Tier 2 gen, cheated by recruitment agency, Help please.

[UKmigrant]

Good afternoon. I sought assistance from an agency who i thought would help me throughout this process. I came over to the UK on a tier 2 gen sponsored visa, hoping everything was in order. However when i came here, the employer that the recruitment agency provided on my COS did not know anything about me and the COS issued by them. I have not work since I got here, because all i ever wanted is to work and be here in the UK legally. And since my tier 2 visa is sponsored, I am not allowed to work unless working for my sponsor. Please help what should i do? I am planning to process a change of employment application. And on the application form, there is this question asking if i am still working for the same employer? Which i have not even started. And if i answer no, surely my application will be denied. Please give me some enlightenment on this concern. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

[Lucapooka]

I'm struggling to understand how you can get a COS from a company that has no knowledge of you, and be issued a visa on that basis.

[UKmigrant]

When I contacted the employer, they said they once tied with the agency in recruiting workers, but not anymore. They were surprised when I told them the agency gave me the COS. In my understanding, and through the UKBA info, the employer, or an agency authorized by the employer to issue the certificate, can do it, they could have done it in the past with the log in and password of the employer. They can log in to the COS management system and issue it.

[manci]

There are two issues here:

1. The agency
The agency assigned the CoS to you apparently because they had access to the employer's SMS account but they did this without the employer's knowledge and authorisation, and they also presumably collected a fee from you. Furthermore, they probably certified on the SMS fraudulently that an RLMT had been carried out.
Suggest you report all this to UKBA:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/about ... ort-crime/
You should also be able to claim back from the agency the fee you paid and may be also compensation for loss of earnings (if necessary through a claim in the County Court).

2. Your position.
You have leave to remain in the UK in the employment specified in your CoS, details of which were given to you and you must have entered them in your visa application form. Inspite of this when you reported for work the company said that they are not going to employ you. Normally when a sponsored employment is terminated the leave of the sponsored migrant is curtailed to 60 days from the date UKBA's decision is taken. This in practice means about 3 months or more leave after the actual termination. In your case the employment has not started, so the start and end dates of the employment are the same (the work start date stated in the CoS). IMHO you should report all this to UKBA and the chances are that your visa will just will be curtailed. From your post it seems that you already have a CoS from another sponsor/employer which is fine and you can make a grant of leave application. It is not a problem that you are not working at present.

[UKmigrant]

Thanks for the response Manci. How would I know if my sponsorship has been cancelled and that my leave has been curtailed? Should I state my case when I apply for the change of employment? How and where exactly can I do that?

For the change of employment application, on the application form, there is this question, Are you still working for the same employer as you were at the time of your last grant of leave? If I answer yes, i would be lying, which I don't want to do. On the guidance notes, if I answer no to that question, most likely they would deny my visa.

Yes you are right, they collected a fee from me, and they have been asking me for the remaining amount amidst all the misfortunes they have caused me.

Thank you.

[manci]

If and when your leave is curtailed UKBA will write to you at your UK address . One of the reasons for the curtailment period is to allow migrants to seek another sponsor. See the T2 policy guidance, para 220 onwards and in particular para 222:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... idance.pdf

What does your original sponsor have to say about the situation.? They can't just keep silent, the Cos was issued in their name and they have to report to UKBA if you don't turn up for work or if your employment ceases. From your point of you the best would be if they informed UKBA that your employment ceased, then the normal process of visa curtailment would be put in motion.

On the grant of leave application form you must answer the questions truthfully. Although the question at L11 doesn't strictly speaking apply to you I think the answer should be NO and you should send a covering letter explaining the circumstances.

[UKmigrant]

Thank you. So the normal process of visa curtailment is the 60 days allowance to find a new sponsor after termination/cancellation of the COS?

The employer told me to contact the agency regarding my queries. But i asked the employer if will i be working for them, they said no since i am not on their list of applicants to be working for them. I asked the agency several times where will they be sending me for employment, but they cannot give me an answer. I was suspecting they would have sent me to a different employer, which is not my sponsor on my COS, which would likely be illegal.

This agency really has to pay the prize. They should be banned so that they cannot fool other migrants.

My only option now is to process a change of employment application. Would you reccommend I do the premium service? or post/courier just fine?

[manci]

My only option now is to process a change of employment application. Would you reccommend I do the premium service? or post/courier just fine?

Presumably you already have a CoS from your prospective employer. Grant of leave application by post/courier takes much longer than a PEO appointment, the problem in your case is that at the PEO they only handle straightforward applications. However, if your situation is regularised by the original employer informing UKBA that your employment has been terminated then it can be regarded as a straightforward case. Also, you can only start work with your new sponsor once you have the UKBA approval letter for the change of employment application

[UKmigrant]

I already have a COS, and I assume I don't need to submit maintenance and english requirements as I have submitted them with my prior application. Do the points automatically also granted to my dependants?

