Changes to Tier 1 Policy Guidance on Sept 11, 08

[amittal5]

Hi All,

If you have recently visited UK BA website, you'll come to know that few changes have been made to Tier 1 Policy Guidance on Sept 11, 2008. The sections affected for Tier 1 General are:

Maintenance
Annex B - Acceptable English Language Tests

The changes I could point to in "Maintenance" section are:

"Evidence must be in the form of cash funds. Other
accounts or financial instruments such as shares,
bonds, pension funds etc, regardless of notice period
are not acceptable.
If you wish to rely on a joint account as evidence of
available funds, you must be named on the account
along with one or more other named individual."

So, from now onwards, only CASH FUNDS are acceptable for maintenance.

I could not find (or shall I say did not try to find) any changes in the Annex B.

Kindly post any additional changes you may have noticed in the new policy guidance here.

Cheers,
A.

[antouk]

does this mean the following? :

1. FDs are not acceptable anymore
2. Joint account can be held with anyone(other than spouse)

[Sweet.Marcus]

ANNEX B changes -> they have removed few tests from the recognized list of english exams..

10 September 2008


The following organisations and tests have been withdrawn from the list of approved English language test providers for tier 1 of the points-based system.

Organisation Test
A+ Education A+ Education English Test

Central School of Professional Studies CSPS English Language Course (Advanced)

City School of Commerce and Technology CSCT Standard Test for English

University of Hull Foundation English Language Test
Summer Study English Language Test

[themagger]

does this mean the following? :

1. FDs are not acceptable anymore
2. Joint account can be held with anyone(other than spouse)

I had the same confusion about the joint account clause, i called up VFS office for this (thrice), and was put on hold for more than 10 minutes(in the first two calls), after that i cut the phone. Then on my third attempt, they responded that they are not aware of any changes which happned on Sep 11 , and asked me to drop a mail to vfs office stating the query, i obediently did that and my mail looked like:

------------------
Hi team,

I was planning to apply for UK HSMP Tier 1 visa application. I fulfill all the conditions, but had a doubt in relation to the submission of evidence for maintenance funds. On September 11, 2008 –Thursday last week –there was a change incorporated in the guidance forms in some sections including Maintenance as mentioned here:

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... r1guidance

According to the new rules, mentioned in the latest document here:

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... idance.pdf

A new paragraph has been added in the clause number 197 on page number 31 as –"If you wish to rely on a joint account as evidence of available funds, you must be named on the account along with one or more other named individual."

Now, as I comprehend it, one can also show the joint account statement for the 3 months showing a balance of minimum of 2800 GBP on each day. And the joint account can be with one or more than one individual.

I have a joint account with my father, so please tell me if I can submit my joint account's statement as a proof, according to the newly issued guideline (September 11, 2008). I have this doubt because VFS call center team is still insisting that the JOINT account has to be with spouse only, which I agree could have been a case before this September 11, guideline.

Please check and help me.

Thanks and regards,
XXXX

-------------------
To this, they responded(After 1 day), by sending me this:

---------------------------
Dear XXXX,

Thank you for contacting VFS UK Visa Helpdesk.

With regard to your query:

Joint accounts are only acceptable if held with a spouse and we advise they have a letter of permission from their spouse that all these funds can be used for the applicant. Joint accounts with anyone else are not acceptable. If the applicant wishes to use the funds they hold in these other joint accounts they need to withdraw these funds and deposit the funds in an acceptable bank account for the qualifying 3 months prior to the application. Accounts held in other peoples names - i.e. father's account/fixed deposits etc are not acceptable even if accompanied by a letter. The guidance clearly states the funds/accounts must be in the applicant's name.

We hope the above information has been of help to you. If you require any further assistance please feel free to contact us. Our contact details are as given below.

Thanks & Regards

UK Helpdesk
------------------------
It clearly shows that no one read my full email, and the incompetency of VFS support team, handling queries. The joint account funda is still not clear to me, had it been spouse only, they would not have mentioned INDIVIDUAL. Why would they make it difficult and more complex for a reader.? UK BIA has been simplifying not complicating matters.

