Changes Very soon in Tier 1

jd · Post by jd » Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:37 pm

push_hsmp wrote:
debz wrote:hey Rohit, it crossed 202.. now what?
Dont close it yet. Wait for a couple of days to see if the number swells. 200 is the minimum requirement but not sufficient in itself.

yes.. should have prominent number of signatures.. so recipients feels some heat.. you know what I mean ....

Thanks - JD

chakde23 · Post by **chakde23** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:40 pm

Guys,

I am sure this number will swell even if we add a new petition any point of time , but as of now I agree we need to close it with minimum threshold of 200 which is over !

jd wrote:
push_hsmp wrote:
debz wrote:hey Rohit, it crossed 202.. now what?
Dont close it yet. Wait for a couple of days to see if the number swells. 200 is the minimum requirement but not sufficient in itself.
yes.. should have prominent number of signatures.. so recipients feels some heat.. you know what I mean ....

Thanks - JD

lysergik · Post by **lysergik** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:40 pm

I have finally got a response to my email sent on the 24th Febuary:

---

Dear Mr xxxxxxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Rez Jason

Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

JoshAhoy · Post by **JoshAhoy** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:45 pm

Before HSMP became Tier 1, MBAs were given 75 points.
Does any1 know about what transitional arrangements were in place when the MBA was removed from the list?

Based on what I read in the UKBA site, you could still claim 75 points for your MBA if you had your initial leave granted with MBA. If you haven't completed the MBA before a certain date, you could only get 35 points for it (Masters).
Please correct me if I am wrong. If this is the case I think there is a very strong chance that our Bachelors will still score us 30 points.

This may seem a little out of topic. But like most worried members here I am also trying to speculate what the HO will decide based on their previous decisions.

ssoct98@hotmail.com · Post by **ssoct98@hotmail.com** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:02 pm

Above email hope so finish all speculation,very clear answer from HO.

HSMPQueries · Post by **HSMPQueries** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:26 pm

I received the same e-mail....

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Miranda O'Neill
Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

If you intend to reply to this e-mail please ensure that you re-send all the information from your original enquiry.

*FC* · Post by ***FC*** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:28 pm

HSMPQueries wrote:I received the same e-mail....

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Miranda O'Neill
Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

If you intend to reply to this e-mail please ensure that you re-send all the information from your original enquiry.

I am a bit confused because they were specifically talking about HSMP holders trying to switch(extend) to Tier I, but not about Tier I visa holders!

what about the Tier I visa holders who want to extend after 3 years?!

V

tipu20 · Post by **tipu20** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 8:31 pm

Hi All,

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this discussion to share their views and information.

At least now we have clear picture.

I will still encourage everyone to sign the petition and hopefully they will not make any such changes in future for people already in UK.

Have a lovely weekend and relax

Tipu

victorbugz · Post by **victorbugz** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:20 pm

HSMPQueries wrote:I received the same e-mail....

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Miranda O'Neill
Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

If you intend to reply to this e-mail please ensure that you re-send all the information from your original enquiry.

Brilliant. Atleast now we have written confirmation from HO and may be can quote them on this if we have any problems in the next few days.

Goodluck and all the best for everyone who has put in the effort.

straight · Post by **straight** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:33 pm

lysergik wrote:I have finally got a response to my email sent on the 24th Febuary:
Can you please confirm that you are currently on the old HSMP before the new Tier 1 General came into force. ie got your visa before end of Feb 2008 when the law changed.
---

Dear Mr xxxxxxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Rez Jason

Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

nionlight · Post by **nionlight** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:41 pm

HSMPQueries wrote:I received the same e-mail....

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Miranda O'Neill
Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

If you intend to reply to this e-mail please ensure that you re-send all the information from your original enquiry.

\\

thanks for updated information. but to be honest, i DO NOT trust this call centre people. no matter its written or verbal. because we allready have seen some emails in this thread from HO that says different. if you call them different times you will get different answers. but lets hope for the best and wait til home office publishes the rule.

straight · Post by **straight** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:57 pm

nionlight wrote:
HSMPQueries wrote:I received the same e-mail....

Dear xxx,

Thank you for your enquiry.

Proposed changes to the requirements for Points Based System Tier 1 (General) and Tier 2 were announced by the Home Secretary recently, and are expected to come into effect for applications made on or after 31st March 2009. Details of the announcement can be found on the UK Border Agency website at:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... oughertest

Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary.

Yours sincerely,

Miranda O'Neill
Immigration Group
UK Border Agency

If you intend to reply to this e-mail please ensure that you re-send all the information from your original enquiry.
\\

thanks for updated information. but to be honest, i DO NOT trust this call centre people. no matter its written or verbal. because we allready have seen some emails in this thread from HO that says different. if you call them different times you will get different answers. but lets hope for the best and wait til home office publishes the rule.

