Tier 2 Self Employed / PAYE URGENT!

[mangomm]

Hello everyone,

I hope that you can help me with some confusion I'm having applying for a sponsorship licence and Tier 2 work visa.

I have worked for the same employer for two years now as a freelance worker, and now that my Tier 1 Post-Study visa is expiring soon, he would like to sponsor me to stay in the country and work for him for another 9 months. Despite reading online one cannot be freelance and sponsored on Tier 2, I have spoken to two different UKBA agents who have said that it is in fact fine to be self-employed and sponsored, and that I just need to submit a contract detailing my job duties, salary, duration of job and signed by all parties.

I cannot seem to find anything online about this option of submitting a contract for sponsoring self-employed workers. Does anyone know anything about this?

Also, is PAYE essential to a Tier 2 visa? It would seem that if one can be self-employed and sponsored, then the sponsor need not use PAYE.

Any help you have would be most appreciated!!

[manci]

read para 594 of the sponsor guidance:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

If you are self-employed you pay your own income tax and NI contributions and are not under PAYE.

[mangomm]

Great, thank you so much!

[geriatrix]

manci,

Does that mean that one can be sponsored as a Tier 2 migrant even if the applicant is self-employed but has a contract of employment in place with the sponsoring organisation?

If so, can't same model be replicated for supplementary work too?

[manci]

There have been threads before about supplementary employment, e.g.:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... plementary
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... plementary
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=116578

Lucapooka especially is of the opinion that self-employment wouldn’t be allowed under the heading of supplementary employment.

From Immigration Rule 6

employment" unless the contrary intention appears, includes paid and unpaid employment, paid and unpaid work placements undertaken as part of a course or period of study, self employment and engaging in business or any professional activity.

and from the T2 sponsor guidance re. sponsorship generally under T2:

594. If the migrant is working on a self employed basis, there must be a contract for employment/services between you and the migrant. This contract must clearly show:

a) the names and signatures of all parties involved (normally, this will only be you and the migrant); and
b) the start and end dates of the contract; and
c) details of the job, or piece of work that the migrant has been contracted to do; and
d) an indication of how much the migrant will be paid.

Note that in the wording of 594 "employment" and "self-employment" have interchangeable meanings, in line with the definition of employment in Immigration Rule 6 and there is certainly no question of any "contrary intention appearing".

I have come round to the view that because self-employment as defined in 594 but not otherwise, e.g. not ad hoc freelancing, is akin to what would be termed as ordinary employment and as such would be allowed as supplementary employment