Restricted COS refused 4 times

[max4444]

Hello,

I am struck in very weird situation with regards to the Tier 2 sponsorship which I am supposed to receive from Employer in June 2017

My employer happened to apply for Restricted CoS 4 times as of now since June 2017, please find the details below as said by my employer

1. Applied in the month of May 2017, told me in June that application had been refused by HO, did not mention the reason.

2. Applied again for Restricted CoS on 28th June, application again refused stating the following reason

"In order for us to apply for a another Restricted Certificate we will need to re-advertise the Oracle role on numerous job boards for at least 28 days. If you are still interested in working with us, you would need to re-apply for the role and be considered alongside any other candidate who applies."

The employer applied using skill shortage list role SOC 2136.

3. The role 'Senior Oracle Analyst' was re- advertised, I was interviewed again and then on 25th June again the HR applied for Restricted CoS, on 30th October I got a response from HR stating the following reason.

"The reason for the declined sponsorship was that the job we wish to offer you is not included in the ‘Skills Shortage List’."

"If you are the most suitable candidate for the role then we will apply for another Restricted Certificate. There is a different option we can apply through rather than the ‘Skills Shortage List’ (which we got declined for last time)."

4. The same role has been re-advertised again on 2nd November, applied again for Restricted CoS on 4th December, got a reply yesterday from HR saying that the home office has refused our application again for the following reason.

"On this occasion the application did not meet the points threshold to be successful in December’s Restricted CoS allocation, as detailed in paragraph 29.10 to paragraph 29.26 of the Tier 2 & 5 Guidance for Sponsors.
The December allocation for the CoS is 1500 certificates.

Please note that, if the number of valid applications received is more than the number of CoS available, those applications scoring the lowest points are less likely to be approved.

Unfortunately we haven’t scored enough points to be granted the certificate and would need to reapply again.

As you can see we would have scored around 55 points for the Labour Market Test, whereas someone on the Skills Shortage List would have scored a minimum of 130."

I have noticed that the HR did not apply for RCoS using "Skills Shortage List" this time, also re-advertised the same role with out the job title change twice so far as "Senior Oracle Analyst"

My employer also sent be me a screen shot saying that January 2018, allocation of RCoS is 1500. I fear I might face the same situation again with shortage of points since on the bases of RMLT & salary I would again score 45 points and applications with 130 points will gain more preference due to shortage of RCoS.

I would like to know if we apply in Jan 2018, does the role need to re-advertised for 28 days and pass the RMLT again?
Or
Is there a way we can re-advertise the role for SOC 2136

As per uk gov website
2136 Programmers and software development professionals Only the following jobs in this occupation code:

Senior developer employed by a qualifying company, where the job requires a person with a minimum of five years’ relevant experience and demonstrable experience of having led a team.

The following jobs in visual effects and 2D/3D computer animation for the film, television or video games sectors:

software developer
shader writer
games designer
The following jobs in the electronics system industry:
driver developer
embedded communications engineer

Does this mean that only the jobs in visual effects and 2D/3D computer animation for the film, television or video games sectors can use SOC 2136?

Can you please suggest the correct procedure to apply for Restricted CoS, so that I can get the Restricted CoS this time atleast.

Yours faithfully,

[harryisback]

Hi max,

I am sad to see your Company's request has been rejected 4 times. I will only answer to your one question about 2136 and shortage occupation. It is a confusion amongst many people that only 2d/3d animation developers are considered in shortage occupation under SOC code 2136. I am recruited by a software company as a senior software engineer in shortage occupation 2136 with more than five years of experience and team leading skills. If your company is offering a post which requires a person to hold minimum of 5 years of exp. and lead the team then you definitely fall in shortage occupation category keeping in mind your company retains all the evidence of your experience and skills and why the post requires someone with these skills only?

I wish you best of luck and hope my answer will help you

[max4444]

HI Harryisback,

Thanks for your valuable suggestion, Can you please clarify if the job title needs to be changed to "Senior Software Engineer" instead of "Senior Oracle Analyst", I mean does the job title also need to match the job title in UK Gov website.

And for Skill Shortage List roles does RMLT need to be done again, since it had been advertised 2 times already?

Yes I can provide evidence that I have got enough experience to lead the team since I have got around 10+ years of experience as an IT Professional.

Best regards

[CR001]

2136 for your job role as an analyst it is not a shortage occupation skill. You can use the code but it won't be considered shortage skills as it is not in the small list of shortage skills for 2136 the HO website states.

[max4444]

Hi CR001,

Thanks for the information,

Can you please let me know what needs to be changed in the job description or job title so that my role can be considered as shortage occupation list under SOC 2136.