I got confused with your statement regarding my original employer regularising the situation. If my original COS has not been cancelled yet, is it a straightforward application? And if it has already been cancelled, did you mean to say I shouldn't book a PEO appintment?

If it is a PEO appointment, do you think there is still available appointments before sept? I can't check the availability on the UKBA website unless I submit the application form.

Thank you.[/quote]

[manci]

Your situation needs regularising because the condition of your present leave is that you are working for your original employer (Company A) but you are not. From what you wrote it can be implied (but needs confirming or otherwise) that Company A didn't report to UKBA that you are not working for them. If that is the case they are in breach of the conditions of their sponsor licence. The CoS was (presumably) assigned by Company A and even if this happened through the perpetration of a fraud by the agency, they are responsible to UKBA. In the CoS they certified that they are sponsoring you for working for them in a specified job with a stated SOC code and salary and from a certain date and also that they carried out a RLMT (if applicable).

Your first port of call for regularising your situation should be Company A and you should be pointing out all the above to them. They should inform UKBA that you are no longer working for them. According to the sponsorship rules this must be done within 10 working days of the termination.

In a situation like this without having sight of all the documents incl. correspondence, passports, CoS, copy applications, etc. advice obtained on a forum like this is of limited value and can be counterproductive. For instance, do you have a printout of the CoS and can you confirm that it was in fact assigned to you by Company A?

It may be advisable to seek professional advice.

[UKmigrant]

Hi. I do not know if my sponsorship has been cancelled by company A, if you said i will be receiving a mail regarding the curtailment of my visa, that has not happened yet. Company A said I am not listed on their list of applicants for a post in their company. If and when my visa is gonna be cancelled, it will be the agency who would do that, I guess, still part of their bogus approach. They might cancel it because I did not pay the remaining amount, I am in a fume just by the thought of it. How could they do this?

Should company A inform UKBA first that i do not work for them anymore before i process my change of employer application? "According to the sponsorship rules this must be done within 10 working days of the termination." - How can date of termination be determined when I have not even started working in the company?

Luckily, I still have a copy of the COS with my original employer, and it has the agent's name listed on the COS too.

Are you suggesting I do not process a new application without straightening this out? I was thinking the 60 days allowance has already started when I first arrived here and after knowing my ill fate.

If i seek professional advice, who would be the best people that can help me? Thank you.

[manci]

If i seek professional advice, who would be the best people that can help me?

There are lots of firms. One firm that does mostly business immigration is Ferguson Snell:
http://www.fergusonsnell.com/our-servic ... mmigration

[manci]

Your situation needs regularising because the condition of your present leave is that you are working for your original employer (Company A) but you are not. From what you wrote it can be implied (but needs confirming or otherwise) that Company A didn't report to UKBA that you are not working for them. If that is the case they are in breach of the conditions of their sponsor licence. The CoS was (presumably) assigned by Company A and even if this happened through the perpetration of a fraud by the agency, they are responsible to UKBA. In the CoS they certified that they are sponsoring you for working for them in a specified job with a stated SOC code and salary and from a certain date and also that they carried out a RLMT (if applicable).

Your first port of call for regularising your situation should be Company A and you should be pointing out all the above to them. They should inform UKBA that you are no longer working for them. According to the sponsorship rules this must be done within 10 working days of the termination.

Luckily, I still have a copy of the COS with my original employer, and it has the agent's name listed on the COS too

Even if Company A used an agent they are fully responsible for the recruitment. See page 5:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary
This is why I said that your first port of call should be Company A.

I do not know if my sponsorship has been cancelled by company A, if you said i will be receiving a mail regarding the curtailment of my visa, that has not happened yet

Even if the sponsorship is cancelled it will take some time before UKBA curtails your leave and informs you of that.

If and when my visa is gonna be cancelled, it will be the agency who would do that

The agency, or indeed the sponsor, is in no position to cancel/curtail visas - only UKBA can do that.

I was thinking the 60 days allowance has already started when I first arrived here and after knowing my ill fate.

No, the 60 days only start from the date UKBA decide to curtail your visa.

Are you suggesting I do not process a new application without straightening this out?

I'm suggesting that you seek professional advice. They will look at all the documentation you have and advise how to proceed, especially since you are likely to want to make the new application at a PEO.

If it is a PEO appointment, do you think there is still available appointments before sept? I can't check the availability on the UKBA website unless I submit the application form.

I don't believe you need to submit an online application for being able to book a PEO appointment. Appointments are not easy to secure, anecdotal evidence suggests that the best time to try to book is just after midnight. Alternatively, if you you use a professional advisor they have special access to UKBA for booking PEO appointments.

[UKmigrant]

Thank you for the information Manci.

Can my dependants apply at a later date? Or must we do it all at the same time? Thank you.