HSMP/Tier 1 - will not meet FLR income extension criteria

[fshaker]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get some advice from experienced members here...

Here is a summary of my status:

- HSMP approved 02 Mar 2007
- EC approved 26 Jun 2007 (valid for 2 years)
- First UK Entry was 18 Feb 2008
- Searching for a suitable UK job (while living outside UK now) for quite some time now but still without much luck.

My strategy is sadly very risk averse of course since I m keeping my original job back home while searching in UK.

The situation now is even if I manage to land a job soon it will probably be too late to meet the 12 months income requirement before my FLR extension is due on 26 Jun 2009.

My question is what would be my options in that scenario if I manage to get a job in the next few months?

Would I have to reapply for a fresh Tier 1 application at the time of my FLR extension? and clock restarts?

I guess I can also still take advantage of a fresh HSMP application before new tier 1 applications comes into effect this summer... but would have to cancel my current hsmp & EC... not sure if this is a viable option... but it would restart clock now... better than a year later maybe...


Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!



PS/ Sorry if these are repeat questions & they're answered elsewhere on this forum. I did searh but couldnt find any!

Many thanks!!

[goldfish]

fshaker, it will be difficult for you to get a job in the UK without being in the UK. depending on your industry, the economy is going through a bumpy time here so there are lots of people looking for work.

I can't keep up with all the rule changes (!) but aren't the income requirements the same for Tier 1, HSMP, and extensions? If you can't show enough income for FLR, doesn't that mean you wouldn't be able to show enough income for a new Tier 1 / HSMP anyway?

You have until July to get a job with the required income anyway, since that is 12 months before you would need to apply for FLR. If you get one before that, bonus, because you would have flexibility in choosing which 12 months to count, but you might still be fine anyway.

[fshaker]

Thanks for the feedback Goldfish.

I was wondering what the options would be if I got a UK job but after June 08.

This means I would have less than 12 months of income proof for FLR in June 09.

I understand my options to continue in UK would be:

- change to Work permit
- or re-apply for new Tier 1 application but clock restarts

Is this correct? Are there other options?

Thanks!