Tier-1 General Maintenance funds in wrong a/c

[misaw1]

Hi everyone

Need help..!!!
I have maintain 900 pounds in my self-employed business a/c for 90 days and just now realize that it says in the guidance of UKBA" Applicants in uk must have atleast 900 pounds in their personal savings a/c for 90 days"

As in guidance it says personal savings, i dont know if i did right thing as my 900 pounds is in self-employed businees a/c.

I need to apply in few days for my extension in Tier-1 general, would anyone please help me out in this as i m really confuse and dont know what to do......please help me or guide me anything will be much appreciated....


In need of help
abs

[Lucapooka]

All I can do is confirm that the rules ask for the money to be in a personal account.

1B. In all cases where Appendix C or Appendix E states that an applicant is required to provide specified documents, the specified documents are:

(a) Personal bank or building society statements which satisfy the following requirements

But if you are a sole trader and the account is in your name rather than that of an other type of named business, I can't see it being a problem.

[misaw1]

Hi Lucapooka

Thank you for reply. So does this mean i can submit self-employed business a/c statements alongwith my application or not.

The bank statements contain my business name and my name as well on it. please help me out i m freaking out now

Many thanks
Abs

[Lucapooka]

If it's only for business it's not a personal account. A SE worker may have only one account in his name that he uses for personal and business matters. It does not sound like that applies to you if the account is naming the business rather than just you alone.

[misaw1]

I got one a/c in which i m showing my self-employed earnings and i m a sole-trader of my business.

But bank statements have my name T/A business name on statements. i got other a/c which i m showing for my salaried income.

If i get a letter from my bank stating that this a/c is on my name is it good to submit with that or not. please help me out....

[rizash76]

Hello.
90% you will get refusal from caseworker regarding ur maintenance fund but 110% you will win in appeal. bcoz judge does not fallow guidance policy. and law says sole trader's money in his business account is his 100?% money. Wikipedia type" sole trade business in England and wales" something like that and you will get the answer.
best of luck.

[binghi]

Hi,
Do you consider supplying a letter from an accountant? I suppose it could be a sort of additional safety measure here, I mean if such a letter along with everything else explains that this account factually is used also as your personal account. That's a sort of broad interpretation of what is in p. 119 of the guidance, but maybe it can help.

[misaw1]

Hi guys

Thanks for reply,

I dont want to get rejected and go for appeal. I will try to get letter from accoountant and also i have applied in my bank to change my business name to my name and they said it will take 10 working days but it will be done.

1.So if i change my a/c name and then submit the statements with a covering letter stating this a/c belongs to me and maintenance money aswell. Does it going to be enough to convince them?

2. If i apply with this situation will it be good to apply in person or post?

Please any response will be much appreciated

Many thanks
abs

[shahmir]

I had three these kind of problems in my renewal application so my immigration consultant explained them well in his letter in three paragraphs. These were not problems though but were worth to explain especially for a postal application.

Finally I decided to go for PEO and the caseworker refused to take whole bundle of documents but said just give me what I tell you. First of all he asked me for application form, then one by one other necessary documents. Wherever he needed some clarification, he asked me and I explained. He just ignored the three points that we thought were 'main' points or issues and needed to address in letter. He did not touch 50% of my documents including my immigration consultant's cover letter. My application was salaried + self employment (sole trader) and my business account was MYNAME T/A MYBUSINESSNAME. I got good news in only 25 minutes without any issue.

If I would have sent it by post, it could have created confusion. Letter from immigration consultant could have become letter of confusion instead of letter of clarification. Yes this kind of clarification is necessary when you are applying by post. But when you are face to face, it should bot be a problem, you can explain it yourself. So I would suggest you must go to PEO, its really worth.

But then, all caseworkers are not the same. I read somewhere here in the forum that a caseworker took all documents from applicant and told him to come back in two hours. After two hours, caseworker hands over a letter to that applicant asking for further documents in support of his application. The applicant said that he has all extra documents on him and he didn't include them with initial set of documents because they were not required according to the guidance notes. He then tried to give all documents to the caseworker but the caseworker said "because I have now issued you a letter, you will have to post all evidence within 10 days". The applicant insisted that he paid for PEO but all in vain and he returned and later posted those additional documents. I don't remember but i think it was either PEO Croyden or Sheffield.

So my advice is to go to PEO, but see if they straightaway ask you to wait while they decide your application, either tell them you have additional documents with you or just include everything initially. If you want to stay with them while they decide, one by one all documents, try Solihull. Because I saw every applicant sitting face to face with caseworker in all windows, getting an opportunity to clarify any issue. I don't know about other PEOs.

