Tier 1 (G) to ILR: Dividend from retained profits

[BATHE]

Hi,

I am working as a director for my limited company with 100% share holder. I was on a contract job since April 2012 for almost 3 years and when i went to work today they informed today is my last day..gutted.

My ILR due on Jan 2016 and visa expries on 28/1/16. I could not go for extension before April 2015 as i did not maintain my maintanence funds

Since i can show 12 months in last 15 months earlning i took regular dividend and salary from Oct 2014 till Feb 2015 but still short of earning amount for my ILR in Jan 2016 as i need to show 50K.

My query is can i take dividend (march 2015 / april 2015 /may 2015) from my retained profits for the work done before October 2014 and use that to obtain points for ILR.

I am confused how to proceed and i am not sure when will i get my new contract and then since it has to be continuous with out break

[adityaisukapalli]

Hi,

If you have profits in your company, you can take dividends at any time and those dividends will be your personal income. I don't think you have a problem with that..

[BATHE]

Thanks Aditya,

For HMRC / Accountant i can take dividend anytime from the company .

But my query was : for UKBA
can i take dividend in march 2015 / april 2015 /may 2015 from my retained profits for the work done before October 2014, but for ILR my earning period starts only from Oct 2014.

Hope members who had similar situation in the past and applied can explain please.

Thanks

[O_Relly]

Sorry to hear about the way your contract ended mate. Bit surprising that there was no notice at all, was there not a minimum notice agreement in the contract ?

This one has always been a grey area. Technically by the book you still can take dividends from profits regardless of whrn the profits were made. They is no statement in any written documents which states that these profits must be from an active contract.

Having said that, its highly likely that you will be called for an interview and questioned about the lack of an active contract. Hoeever, not sure if they can deny you the ILR since you have still earned those profits yourself for the company at an earlier time.

And you are still working for the company, meeting clients for potential work and working on brushing up your skills for the company etc, so you are still employed by the company and entitled to your salary / benefits.

Dont worry too much, its only a matter of time and you will land your next contract soon.

[BATHE]

Thanks O_Relly,
I had a 1 week notice period which they said they will pay.
Job market is very poor and since it has to be continuous employment / contract with out break I'm worried. anyway i will be taking salary from my company for day to day activities. As you said it's a grey area and i need to wait till i apply for my ILR and see the result what happens which is worry some!!

[O_Relly]

What makes you think it is continous employment without break in contract ?

The requirement is for employment for any 12 consecutive months within the latest 15 months prior to your date of application. It nowhere states that there should be no break in employment in that 12 month period.

[BATHE]

My understanding was since you cant pick and choose the months and it has to be consecutive 12 out of 15, i thought it should be without break in contract for limited company and employement for salaried employee...

[O_Relly]

My understanding was since you cant pick and choose the months and it has to be consecutive 12 out of 15, i thought it should be without break in contract for limited company and employement for salaried employee...

Incorrect. See point 81 in pg. 18 of the policy guidance, here. Quoted below,

81. You do not have to be in continuous or full-time employment during the 12 months being
assessed.

[BATHE]

Thanks you for the reference. I will claim salary in the mean time until I land in next job/ contract.

[bond.boy203]

Few discussions I started on the same topic.

The way I see it, I think its perfectly fine and acceptable as long as you have sufficient profit in your business and you pay taxes for the year which you withdrew the dividends.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/uk-tie ... l#p1147749
http://www.immigrationboards.com/uk-tie ... ml#p682523

[adityaisukapalli]

Don't worry about Contracts and stuff when it comes to your VISA. All you need to show is you have certain level of "Earnings" achieved in any 12 months period in 15 months duration. No matter if you earned 50k in 1 month.. UKBA won't reject your VISA as long as you can prove your earnings are from your company. Also, don't worry about taking Dividends from last year's Profits. You can take them any time. All the Best..

[BATHE]

Thanks for the input @aditya @ bond.boy.