What is the email address you contacted for UKBA? Sorry can't find it on their website.

HSMPQueries · Post by **HSMPQueries** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:31 pm

I had initially sent an e-mail to "wpcustomers@ukba.gsi.gov.uk" and was later told to e-mail "UKBApublicenquiries@ukba.gsi.gov.uk".

I mailed them on 23rd February and got a reply this evening at around 6:30 pm.

lydiax · Post by **lydiax** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:49 pm

What about for people on the Tier 1 Post-Study Work permit who want to change to Tier 1 General later on? I'm very worried, does anybody know?
Thank you!

palxxx · Post by **palxxx** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 7:20 am

Just added my vote for the petition.
Nice job..Rohit....out of box thinking, mate!!

mail2z · Post by **mail2z** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:14 am

any official update from the HO by means of news releases on their website?, all we have is emails.

Please continue to update this thread with any other information you might have on this issue.

Thanks for everyones effort.

debz · Post by **debz** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:12 pm

gr8 news.. have updated all my friends/colleagues

maximux79 · Post by **maximux79** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:22 pm

We know the new is gr8..but, its better to still wait for the final confirmation from HO....

Cheers

debz wrote:gr8 news.. have updated all my friends/colleagues

RMP · Post by **RMP** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:16 pm

Dear All,

Trust me, it is nothing to worry for the current HSMP holders now. I just called the immigration office and they repeated the same sentence word to word -

"Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary"

Two members have quoted the same sentence in their posts. Now the person I spoke to also repeated the same. hence the news cannot be untrue. He also mentioned that they have just got this information.

However I did ask him, that the statement does not talk of the people currently holding tier 1, it does talk of people holding hsmp. At this he said, he is not sure and he re read the same statement.

So guys who are currently holding the hsmp visa, dont panic. Do not apply for early extension as this is not required.

Untill now I was a silient reader of this thread and just created an account because I have been going through the similar panic as my husband currently holds hsmp and does not have a masters. We did read all the posts on this forum but still we applied for his early extension even though the visa was expiring in dec 2009. It is too late for us now to stop the post and stop the payment as we sent postal orders. The only way for us is to withdraw the application now. We will have to loose the fees anyway.

But after having spoken to an immigration office and having read the same statements received by other members in the group, I have a strong feeling that there is no need to worry for hsmp holders. the news is not on their website but guys we should trust that some of our fellow group members have got these emails from official sources. Also I have spoken to them. The tier 1 holders should still call to confirm.

Hence my advice is that if you still do not trust , please do speak to the immigration officers yourself before making a further move. It is no point wasting 750 pounds for an application and then again getting into a hastle of further extension three yrs after.

I would be happy to answer any of your PMs. I am just putting in this post so that others who are planning to apply for early extensions can avoid getting into a situation like ours.

Also please just dont read the threads in the forum, make your enquiries and help others with the information you receive.

psdesai · Post by **psdesai** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:53 pm

Hi RMP,
Thanks for the info. U said your visa is expiring in dec 2009 and you have applied now. my visa is expiring march 2010 and I have emailed twice to bia and their replied were as follows:

--------------------------
(1) We recommend that applicants submit an application for an extension around 5 weeks before their visa expires, however, this is not mandatory â€“ applications can be submitted at any time before the current leave expires.

(2)Thank you for your enquiry.
You should apply for visa extension 28 days before expiry. If you would like to submit your application now then please include
a covering letter for the case worker giving reason why you would like to apply earlier.

Any final decision will be at the discretion of the case worker.
-----------------

I am confused here. did u enquire similar before applying early? did u provide any reson in the covering letter if so then if poss. could you please tell us.

Thanks

RMP wrote:Dear All,

Trust me, it is nothing to worry for the current HSMP holders now. I just called the immigration office and they repeated the same sentence word to word -

"Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary"

Two members have quoted the same sentence in their posts. Now the person I spoke to also repeated the same. hence the news cannot be untrue. He also mentioned that they have just got this information.

However I did ask him, that the statement does not talk of the people currently holding tier 1, it does talk of people holding hsmp. At this he said, he is not sure and he re read the same statement.

So guys who are currently holding the hsmp visa, dont panic. Do not apply for early extension as this is not required.

Untill now I was a silient reader of this thread and just created an account because I have been going through the similar panic as my husband currently holds hsmp and does not have a masters. We did read all the posts on this forum but still we applied for his early extension even though the visa was expiring in dec 2009. It is too late for us now to stop the post and stop the payment as we sent postal orders. The only way for us is to withdraw the application now. We will have to loose the fees anyway.

But after having spoken to an immigration office and having read the same statements received by other members in the group, I have a strong feeling that there is no need to worry for hsmp holders. the news is not on their website but guys we should trust that some of our fellow group members have got these emails from official sources. Also I have spoken to them. The tier 1 holders should still call to confirm.

