Graphic Designer

[gussy]

THE FACTS
Current employment: Designer, Creative Director / Project Manager
Current salary: £24,000

Current visa: Tier 5 YMS
Visa expiry: 16 July 2011
Nationality: Australian
Education level: Bachelor Degree (3 years)

Non-Shortage Role
SOC: 3421 Graphic Designer


THE SITUATION
I am currently an employee of a small global design agency which is looking to retain my employment through a Tier 2 (General) Sponsored Visa. I have been employed for the past 15 months and at present the company does not hold a sponsor licence nor has a Certificate of Sponsorship.

- Is the minimum salary requirement £32,000 for non-shortage positions?
- Will I require to process my application outside of the UK?
- Does my current job role satisfy the Job Level requirement (SOC: 3421)?

- Is there any alternative to gaining Tier 2 General sponsorship?



Any help would be much appreciated guys.

[arsenal49]

- Is the minimum salary requirement £32,000 for non-shortage positions?
as long as you satisfy requirements for your job as per code of practice, AND apply while in UK, you will get a COS

- Will I require to process my application outside of the UK?
no need. infact its better if you apply from UK rather than overseas

- Does my current job role satisfy the Job Level requirement (SOC: 3421)?
well, whats the requiremet of SOC 3421. post it here if you want me to have a look!

- Is there any alternative to gaining Tier 2 General sponsorship?
yes, marry someone british LOL but seriously, Tier 2 seems to be what govt. is pushing on all overseas employees

[geriatrix]

- Is the minimum salary requirement £32,000 for non-shortage positions?
as long as you satisfy requirements for your job as per code of practice, AND apply while in UK, you will get a COS

Tier 5 (YMS) migrant cannot switch to Tier 2 (General).
Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) migrant can, but not Tier 5 (YMS). (245HD(b))

In fact, Tier 5 (YMS) cannot switch to any PBS category (page 7 of the policy guidance).

[arsenal49]

oops. my bad. forgot about your current visa. i stand corrected. cheers mod

[gussy]

Thanks guys, it seems I would need to apply from outside of the country.

I've been searching high and low for any 'graphic designer implications. It seems the last updated code of practice includes the 'graphic designer' role, but there was talk that UKBA was raising the NVQ to Level 4, for which Graphic Design is only level 3, is this correct?
(http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary)

[gussy]

Just an update on my situation, which I am sure many are in a similar one.

Graphic Design (SOC 3421) is no longer considered to fulfil the graduate level NQ 4 and therefore is no applicable as a non-shortage role (to my knowledge).

Additionally, the company wishing to sponsor me is not currently licensed and would therefore requires the non-shortage role to be offering a minimum salary of £32,000. It seems that although all intentions are good, this is just another unfortunate situation where the system does not allow for much movement.

Any alternative routes to continue working in the UK that you could suggest would be much appreciated.

As I fly between our Qatar and UK offices, we hope to investigate the limitations to a Qatari visa and working in the UK. Any help on this would be great also.