Contracting question regarding Tier-1 visa holders

[gt11]

Dear friends,

I am looking for a job in UK. My Tier-1 visa is valid till January 2013. I am coming across some contractual positions in UK, and such positions obviously pay better than the permanent jobs. I am curious about whether Tier-1 visa holders are allowed to do contract jobs? And is it advisable to do so? FYI, I haven’t worked in UK before.. so I’m looking for my first job in UK.

I understand that for a contractor it is more profitable to form own company than to go with an umbrella company. One thing I heard from somewhere is that it is a statutory obligation to retain company accounts for a number of years (is it six?). Can you confirm this? If that is the case then that can be an issue for a Tier-1 visa holder.. given the fact that there’s no guarantee that I’ll be successful in getting visa extension.. I mean no guarantee I’ll be allowed to stay in UK for 6 years so how would I retain the company for 6 years (or whatever the number of years obligation is)?

I would request everybody’s opinion, and specially helpful would be practical experiences.

Thank you very much.

[gt11]

Dear Admin,

I posted my question in Tier-1 forum but it has unfortunately happened that it has been moved to job forum. Well, most of my question is regarding the feasibility of doing contracting while being on a Tier-1 visa.. so this doubt is indeed related to being on a Tier-1 visa, so imho my thread was not inappropriate to the Tier-1 forum where I originally placed it. Please look at it it this way.. all my doubts above are regarding challenges imposed on contracting because of the restrictions and uncertainities related to being on Tier-1 visa.

None of my doubts is related to employment offers (my doubt is related to contracting, while being on Tier-1 visa). Also, none of my doubts is related to job seeking (my thread doesn’t reflect that I need advice regarding seeking a job). Hence I don’t see meaning in why this thread appeared to you to be more appropriate for Employment offers and job seekers.

I request you to move this thread back to Tier-1 forum. But please, consider this only as a request, and please don’t get offended.
Thanks