Hence my advice is that if you still do not trust , please do speak to the immigration officers yourself before making a further move. It is no point wasting 750 pounds for an application and then again getting into a hastle of further extension three yrs after.

I would be happy to answer any of your PMs. I am just putting in this post so that others who are planning to apply for early extensions can avoid getting into a situation like ours.

Also please just dont read the threads in the forum, make your enquiries and help others with the information you receive.

RMP · Post by **RMP** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:08 pm

Yes we did enquire a few days before, they said that they recommend applying not before 28 days earlier. But still we did because they did not say that we cannot apply more than 28 day in advance.

But after having spoken to them today , I am confident that the new rules will not apply for current hsmp holder. I really regret we did it in a haste.

We are now thinking to withdrw the application because it may not be good to have a rejection history and also not goo to get it extended only until april 2012 , when we will have to go for still another extension( they told us , if it gets extended, it will be extended from the day extension is approved and not from the date of crrent visa expiry.)

My suggestion to you is please dont worry. Speak to them and you will get the same information that the new rules will not apply to the current hsmp holders. hence there is no need of eary extension.

however if you want to apply for early extension due to some other reason, then yes, they recommended us to apply only 28 days in advance but still we did because we were too worried and didnt want to take a chance.

confusedhsmp · Post by **confusedhsmp** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:10 pm

RMP wrote:Dear All,

Trust me, it is nothing to worry for the current HSMP holders now. I just called the immigration office and they repeated the same sentence word to word -

"Applicants who currently hold leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Writers, Artists, Composers or Self Employed Lawyers categories, and are applying to extend their leave to remain in the UK in Tier 1 (General) will not be affected by the changes announced by the Home Secretary"

Two members have quoted the same sentence in their posts. Now the person I spoke to also repeated the same. hence the news cannot be untrue. He also mentioned that they have just got this information.

However I did ask him, that the statement does not talk of the people currently holding tier 1, it does talk of people holding hsmp. At this he said, he is not sure and he re read the same statement.

So guys who are currently holding the hsmp visa, dont panic. Do not apply for early extension as this is not required.

Untill now I was a silient reader of this thread and just created an account because I have been going through the similar panic as my husband currently holds hsmp and does not have a masters. We did read all the posts on this forum but still we applied for his early extension even though the visa was expiring in dec 2009. It is too late for us now to stop the post and stop the payment as we sent postal orders. The only way for us is to withdraw the application now. We will have to loose the fees anyway.

But after having spoken to an immigration office and having read the same statements received by other members in the group, I have a strong feeling that there is no need to worry for hsmp holders. the news is not on their website but guys we should trust that some of our fellow group members have got these emails from official sources. Also I have spoken to them. The tier 1 holders should still call to confirm.

Hence my advice is that if you still do not trust , please do speak to the immigration officers yourself before making a further move. It is no point wasting 750 pounds for an application and then again getting into a hastle of further extension three yrs after.

I would be happy to answer any of your PMs. I am just putting in this post so that others who are planning to apply for early extensions can avoid getting into a situation like ours.

Also please just dont read the threads in the forum, make your enquiries and help others with the information you receive.

I recommend you withdraw your application as it may have adverse affect in long term.

You have full right to withdraw an application. Just phone BIA and ask for process. It shouldnt be a problem. Just that you may loose fees paid. Or if the payment has not yet gone through you might aswell cancel your cheque or credit card and the application will be returned automatically.

SIMPLE!

THere could be two possible outcomes in your case.

1. The extension is refused because they are not convinced why an early application should be considered. (which is fine and you retain your current stay)

2. they extend your visa to further three years starting April/May 2009 which may mean that you will have to go for one extra extension to be eligible for ILR. And who knows what new rules they might have at that time!

so better withdraw and relax.

For rest of you guyz. I stopped posting here becase i was convinced that the rules might not apply.

Sccot. Hope you are glad aswell.

timesofindia · Post by **timesofindia** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:21 pm

Guys

My visa expiry is mid may 09
Is it EARLY application if I apply now?

RMP · Post by **RMP** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:21 pm

Thanks for your suggestion. We spoke to the BIA and they said, once the application is received by them and we have received the reference number, we can send in written that we like to withdraw the application.

Cant stop the payments because we sent them postal orders.

So have lost the fee anyways. But I do agree to your suggestion that we should withdraw.

gotcha · Post by **gotcha** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 4:23 pm

timesofindia wrote:Guys

My visa expiry is mid may 09
Is it EARLY application if I apply now?

Are you sure, if you read this thread before posting ?
Don't highjack thread.

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

Changes Very soon in Tier 1

Clarification

What is the email address you contacted for UKBA?

added my vote for the petition