Applying from US .. Need help with few Questions

[hn78]

Guys,

I am currently in US and planning to apply for HSMP. I am on work permit here in US.

Anyway, had few questions and would appreciate if anyone can help me or point me to links for the answers:


1) I completed my Masters (MS in Comp Science) from Univerity of Massachusetts. Is this university recognized in NARIC for Masters equivalent?
Can anyone give me some pointers on how to find this out?

2) I saw the latest news and found that for people in India , the tier 1 system is being introduced from Feb 29. but for the rest of the world it will be sometime in April or May. Although I am an Indian but residing in US since last 1 1/2 year , does this mean that if I apply after Feb 29 but before April OR May , I would still be considered an applicant of old HSMP i.e. that is currently in place. This means that I would need to score IELTS band 6 for english and not as per the Tier 1 system, correct??

3) Since I completed 1.5 years of Masters program in US with a 4 year bachelor degree in India, do I need to send original degree certificate of bachelors or the Masters degree is sufficient?

4) If anyone from US had applied , can they give me more pointers to links involving discussion of applying from US.

[jagacharaja]

1) I completed my Masters (MS in Comp Science) from Univerity of Massachusetts. Is this university recognized in NARIC for Masters equivalent?
Can anyone give me some pointers on how to find this out?

Best is to have your qualifications certified from NARIC itself. They interpreted my four yr BS degree from the US as an equivalent to the same in UK, so my gut feeling would be that your MS could be the same as MSc in UK, but I can't be sure honestly.

2) I saw the latest news and found that for people in India , the tier 1 system is being introduced from Feb 29. but for the rest of the world it will be sometime in April or May. Although I am an Indian but residing in US since last 1 1/2 year , does this mean that if I apply after Feb 29 but before April OR May , I would still be considered an applicant of old HSMP i.e. that is currently in place. This means that I would need to score IELTS band 6 for english and not as per the Tier 1 system, correct??

Sorry I'm not being of much help but I don't think anyone will have had any experience in the question you're asking, as the rules are new for everyone - if you positively want to be sure then your best bet would be to contact the HSMP helpline directly. Do share what you find out if you do contact them.

3) Since I completed 1.5 years of Masters program in US with a 4 year bachelor degree in India, do I need to send original degree certificate of bachelors or the Masters degree is sufficient?

No harm including it as secondary evidence, especially if NARIC certifies your US MS as the equivalent of a British MSc. If you're going to contact the helpline for the question above, might as well include this in the list as well.

4) If anyone from US had applied , can they give me more pointers to links involving discussion of applying from US.

If you don't already know, check out britainusa.com - especially after your HSMP (or its new Tier1 equivalent) gets approved. Getting EC was a breeze for me (Indian national on H1B as well) from the Chicago consulate - they literally made the decision within an hour - filled out the application online, sent the supporting documents w/the passport by FedEx, and they sent the stuff back overnight FedEx as well. No mention of Integra or anything.

I must emphasize the need to have your application fool-proof - don't leave ANY loose ends, make things as easy as you can for them. Any evidence that you think is unnecessary might be good as "additional" evidence - just mention everything properly in the coverletter.

If you're going to prove your English efficiency by getting a letter from your university (not sure if it's possible under the new tier system), pls understand that in my time they needed the letter from your BACHELOR's college/univ, not from your MS or PhD or anything like that.

I'm sure you will research the latest rules yourself.

Good luck.

[UKbound]

Rather than go through the expense, I wouldn't bother to get NARIC certification for UMASS. It should be fine.

The need to check the equivalency really only applies if it's not a well known university, or if there is question about equivalency with UK standards. UMASS probably even has study abroad programs in the UK, and I'm sure it's not an issue.

[hn78]

Guys, thank for your responses.

Jagacharaja, can you give me some links to where I can get hsmp online help that you are talking about. Also I am not too worried about EC at this point. I first want to apply and see how it goes. I actually want to know more about the process of applying from US, like for proving earnings requirement, how do we send two piece of original evidence. I mean , I have pay stubs, but if I have two prove last 12 months so I am not sure what is the second document I can provide. If I was proving 2007 income I could provide W2 and paystubs but since I am planning to apply some time in April I am not sure how I can provide with second document. If I was able to apply in March I could claim 2007 period for 12 months.

Also is there any specific courier service that we have to use to send application and original docs , like FedEx or UPS.


Ukbound,

I am also thinking the same thing. I am hoping that UMASS is recognized in their NARIC and my MS would be considered as UK masters. I am not sure if there is a quick way just to verify this. I have seen some pdf of Naric recognition floating around on the HSMP forums but that pdf only lists Indian universities. I have not seen any for US universities.

[hn78]

Guys,

I found this thread and found that this guys HSMP got rejected because his Masters from US was in Electrical but bachelor's degree was in Electronics.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=14205

I think he had sent only Masters and they said that NARIC only considers US masters equivalent to UK if it is specialization towards bachelors degree.

My bachelors degree is from electronics engineering in India but Masters in US is Computer Engineering/Science. Does this mean that if I apply just using Masters degree certificate I would also get similar rejection.

Do I then just use Bachelors and not use Masters at all.




Thanks.

[dnicky]

If I were you I would have rather stayed back in the US than trying to gamble with a uncertain future in UK. In the face of the current so called shake up of the entire immigration system in UK I would certainly not encourage anyone to try luck in the UK if there is an alternative available. Just my 2 cents .... it's your career, your decissions.

[hn78]

If I were you I would have rather stayed back in the US than trying to gamble with a uncertain future in UK. In the face of the current so called shake up of the entire immigration system in UK I would certainly not encourage anyone to try luck in the UK if there is an alternative available. Just my 2 cents .... it's your career, your decissions.

Thanks for your advice but US immigration process currently is equally or even more uncertain. There are currently huge backlogs and your stay here is not counted towards anything to be eligible for permanent residency like it is in UK. To get a US GC for indians will currently take 7-8 years. There are many indians in queue to get GC but very limited quota per year for Indians to be allocated.

[jagacharaja]

If I were you I would have rather stayed back in the US than trying to gamble with a uncertain future in UK. In the face of the current so called shake up of the entire immigration system in UK I would certainly not encourage anyone to try luck in the UK if there is an alternative available. Just my 2 cents .... it's your career, your decissions.

aww come on now don't be harsh on him

in all fairness hn78, you do realize you won't get ILR (brit "gc") here in UK until at least five yrs, per rules as of this moment! with that said, dnicky is dead on in my opinion.

are you getting 75 points just by your bachelor's degree? if so, you can stop sweating on the ms equivalency and claim only bachelor's points. to my knowledge there isn't an added benefit betn 75 and say 90 points. just stick w/what you can prove w/out any doubts.

as for the links you were asking me abt..... i have none. i called the hsmp helpline way too many times than i care to remember. that was my sureshot way of being confident of having the right answer. i submitted my income proof from jan-dec of last yr, which conveniently was included in my w2. i think you can provide your w2 for apr-dec (plus paystubs) and "alternate evidence" like bank statements and/or letter from employer confirming your salary betn jan and apr (plus paystubs ofcourse). these are just suggestions, based on my research from an yr ago, so pls ensure you are on top of the most recent rules as to what is acceptable and what isn't... also make your cover letter as clear as possible - assume they know nothing and write it accordingly - list everything and state the purpose of why you're including it.

as for proof of age.... i just sent my (original) us driver's license... went to dmv and got another one claiming i lost the original

edited to add, just as fyi: to convert your income in pounds, they (used to anyway) take the forex rate on the date of your latest paystub from oanda.com