Now coming to your main point, if someone has a limited company, profit should be transferred to his personal account from company (business) account. However, just like in my case, being a sole-trader, there is no need to transfer profit from business account to personal account. Because in fact all the money in your sole-trader account is your money. Ideally you should have maintained funds in personal (not necessarily saving) account and not in business account. But I am sure it will be accepted because its is also on your name and just adding an extra business identity.

1. Don't need to change account name etc. If you post, don't even need to highlight it in the letter, for maintenance funds write down 'please see statement of account number 12345678'. If by PEO, don't write anything, if they ask then explain.
2. PEO highly recommended especially Solihull which is only an hour drive from you. Must try.

[misaw1]

Thank you very much shahmir...

I think u covered all the doubts i was having before i apply for my TIER-1(general) extension and thank you for your help indeed it helps me.

So you said it will be fine if i dont change the name on my business a/c to my name or should i still do it and also you said u got a letter from immigration consultant explaining, since i have no immirgration consultant should i tell my accountant to prepare a letter for me explaining the situation or should i submit a covering letter from my side to explain this.

Would you please provide me some more information about your application becoz my situation is same as yours that is salaried+selfemployed(sole trader).

Also want to clarify one more thing that when we highlight bank statements with selfemployed income, should i highlight maintenance funds differently.

Also just want to know that if i go to PEO and if unfortunately they reject me. Will i able to get appeal to try or they will not give me any appeal as i did not fullfill the points required to process application.

Many thanks in advance and any suggestions are welcome

Thanks alot for ur reply and waiting to hear from you soon

Thanks
Abs

[shahmir]

So you said it will be fine if I don't change the name on my business a/c to my name or should i still do it
In fact, even if you will change, your previous statements will show business name as well. But, you don't need to change account name, sole trader account is just like a normal current account and should be fine for maintenance.

since i have no immigration consultant should i tell my accountant to prepare a letter for me explaining the situation or should i submit a covering letter from my side to explain this

Don't make this an issue. Just in your normal cover letter, add a line that you are using same account for maintenance funds. Accountant's letter not needed for this purpose. Accountant will however provide his letter explaining your net profit and total salaried income etc.

Would you please provide me some more information about your application becoz my situation is same as yours that is salaried+selfemployed(sole trader).
Sure. Few questions he asked were relevant to my business. Few questions he asked were relevant to my application. So if you are confident, PEO is the best place. Basically he got the idea that I know well about my business and each part of my application otherwise those questions were simple questions.

I searched nearly four months to find out which PEO should I go to. Liverpool and Sheffield seemed worst especially for salaried + self employment applications. Croydon is alright. But Solihull is the best.

should i highlight maintenance funds differently.

Not needed.

Also just want to know that if i go to PEO and if unfortunately they reject me. Will i able to get appeal to try or they will not give me any appeal as i did not fullfill the points required to process application.


They will give you right of appeal. Also you can re-apply either at PEO or by post. You can overstay for upto 28 days to apply. See D5 & D6 in the application form. So basically if the refusal comes due to a stupid mistake which could be rectified for explame by cganging earning period etc and you are sure that you will not win appeal, then obviously re-apply. If however, you are sure that caseworker refused it due to his mistake and he didn't include all evidence properly while making decision, go for appeal. PEO is good because you caseworker asks you for clarification where needed.

and any suggestions are welcome

If you decide to apply by post, must explain everything in detail in cover letter. I would suggest PEO. If you are going to a PEO, you must take that cover letter with you, but don't give them unless they ask you to go and wait while they decide your application. At Solihull you will sit with them face to face and when they ask you to deposit fee at counter 6, this means your application is approved apart from your immigration history check and any reports from agencies or HMRC etc. On other PEOs, I have heard that they take fee before considering your application.

One last thing, very important. Because your case is a salaried+self employment one, you should take with you any additional documents which could be relevant but have not been mentioned in the guidance notes. For example, how do you advertise your business, brochures etc, website, business card, contracts signed by your clients, any correspondence with clients, any business plans if you have for clients etc. Search more on this forum and you will know more of such things/documents etc. Don't panic if you don't have them, because this is not a requirement. Even if you have, keep them as a backup only. To be honest I had nothing such document except for business card and a website. He only asked me things which are clearly mentioned in the guidance notes e.g. Application form, photos, passports, invoices, accountant letter and accounts, salary slips, personal bank statement, business bank statement, NI evidence, Welcome letter from HMRC for (self employment) and that's it. He matched each salary slip with personal account statement (I had highlighted all), and he matched all invoices with business statement (highlighted).

Goodluck mate