Maintenance rule for PBS dependant after PBS Migrant ILR

[arts99]

Hi,

I will be grateful if anyone can please clarify the following confusion with regards to maintenance please:

Extension applications of Tier 2 PBS dependants who have not been eligible to apply for settlement with the PBS migrant due to residence requirement are supposed to be treated in the same way as if the main Tier 2 PBS migrant still has Tier 2 leave to remain.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _final.pdf states:


b) If an applicant does not qualify for ILR at the same date their partner gains ILR as a relevant PBS migrant – application for further leave to remain as a PBS dependant:
4.4.3. If an applicant was granted an initial period of leave to enter or remain as a PBS dependant on or after 9 July 2012 but had not lived together in the UK with their partner who is a relevant PBS migrant for at least the required 5 years at the date their partner applied for indefinite leave to remain, then, provided their partner was granted indefinite leave to remain as a relevant PBS migrant, the applicant can apply for further leave to remain under paragraph 319C(b)(iii)(1) or (2).

4.4.4. Provided they meet the remaining requirements of paragraph 319C, they should be granted a further period of leave to remain of 3 years under paragraph 319D(a)(ii).

For main Tier 2 applicants: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _04_17.pdf states

Points awarded for maintenance
170. You will be awarded 10 points if:

• you currently have entry clearance, leave to enter, or leave to remain as a Tier 2 skilled worker; or

• your A-rated (Premium), A-rated Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) or A-rated sponsor certifies on the Certificate of Sponsorship that they will maintain and accommodate you up to the end of your first month of employment in the UK if required. Your sponsor may limit the amount of the undertaking, but any limit must be at least £945; or


For Tier 2 dependants https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... n_2017.pdf state:

65. If you apply separately from the main applicant you will need to have the necessary funds to meet the maintenance requirement or have a written undertaking from an A-rated Sponsor, unless the main applicant already had leave in a Tier 2 category and when applying for their most recent period of Tier 2 leave was not required to show evidence of satisfying maintenance requirements.


However https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ts-v12.pdf states:


Tier 2 family members
Family members of Tier 2 migrants must each have £630 to support themselves.
To meet this requirement the family member must either:
• have savings of £630 which have been held for at least 3 months before the date of application
• have a written undertaking from the Tier 2 A-rated sponsor stating that, should it
become necessary, it will maintain and accommodate the family member for a month - they can limit the undertaking provided the limit is at least £630 per family member - family members of people with indefinite leave to remain or British citizenship cannot have maintenance certified for them and must always show cash funds.

The last bit is (in bold) confusing, further to it the online application form/system for Tier 2 dependant applications. Under the maintenance section the form asks the question. Has main applicant sponsor agreed to certify your maintenance? If no is selected then the dependant applicant is asked to provide bank statements which cover the last 90 consecutive days showing that an amount of at least £630 were held for each dependant throughout the said period. As per the rules (quoted below) there needs to be another option available; which one can select that states that “don’t need to prove maintenance as the Tier 2 main applicant whose dependant they are did not have to prove maintenance in their most recent period of Tier 2 leave.”

So dependant applicants in such a situations are not catered for by the online application system; so please advise what shall be the best course of action to follow?

In some cases the main applicant may have left the employment of the main sponsor or unaware that maintenance proof may not be required again fail to maintain the required bank balance in the last 90 days consecutively either.

As you can imagine it’s a risk to select the option of sponsor not certifying maintenance as the required balance statements are not available for 90 days consecutively and the application processing officer might reject it, even though the rules as quoted above except for the last bit highlighted clearly show that in case of extension applications where the main applicant didn’t have to show maintenance dependants won’t need to either.

Thank you for taking the time to read the post and help if you can.

[arts99]

hi,

can anyone please confirm/comment on the following:

family members of people with indefinite leave to remain or British citizenship cannot have maintenance certified for them and must always show cash funds.

Thank you