My employer has replied back to me just now saying that the job needs to be re-advertised, is RLMT needed again, if yes then I can request my employer to amend the job description and job title so as to be considered under shortage occupation list.

What is the best course of action my employer should be taking in such situation.

Best regards

[max4444]

2136 for your job role as an analyst it is not a shortage occupation skill. You can use the code but it won't be considered shortage skills as it is not in the small list of shortage skills for 2136 the HO website states.

Hi CR001,

Thanks for the information,

Can you please let me know what needs to be changed in the job description or job title so that my role can be considered as shortage occupation list under SOC 2136.

My employer has replied back to me just now saying that the job needs to be re-advertised, is RLMT needed again, if yes then I can request my employer to amend the job description and job title so as to be considered under shortage occupation list.

What is the best course of action my employer should be taking in such situation.

Best regards

[max4444]

Hi max,

I am sad to see your Company's request has been rejected 4 times. I will only answer to your one question about 2136 and shortage occupation. It is a confusion amongst many people that only 2d/3d animation developers are considered in shortage occupation under SOC code 2136. I am recruited by a software company as a senior software engineer in shortage occupation 2136 with more than five years of experience and team leading skills. If your company is offering a post which requires a person to hold minimum of 5 years of exp. and lead the team then you definitely fall in shortage occupation category keeping in mind your company retains all the evidence of your experience and skills and why the post requires someone with these skills only?

I wish you best of luck and hope my answer will help you

HI Harryisback,

Thanks for your valuable suggestion, Can you please clarify if the job title needs to be changed to "Senior Software Engineer" instead of "Senior Oracle Analyst", I mean does the job title also need to match the job title in UK Gov website.

And for Skill Shortage List roles does RMLT need to be done again, since it had been advertised 2 times already?

Yes I can provide evidence that I have got enough experience to lead the team since I have got around 10+ years of experience as an IT Professional.

Best regard

[harryisback]

Hi max,

SOC Code: 2136 is very broad. If your company is claiming the required post falls under shortage occupation then your company needs to justify why it requires someone with specialist skills? My company was asked this question to justify and explain the nature of job role so they can analyse if it meets the criteria of shortage occupation. My company had couple of reasons to debate that why no resident worker is available and also my company advertised role for 28 days, received a single CV and after interview they updated me they will hire me as that candidate is not fit for the job. In your case if title is Oracle analyst then it will be difficult to say we couldn't find any candidate until and unless you say we are looking for someone with oracle analyst skills plus other skills (someone who could develop bilingual software (Arabic/English), design software architecture - as senior software engineers are in shortage in UK) etc... . I think it's best if you seek professional advise from solicitor, discuss your case in detail as your company's COS request has been rejected so many times and it might trigger a red flag to HO that why your company is trying so hard only to bring you to UK.

Good luck champ!

[sptula]

Hi max,

SOC Code: 2136 is very broad. If your company is claiming the required post falls under shortage occupation then your company needs to justify why it requires someone with specialist skills? My company was asked this question to justify and explain the nature of job role so they can analyse if it meets the criteria of shortage occupation. My company had couple of reasons to debate that why no resident worker is available and also my company advertised role for 28 days, received a single CV and after interview they updated me they will hire me as that candidate is not fit for the job. In your case if title is Oracle analyst then it will be difficult to say we couldn't find any candidate until and unless you say we are looking for someone with oracle analyst skills plus other skills (someone who could develop bilingual software (Arabic/English), design software architecture - as senior software engineers are in shortage in UK) etc... . I think it's best if you seek professional advise from solicitor, discuss your case in detail as your company's COS request has been rejected so many times and it might trigger a red flag to HO that why your company is trying so hard only to bring you to UK.

Good luck champ!

Hello Harryisback,

Just a clarification, how would HO thinks a company us trying to bring a person.
Employer dont mention the candidate details for RCOS application, correct?
Once RCOS is approved then they issue it to selected candidate
How would HO know candidate details upfront ?

[harryisback]

Hi,

In my case the company sent all of my documents when they applied for license and COS, for both stages. Solicitor advised us it would speed up the process and it really did. This is why I thought it's a standard procedure or maybe max's company is doing the same.

[max4444]

Hi Harryisback,

Thanks for your advice.

My employer has told me that since they are over 250 employees, they don't qualify to apply for Restricted CoS under shortage occupation.

All that my employer is going to do is re-advertise the role and apply again for which I would gain store 45 points.

Is it again mandatory to re-advertised the role and can we fast track the Restricted CoS so that we by pass the monthly allocation of RCoS and get and approval outside the monthly allocation?

Best regards