IT Contractor - Switching from PSW to Tier 2 (General)

[mycareer1]

Hello Everyone,

I am working in the UK as an IT Contractor from the past 16 months, under my Tier 1 (Post Study Work) which will expire in Feb 2014. I am looking to continue working in UK under Tier 2 (General), and one of my contracting companies is ready to sponsor me under Tier 2.

Just to let you know - in contracting we get per day payment which is quite good, however there is no guarantee that there will be year round work. However I have not been out of work since last 16 months, and the prospects in the UK market for the domain i work looks very promising for the next 2 years atelast.

Can anyone let me know if I can be sponsored as a contractor rather than a permanent employee, so that my eranings will not reduce? Unfortunately I do not know anyone who is in a similar situation.

Any replies / suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks

[babylondoner]

Hello Everyone,

I am working in the UK as an IT Contractor from the past 16 months, under my Tier 1 (Post Study Work) which will expire in Feb 2014. I am looking to continue working in UK under Tier 2 (General), and one of my contracting companies is ready to sponsor me under Tier 2.

Just to let you know - in contracting we get per day payment which is quite good, however there is no guarantee that there will be year round work. However I have not been out of work since last 16 months, and the prospects in the UK market for the domain i work looks very promising for the next 2 years atelast.

Can anyone let me know if I can be sponsored as a contractor rather than a permanent employee, so that my eranings will not reduce? Unfortunately I do not know anyone who is in a similar situation.

Any replies / suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Some companies might sponsor you as a contractor but they will take a percentage of your earnings and some have some funny conditions attached to the sponsorship. for example, you must not be out of work for 3months or more, else they withdraw their sponsorship.

have you considered applying for the tier 1 entrepreneur visa?

[mycareer1]

Thanks for your reply.

So a possibility exists that I can be sposnored as a contractor. But how do you think the company will portray my application / CoS..i.e. will i make my application as a full time employee but have this arrangement with the company?

I havnt considered Tier 1 entrepreneurship at all. Is that a possibility? I have assumed we will have to invest certain amount to be an entrepreneur. Pls advice.

Thanks

[babylondoner]

Thanks for your reply.

So a possibility exists that I can be sposnored as a contractor. But how do you think the company will portray my application / CoS..i.e. will i make my application as a full time employee but have this arrangement with the company?

I havnt considered Tier 1 entrepreneurship at all. Is that a possibility? I have assumed we will have to invest certain amount to be an entrepreneur. Pls advice.

Thanks

there have been arguments on the legality of certain 'companies and agencies' sponsoring people on such terms. personally, i do not see anything illegal about it.

if you decide to go down the route, the company will explain everything to you and they will ensure your application meets all the stipulated guidelines.

for the tier1, one of the major requirements is having access to 50k which must be invested over a period of 3years and also the creation of 2 fulltime jobs in order to be eligible for a renewal. it sounds like a huge challenge but it is 'doable'.

whatever option you decide to go for - permanent employee, tier 1 entrepreneur or tier 2 sponsored as a contractor - it is going to cost you financially... one way or the other.

[mycareer1]

Thanks for your help. I will talk to my consultancy and see how it goes. I am just trying to not to go drastically down with my current salary rates.

[babylondoner]

Thanks for your help. I will talk to my consultancy and see how it goes. I am just trying to not to go drastically down with my current salary rates.

you welcome. all the best

[Jeeves]

One of the companies that was allegedly sponsoring contractors, which I won't name, no longer appears on the register of sponsors.

[onlooker]

There are consultancies that can hire and sponsor a contractor, but you need to be careful when choosing one and consider the nature of your work.

Read the new Tier 2 sponsor guidance and ask them in detail how are they going to be meeting the off-site employee requirements, specifically in relation to the kind of work you do. If the answers are not convincing, perhaps it's best to keep looking or find a perm position. You may also look into changing your specialisation to one that is better for compliance.

In terms of pay, it tends to work out much better than a perm position, even with their share deducted, as you have many expenses such as rent reimbursed tax-free.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[manci]

one of my contracting companies is ready to sponsor me under Tier 2.

if you get sponsorship under T2G from this company you would be able to do supplementay work up to 20 hours/week elsewhere. Read para 207-208 in the T2 policy guidance:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... idance.pdf

[mycareer1]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I will try to get sponsored as a sponsored from my consultancy who are genuinely into the business in my domain, and only if not will try companies whose business is to sponsor people. Will post here how it goes!

Cheers