run the add after we have applied for the license?
4) Our understanding is that, our employee will qualify for Unrestricted COS so if that's the case then do we need to mention 0 COS in the application or 1?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards,

[The Station Agent]

I don't think your company needs to be accredited by a governiing body.

You should state that yes you are employing 1 non-settled worker.

I believe you do have to do RLMT - the time the ad has to run will be stated in the guidance notes for Tier 2.

You will need an allocation of at least 1 restricted CoS.

[ILRApplication01]

Thanks for your reply. The level 1 user for my company has received the email today from home office with the following details:

Subject:Sponsorship Management System - Information for the Level 1 user

You have been nominated as a Level 1 user for "COMPANY NAME" as part of the sponsor licensing process under the new Points Based System (PBS) administered by the UK Border Agency.

We have now activated your Sponsorship Management System (SMS) account which will allow you (on behalf of your organisation) to assign Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies/ Certificates of Sponsorship to sponsor migrants under PBS.

Your User ID for the SMS will be sent by post to the named Authorising Officer in the organisation to pass on to you. It is important to note that allowing any other individual to use a named Level 1 user's ID and password to log in to the SMS may result in the sponsor's licence being downgraded to a B rating or, in extreme cases withdrawn entirely.

You can access the SMS via the log in screen on the UK Border Agency website https://www.points.homeoffice.gov.uk/gu ... Home.faces where there are materials about PBS, sponsorship and how to use the SMS. These materials should be accessed before you use the system to familiarise yourself with the processes. Training materials will also be sent to the Authorising Officer to help you to use the system effectively.


Does this mean that my company's sponsorship application has been accepted? Can anyone whose company received a similar email share his/her experience (time line etc)?

Thanks.
Regards,

[manci]

Does this mean that my company's sponsorship application has been accepted?

yes it does. You can check whether you are on the sponsor register here:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... ofsponsors

It will take a little time for the username to come in the post and you cannot use the SMS until you have it.

Remember that CoS allocations are only valid until April and you will need a new allocation for the year commencing 06/04/2013

[ILRApplication01]

Thanks for your reply Manci.

I checked the link that you kindly provided and our company name doesn't appear in the list. We received the email today so I am assuming that it may take a couple of days to get the register updated, do you know how long it takes for the company name to appear in the register?

We'll now be conducting RLMT and will need to advertise the vacancy for 28 days as per the following link: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/busin ... arkettest/

We'll advertised the post on the fourth of March so advertisement needs to run until 31/03/2013, Is this correct?

If we don't find the suitable candidate from the settled work force then we can assign the CoS to an existing employee on 01/04/2013. Can he then apply (by post) using this CoS after 06/04/2013 or he has to apply before 06/04/2013 and application must reach UKBA on or before 06/04/2013?
His current leave expires in the first week of May.

Thanks.

[manci]

Thanks for your reply Manci.

I checked the link that you kindly provided and our company name doesn't appear in the list. We received the email today so I am assuming that it may take a couple of days to get the register updated, do you know how long it takes for the company name to appear in the register? 1-2 days

We'll now be conducting RLMT and will need to advertise the vacancy for 28 days as per the following link: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/busin ... arkettest/

We'll advertised the post on the fourth of March so advertisement needs to run until 31/03/2013, Is this correct? Read paras 287-324 on pages 52-58 of the T2 sponsor guidance: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

If we don't find the suitable candidate from the settled work force then we can assign the CoS to an existing employee on 01/04/2013. The person you assign the CoS to doesn't have to be an existing employee. Can he then apply (by post) using this CoS after 06/04/2013 or he has to apply before 06/04/2013 and application must reach UKBA on or before 06/04/2013? He must apply within 3 months of the date of the CoS since a CoS is only valid for 3 months. His current leave expires in the first week of May.

Pay attention to the job title and description, SOC code and the min. salary needed. The job has to be at NQF6 level. unless it is a shortage occupation
Thanks.

[ILRApplication01]

Thank you for your help, much appreciated!