Are we eligible to take up any contract offer?

[madhusudana]

Hi,

If i were to secure a Tier 2 General Visa through one of the many Tier 2 sponsors, am i eligible to work for any contract that is available in the market for my skill?
I am currently getting many interview calls but post the interview when they ask about my visa status they are apprehensive about offering contract considering Tier 2 General visa.
Can someone please clarify if it is legal to work for any contract under Tier 2 general visa.

[uk121]

its quite tricky!

Legal - You find a job and the contract is signed between the client and your sponsor
Illegal - You find a job and the contract is signed between your sponsor and the employment agency (9 out of 10 contract jobs are handled via employment agency). In this scenario, the end client will not be in picture, this is against the UKBA tier2 guidance, as they expect your sponsor to manage the roles & responsibilities etc directly with the end client. However, there are so many people work via employment agencies.

You need to try hard to find a direct client contract to be inline with law...!

[madhusudana]

Many Thanks for your response. Its clear now.

[manci]

see also the rules about supplementary employment, para 209:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _04-14.pdf

[onlooker]

To add to the uk121's excellent answer, there is usually additional paperwork that the sponsor will require you and the client to sign, to make it look more like a proper service delivery rather than umbrella, and the client must be aware that UKBA can visit them on-site to check that up. This does not make things easier for you, but the sponsors who don't do that run much higher risk of having their license revoked.