[themagger]

I have emailed VFS again with the following text:

--------------
Hi team,

The response provided by you is not satisfactory to me at all. As it states the same thing which was told to me by a VFS call center executive 2 weeks back. In my first mail (below), I have clearly mentioned about the new amendments in the rules. I am afraid even if your team is aware of September 11, 2008 changes in the guidelines or not.

I would like to repeat it again, the guidance states –" If you wish to rely on a joint account as evidence of available funds, you must be named on the account along with one or more other named individual". Page number 31, Clause number 197 of the newly released document available at UK BIA website.

As you have mentioned in your mail that the joint account has to be with the spouse, then kindly explain to me, that does UK Border Agency has a weak vocabulary as they used the word individual rather than writing spouse in their new clause, or they just believe in confusing the applicants and only rely on VFS. Not to mention they have also written –joint account with one or more named individual. How many spouses do people generally have? UK BIA has always tried to make process as streamlined as possible. Considering their past reputation, if they wanted the joint account with the spouse, they would have clearly mentioned it, and would not have written a convoluted statement and used the word "individual".

I have even tried to enquire about this at the VFS call center, but the executives just put you on hold for 10 minutes and ask you to mail the query, and they have admitted that they are not aware of any changes on September 11, 2008. I am afraid that same is the case with the team who replied to my query initially.

My request to you is, if you are not aware of this new change or can not substantiate this new clause, then please mention that to me and do not misguide me. I will take this up with the BHC directly.

Thanks and regards,
XXXX
--------------------------

Lets see what happens... what can be done, should we shoot an email to BHC? Gurus... please help

[niw2]

You may well be correct in your interpretation of the clause (though it would represent a significant departure from traditional policy regarding joint accounts) but you appear to have made two mistakes:

1. You have adopted a condescending and somewhat sarcastic tone in your second email. That will not be well received by them.

2. Your second email is riddled with grammatical errors, which might cause them to dismiss the perfectly valid points raised in it.

Nevertheless, kindly advise if they do respond to your second email, as I am certain others would be interested to hear the outcome.

[kmunir]

Hello Everyone.

I have another question. I am working for a company which provides provident fund to its employees. I do get a monthly statement from my employer about the current balance of my provident fund membership that your balance as of this date is XXX amount. Can this fund (which I can only get after I resign from the company) be included in the Maintenance Funds? Is it a form of Cash Fund as stated in the revised policy guidance?

Thanks in advance.

[antouk]

@ themagger,
which VFS did u send ur query to? chennai VFS responds to queries in no time.

[themagger]

@niw2
sincere thanks for the feedback, i will try to avoid such mistakes in future. However, the sarcasm in the second email was intended because of the repeated uncooperative responses from the VFS teams -from the call center team and the team responding to email queries. And ya, i totally agree i could have been much better in communicating the reasons/points.Thanks again.

@antouk
I mailed to VFS UK north team.

Well, all said and done, they responded today with the following mail. I guess its a good news for most of us.

----------------------
Dear XXXX,

Thank you for contacting VFS UK Visa Helpdesk.

With regard to your query, we would like to keep you informed that as per the guidelines of British high Commission, applicant can provide a letter 4rm the bank which should have applicants name & applicant can have joint account with anyone. In addition to that a kind of NOC from the joint a/c holder is also required.

We hope the above information has been of help to you. If you require any further assistance please feel free to contact us. Our contact details are as given below.


Thanks & Regards

UK Helpdesk
----------------------------

Well, i guess, we were right in comprehending the new policy.
Now i think i need to work on drafting out the NOC, and i would need help from you people.

Thanks and regards
Me

[niw2]

And you get the satisfaction of re-educating the BHC staff on their own policies. Well done.

[antouk]

@themagger,
gud work

but for the first part of the question, it is still unanswered.

"Are FDs still accepted as proof of maintenance" ??

changes in the guidance states that :
"Evidence must be in the form of cash funds."