COS Refusal, salary & working hours requirement

[duby]

Hi everyone,
my company is sponsoring my work visa and currently applying for a Defined COS for me. We have a company lawyer to help with the process, but we have gotten twice Refusals on the COS requests.

I am currently outside of the UK. My job title is Sous Chef.
The first time the lawyer applied under the SOC code 5434: Chefs with a salary of £26400 per year, 40 working hours per week on 04/12/2023. We received the refusal on 28/12/2023. In the refusal email, they didn't give a clear rejection reason but only said PLEASE NOTE: SPONSOR A SKILLED WORKER GUIDANCE HAS UPDATED INFORMATION FROM 12/04/2023 RE: SALARIES AND WORKING HOURS.
At the time, the lawyer also didn't explain to me why the COS was not granted.

In the second attempt in early Jan, the lawyer changed the working hours to 35 hours per week and left the rest the same. We, then, received another rejection on 30/01/2024 for the same reason.

My question is, as far as I am aware, the new requirement hasn't been officially announced and my salary should still meet the criteria. Now I am wondering if it's because my job title is Sous Chef instead of Chef. Or is there any other reason why my COS is not granted?

The company is about to send off the 3rd request soon. This might be my last chance.
Can someone help to shed light on what have I missed?

Thanks so much for reading and your time!!

[Geethumiffy]

Hi..did you check with the solicitor whether there is any minimum working hours required for skilled worker visa?

[Frontier Mole]

Without access to the refusal letters it is nearly impossible to second guess how or what the reasons for the refusal.
Hours appear ok
Rate of pay is fine
Job role is acceptable

So outside of the information you have supplied there is no apparent reason for refusal.

Other likely reasons - lack of English language evidence
Issues as to how the salary is achieved - you can’t include trips or tronk
The role not being considered a genuine vacancy

Have you seen the COS and the refusal letters?

[duby]

Hi..did you check with the solicitor whether there is any minimum working hours required for skilled worker visa?

Hi Thanks so much for replying. I don't have direct access to the lawyer as it's all handled by my HR and boss.
There seems to be no minimum working hours as long as it's above the £26,200 per year and £10.75 per hour (or going rate) from what I can gather on HO's website.

[CR001]

What does the refusal say, this is what has been asked by user Frontier Mole??

The SOC and salary is based on 37.5 hours per week, UKVI link below.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... ccupations

5434 Chefs • Chef
• Chef-manager
• Head chef
• Pastry chef £17,100 (£8.77 per hour) £15,390 (£7.89 per hour) £13,680 (£7.02 p

[duby]

Without access to the refusal letters it is nearly impossible to second guess how or what the reasons for the refusal.
Hours appear ok
Rate of pay is fine
Job role is acceptable

So outside of the information you have supplied there is no apparent reason for refusal.

Other likely reasons - lack of English language evidence
Issues as to how the salary is achieved - you can’t include trips or tronk
The role not being considered a genuine vacancy

Have you seen the COS and the refusal letters?

Thanks Frontier mole.

That's what I think as well. Everything looks fine.
And we have had other people in the company successfully get the skilled worker visa a few months ago with no issue. The only difference is the job title (hers is Head of Chef but under the same jobcode) and a higher salary.

They have forwarded the rejection of the Defined Cos email.
The original words were:

I refer to your application of 04/23/2023 for Defined CoS (DCoS) for :
DCoS URN: xxxx
Job: Sous Chef x1
SOC code: 5434 Chefs
Salary: £26400 per year

Please see attached

PLEASE NOTE: SPONSOR A SKILLED WORKER GUIDANCE HAS UPDATED INFORMATION FROM 12/04/2023 RE SALARIES AND WORKING HOURS.

Please check your application meets all criteria prior to submission to avoid delays in processing your application.

For further assistance or queries, please contact our Business Helpdesk.
BusinessHelpdesk@homeoffice.gov.uk
Kind Regards


Hope this helps.
The email didn't imply another other issue than the salary and working hours.
Therefore, we were all really confused with both rejections.
I will check again with my boss and lawyer to see if there are other reasons to investigate.

Thanks so much!

[duby]

What does the refusal say, this is what has been asked by user Frontier Mole??

The SOC and salary is based on 37.5 hours per week, UKVI link below.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... ccupations

5434 Chefs • Chef
• Chef-manager
• Head chef
• Pastry chef £17,100 (£8.77 per hour) £15,390 (£7.89 per hour) £13,680 (£7.02 p

Ah thanks so much for this information.
I wonder why it was rejected the first time when we had 40 hours and £26400?
The rejection letter I attached above was from the first one.
(Also realised I had a typo. it's 04/12/2023 we applied.)
The lawyer didn't share the 2nd rejection letter.

My boss intends to put £29000 in our 3rd attempt.
I will make sure they have more than 37.5 hours.