Conversion rate to be used for calculating pound equivalent

[boyzzeal]

Dear All,

I would like to get clarifications on the conversion rate to be used for calcuating the pound equivalent of your Indian earnings.

I plan to claim my financials from 01-April-2006 to 31-March-2007. So, for conversion do I need to use the rate that was applicable at that point of time or use the value that is applicable now.

Current rate indicates 80.5 but value on 31 March was 85.25.

What do we use?? Suggestions please!!!

Thank you.

Regards,
Deeps

[kck9]

Dear boyzzeal,

According to the guidance notes, you have to use the conversion rate which was on the day of last working day of your last payslip.

Thnx

[apeterso925]

Dear boyzzeal,

According to the guidance notes, you have to use the conversion rate which was on the day of last working day of your last payslip.

Thnx

Can you tell us where in the guidance notes that is? The general consensus among those I've talked to who have been approved is that the HO will use the rate on the day they are reviewing the app. But the guidance notes are pretty vague in what one should use to convert earnings to Sterling, here is all I can find (which does not say when the conversion should be done):

"There are five income bands that have been
set by HM Treasury. You will need to convert
your earnings into Pounds Sterling (£) in order to
calculate how many points you can claim."

[hnbird]

apeterso--
I found out that it is supposed to be the conversion of the last payslip date from calling the hsmp team a few months back. also, it is mentioned in those internal caseworker guidance notes thats listed in one of the topics in this forum...
i hope this is still the case. have you heard otherwise?
hnbird

[apeterso925]

apeterso--
I found out that it is supposed to be the conversion of the last payslip date from calling the hsmp team a few months back. also, it is mentioned in those internal caseworker guidance notes thats listed in one of the topics in this forum...
i hope this is still the case. have you heard otherwise?
hnbird

Yes - and from what's probably my most reliable source. My solicitor told me that they will use the rate as of reviewing my app. However, I know several people included a printout from xe.com or oanda.com, showing a rationale behind the conversion they used...but even in those cases, I'm pretty sure people are using the rate on the day they are sending their app.

I sent my completed app to my solicitor a few weeks ago (with all of the documents that make up the virtual me included) and in the earnings box, I wrote this:

"3X,XXX.XX GBP ($6X,XXX.XX USD. Using currency rate as of 08/05/07)"

I did not get into more specifics in my own app because I'm pretty much smack in the middle of the band I'm claiming, so the rate would need to fluctuate quite a bit in either direction to alter the points I'm entitled to. But in a more borderline case, I would have worded it as "using the currency rate from xe.com as of 08/05/07, please see the attached printout as verification."

I think, as seems to be the case in many areas of this visa program, there is no definitive answer It depends on the caseworker...I think that when the qualifying criteria were set, they did not factor in rate fluctuations and so didn't see a reason to specify the date of conversion they expect.

[kck9]

Dear apeterso925,

What you said might be right. But according to my previous experience i said they are using the coversion rate of last payslip date. Because, I have actually applied HSMP my self with old rules - before Nov-2006. During that time there was some internal guidance for case workers and I have seen the information regarding conversion rates in detail. I think it is the same guidance notes 'hnbird' is talking about. During that time even for my case I kept the conversion rate prior to my studies in UK and my application was successful.

Regarding the new criteria, I heard they are following the same rules and I have seen few posts in this forum suggesting the same. But I think it is very obvious to take the last payslips date into consideration.

Suppose a person who started his studies in 2003-2004 and till now he was a student, but before that if he use to work in India. FYI during that time the conversion rate was £1 = Rs.75-78, but now it is varying between Rs.80-85. It does make lot of difference and I have seen so many people applied like this and got through the application.

Hope this helps

[apeterso925]

Again, I think it could be both...things just aren't spelled out well enough in the guidance notes for us to know

I do understand how the rates are fluctuating...the US dollar has taken an enormous hit over the last year and a year ago, I'd have been claiming far more points than I am today. Lol, although I didn't qualify under the old system!

I was devastated the day the pound went to more than $2 USD - because according to what I thought was required as past earnings at the time (which was incorrect - I didn't realize I had 15 months to work with, I thought it had to be the 12 months immediately preceding my application), I no longer made enough in GBP to qualify at all.

It will be interesting to see if, as the new tiered system is rolled out starting next year, they offer more specific advice regarding all of the requirements.

Dear apeterso925,

What you said might be right. But according to my previous experience i said they are using the coversion rate of last payslip date. Because, I have actually applied HSMP my self with old rules - before Nov-2006. During that time there was some internal guidance for case workers and I have seen the information regarding conversion rates in detail. I think it is the same guidance notes 'hnbird' is talking about. During that time even for my case I kept the conversion rate prior to my studies in UK and my application was successful.

Regarding the new criteria, I heard they are following the same rules and I have seen few posts in this forum suggesting the same. But I think it is very obvious to take the last payslips date into consideration.

