COS expiry date not matching with FLR expiry date

[birdy1980]

Hi
I have a unique situation at my hands. a colleague of mine is working in the UK throught Tier 2 Employer sponsored visa.
At the time of application in 2009, his COS apparently had the From and expiry dates as

From date : Jan 2009
expiry date : April 2009 i.e. 3 months of validity of the letter. This was recently revealed to him by the company as a record in their system.

In 2009, He took the same letter to get a visa, switched from Student visa to Tier 2, and got Further Leave to remain for 3 years i.e. Till Jan 2012 .

The UK BA website states (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... onditions/)

If you were already in the UK and you successfully applied to switch into Tier 2 (General) from another immigration category, you can remain here for a maximum of 3 years, or the time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, whichever is shorter. This period will begin on the start date given on the certificate of sponsorship. If your application was decided early, you can stay in the UK between the date of our decision and the start date on your certificate of sponsorship.


I am very confused about the above statement in bold against his FLR status, which reads expiry as Jan 2012. Is he really not allowed to stay beyond April 2009 which was when the CoS apparently expired ?

Please clarify this as he has travelled multiple times post April 2009 out of UK and come in successfully each time without issues.
I am guessing the 3 month period is just validity period of the CoS letter and not the actual term of sponsorship

Please if someone could provide any inputs on this it would be really appreciated.

Cheers
Birdy

[geriatrix]

If the CoS was for meant for 3 months employment only, then UKBA is at fault in granting the applicant 3 years leave instead. From the applicant's perspective his leave is valid until the expiry date given on the vignette - though he should have informed UKBA of the error in the beginning itself (if he knew then that his job would last 3 months only).

Unless someone in UKBA digs into the CoS details, don't think anyone will notice that an error was made in 2009 while issuing leave. If and when that happens, the blame game may start.

I hope he is working with the same employer only. If he is not, then he is definitely in breach of immigration laws.

[Lucapooka]

Is he still working or has he stopped?

Curtailing leave
223. If you are no longer working for a licensed sponsor, we may curtail your leave. This may
happen if:
• your employment ends before your period of leave; or
• your sponsor does not renew its licence; or
• your sponsor’s licence is revoked; or
• your sponsor is taken over by another organisation and/or there is a transfer of employment, and your new employer does not apply to become a licensed sponsor within 28 calendar days of taking over the business.

224. We may curtail your leave as follows:
• to 60 days. You may wish to make a further application for leave in another category
or with another sponsor; or
• with immediate effect, if the sponsor’s licence was withdrawn and we consider that
you were complicit in the actions that resulted in the licence being withdrawn.

225. If you have 6 months leave or less remaining, we will not curtail your leave.

[birdy1980]

Hi Lucapooka

He is still working in fact deeply involved in work and recently approached his HR department for an extension letter only to find to his horror that the system shows something like what I explained.

Also yes the original company was taken over by a bigger organisation in 2010 which itself is a worldwide based organisation.

In such a situation, I am guessing its the new employer's responsibility to provide an extension letter. The only problem though is the old letter seems to have been wrongly produced by the previous employer and I am not too sure whether that serves as a basis for extension or is it the vignette that sets the ball rolling from here.

[geriatrix]

Reading this topic may be useful.

Errors:
1. The then employer was legally required to obtain a new CoS to continue employing the applicant after April 2009.
2. The applicant should have informed UKBA about the error as soon as he received his passport back if he knew that his job / CoS was only for 3 months.

[The Station Agent]

The "work dates" are what the UKBA goes by - the "expiry date" of a CoS is hard-wired to 3 months regardless of the length of work approved. This is because the CoS must be used within 3 months. It is confusing but anyone with a brain and a familiarity with issuing CoS would know this - the employer, for instance.

It's clear this CoS was issued for 3 years of work and therefore the 2012 date for the FLR is correct.