HSMP New App - help/advice needed pls

[zeddie]

Dear forum members

I have a very important query from my friend regarding the HSMP and was hoping you would be
kind enough to help us. I will start by running through my friends situation.

My friend (25 yrs old chinese national) has done her Bachelors and Masters degree at Staffordshire Univeristy here in the UK. She graduated from her Masters in last February. Directly after that she started working with me as a web designer at a college in stoke on trent. She immediatly applied for her SEGS visa (or IGS as it is known now) and started work. She earned a salary of £16,500 with some bonuses too. Just recently she got offered a new post with a different company (Capita) which is a huge company in the education sector for the post of graphic designer and site developer with a salary of £28,000. She has already started her new job in the middle of this month.

The problem she is facing is that her SEGS visa expires in mid of April 08. She wants to carry on working for this new company as her contract is permenant and the job is a great one. Her company do not like the complications of going for a work permit for her so she needs to apply for the HSMP.

She will be applying for the HSMP before her SEGS visa ends. We have gone through the points requirements for the HSMP for her and basicly it will be extremely tight for her to apply. (80 points) Whats causing the problem is the total earnings factor.

If she will apply in Feb, 07, her total earnings for last 12 months will be £24024.583. If she applies in March, her total earning will be £24840.667. We have calculated this based on her last 12 monts earnings from her old job and the new job, from either Feb 07 or March 07 when she can apply. Her SEGS visa expires at the middle of April remember. In either of those months, her total points is 80.

The question is, is it worth to apply in March or best to apply earlier in february? If we apply in february will the case worker look at the fact that she already has a steady job earning 28k and that if she waited a bit longer she would easily make the application more straight forward? (more points based on total earnings) The only reason she cant is because her SEGS is expiring in April.

We are just worried that this may not be a straight forward application and the case worker only looks at points and not the overall situation. (the situation seems very positive for her future earnings since she has a perm contract.)

Would you reccomend hiring a lawyer to help her with this? Im not sure what the chances of this app being successful is with 80 points.

Also how long does the application take? (again just worried about her visa expiring in end of March)

Many thanks in advance for all your help. If you have any questions pls ask.

Zed

[gordon]

If I understand correctly, your friend would have to apply for initial HSMP approval, which can take anywhere from a fortnight to a couple months, and then for FLR (HSMP), this latter to be submitted before the SEGS/IGS visa runs out. For initial approval she only needs 15 points for earnings (75 points versus 80 points does not make the application any 'stronger'), so here's a question to consider: when would her income reach the threshold for £20,000, which would give her the required 15 points from earnings ? End of January, perhaps ?

If I were in her situation, I would apply as soon as the minima were met (even if it were the cumulation of only 11 months' earnings, for instance) for 75 points. That would give the maximum time for the potential delay in caseworking, and/or wiggle room for a review or re-submission if the application were refused the first time round. Once the approval is in hand, then she can submit the FLR (HSMP) application.

AG

[zeddie]

Hi Gordon,

Many thanks for your prompt and informative reply. So from what you said its a 2 stage process? So even if the HSMP is approved, the FLR can be rejected? Does that happen often?

Im surprised to learn that 75 points or 80 doesnt make a difference. I was under the impression that the more the points the stronger the application. Does this mean that any application thats over 75 points is a yes? (provided all the evidence etc is correct)

Your right about her income being about 20k (last 12 months) sometime around january, so maybe its best to apply then.

Do you think the caseworkers actually look at the situation the applicant is in? As in, she is already on a salary of 28k on a perm contract, so will he understand the fact that if she applied a few months later, she would meet the criteria more easily in terms of earning power. The only reason she cant is becuase of her SEGS expiration.

Also, in your experiance would it be best to go through an immigration lawyer (expensive) or do it ourselves. (risky?)

many thanks again for your advice.

regards

Zed

[gordon]

The bulk of the refusals seem to occur at the initial application stage, rather than the LTR/EC stage (and more so for entry clearance than for LTR), but that's just an impression, and I don't have any numbers to back that up.

So yes, the initial application is stage one, and, it seems to me, the more difficult hurdle. The approvals process is binary: if you have 75 points, or more, and meet the language requirement, then you get approval. What makes an application stronger is not the accumulation of more points potentially to be claimed, but the quality of the evidence provided for those points. It is best not to cut corners; for instance for age points, if your friend does not have a full UK driving licence, she has time to get her birth certificate (official copy, obviously) and to get it translated in the UK by a recognised translator. Trying to 'get away' with a copy of the passport without cause, has led to refusals, if the experiences on this board are any indication.

There is something rather mechanised about the review process for HSMP applications; it's not clear that the caseworkers 'review the situation'; they seem simply to evaluate the evidence provided. Thus, it will not matter so much that your friend has a job with a per annum salary of x amount; the points of interest to the caseworker will be the amount actually earned over the period claimed, whether the documents corroborate each other, and whether the documents are genuine.

I will say from my own experience that I did not use a consultant or solicitor in the preparation of my application, and my case was rather more complicated (multiple income sources, salaried and independent contractor) than your friend's. But mine worked out perfectly well. Engaging an agent is pricey, but it may well be worth your friend's peace of mind, esp. if there are glitches you're not mentioned; there is the alternate approach: use this board and prepare the application oneself early on; if it fails, then go to a consultant. The DIY approach does not seem all that risky, though.

AG

[purplepple]

I suggest that she submit an urgent treatment form and fax her job offer/employment contract to HO. Based on my observation from those who did this, they were able to get the approval in one week.

[HSMPSEQUENCE]

Dear All

Mine is kind of similar case, My SEGS expires in Aril2008, My income thrashold will be complete in January. However, the tricky bit is I had two employers, one was Recruitment Agency and the next is a Permanet employer.

Gordon I have a duplicate original Birth certificate, will this be OK because I lost the original one.

What other documents will you recomend to prepare before hand? please advise

Thanks

[gordon]

Dear All

Mine is kind of similar case, My SEGS expires in Aril2008, My income thrashold will be complete in January. However, the tricky bit is I had two employers, one was Recruitment Agency and the next is a Permanet employer.

Gordon I have a duplicate original Birth certificate, will this be OK because I lost the original one.

What other documents will you recomend to prepare before hand? please advise

Thanks

As long as you have the required corroborating documents on your earnings from each of the two employers, it should be fine. You're unlikely to have a tax return by the time you apply, so getting the three other types of evidence for each of the two jobs might strengthen your application. But make sure the evidence are consistent with each other.

As for the birth certificate, as long as you have an official copy from the registrar (of birth/deaths/etc), then it should be fine. Only the registrar has the actual original - everyone else gets official copies on request (whenever that might be).

AG

[zeddie]

gordon,

many many thanks for your most useful advice and guidance..

we really appreciate it.

keep up the great work you are doing!!