Suppose a person who started his studies in 2003-2004 and till now he was a student, but before that if he use to work in India. FYI during that time the conversion rate was £1 = Rs.75-78, but now it is varying between Rs.80-85. It does make lot of difference and I have seen so many people applied like this and got through the application.

Hope this helps

[boyzzeal]

I sent them an email regarding this and this is the reply I have received.

Dear Deepak R K,

Thank you for your e-mail,

When making the conversion the exchange rate of the date of the last
payslip should be used.

However, if you have been a student and are supplying evidence from
before they started studying then the conversion should be based on the
date of the last earnings.

The website www.oanda.co.uk will be able to help with the conversion
rate in March.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,

XXXXXXXXX

[Achtung]

Ok thank you Deepak for the useful info...

So if my claim period is Apr 06 to Mar 07 (the Indian financial year)

the date of the last payslip will be 1st Mar 07 or the day I received my march payslip in April 07 (say 5th Apr)....

Could you please clear this doubt as well...

[kck9]

It is the last date of your earnings...........In your case, i think it is 31st March 2007 probably.........

Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 9:21 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok thank you Deepak for the useful info...

So if my claim period is Apr 06 to Mar 07 (the Indian financial year)

the date of the last payslip will be 1st Mar 07 or the day I received my march payslip in April 07 (say 5th Apr)....

Could you please clear this doubt as well...

[boyzzeal]

Dear kck9,

Yes you are correct. For peace of mind, I even called the customer care and could confirm the same. "date of the last payslip" In my case it would be 31 March. At that point of time it was 85.25520 and now it is 80.13. Sufficient for me to lose 5 points!!!!!!

Also, use OANDA's FXHistory tool to get the conversion rate right. Using this you will be able to say for sure what the conversion value would look like.

PS: this is not mentioned in the Guidance but is provided in the case worker's manual.

Regards,
Deeps

[apeterso925]

As a practical matter (and an additional feeling of relief for all), has anyone heard of a denial for an incorrect conversion rate?

I've seen quite a few posts for things like 'unable to verify income with employer," and that the various pieces of evidence don't corroborate each other...but I haven't seen anyone post that they were denied because their income was too low after the conversion.

Dear kck9,

Yes you are correct. For peace of mind, I even called the customer care and could confirm the same. "date of the last payslip" In my case it would be 31 March. At that point of time it was 85.25520 and now it is 80.13. Sufficient for me to lose 5 points!!!!!!

Also, use OANDA's FXHistory tool to get the conversion rate right. Using this you will be able to say for sure what the conversion value would look like.

PS: this is not mentioned in the Guidance but is provided in the case worker's manual.

Regards,
Deeps

[boyzzeal]

Dear member,

Even I was under the same impression as you are sometime back. Assuming you earn INR xxxxxx and under the current conversion you claim 30 points. Thats fine, not a problem.

Now when the case worker looks at your case and uses the conversion rate that was applicable on the date of the last pay slip and still find you qualify 30 points; you would be given. No doubt in that.

However, by using an historical conversion rate if they find you not meeting the said threshold they would award you 25 points instead of the 30 claimed. And so, if you continue to qualify with the 25 points, you get your HSMP. So this may be the reason why we don't see rejections based on conversion rate!!!!

Kindly comment!!!

Regards
Deeps

[kck9]

Thats true boyzzeal........

With HSMP old rules, first they rejected my application. Actually I need to provide 2 proofs showing £5000+.

They considered one proof as 12 payslips which showed £5000+ (taking current conversion rate into consideration) and

second proof was income tax return where they calculated 'Net Pay' (taking current conversion rate) which showed £4965.

But in my review I explained them that they have to consider Gross Earnings and that too they have to take the conversion rate as last date of last payslip, for which they agreed and issued me the visa......

So sometimes even £35 makes difference to some case workers.
Thnx

[sudipbagchi]

Hi,
From the XE.com website , I see that the rate of Pound was 85.7974298104 on 31 st march 2007.

Can Someone let me know how much a person CTC should be for the year April 2006 to March 2007 to obtain 25 Points in this area when applying from India?

As per guidance notes for Band D countries Like India, for qulaifying 25 points a person has to show 4900+ Pounds . So Just Calculating 4900 * 85.7974298104 = Rs 420407.406 ie Four Lakhs twenty Thousand four hendred seven Rupees & forty Paise .

My Question is if someones CTC is above this then can he claim for 25 points for the period of 1st April 06 to 31st March 07.

Thanks
Sudip

[Administrator]

.

I am on the ILPA mailing list. This topic has recently been an interesting conversation by email among a number of immigration lawyers.

Immigration Law Practitioners' Association
http://www.ilpa.org.uk/

The consensus is that the conversion rate should be calculated for the date of the last payslip.

There is probably some room to try other methods that might work, but members of ILPA agree that the most legitimate is to use the date the final payslip is issued.

It will result in the least questions/arguments and has the lowest probability for the application to be rejected.

The Admin

[SYH]

Perhaps whatever rate you used you were well within a specific band so it didn't matter in terms of evaluation by th HO if you used the exchange rate of the last payslip or an earlier one.