Tier 2 General visa sponsorship

[alexis_london]

Hello friends,

I am an IT consultant, currently in UK on a Tier 2 ICT PARTNER (dependent) visa which expires in August 2014. I am looking out for job opportunities that will help me and my wife to extend out stay in UK beyond August 2014. I have been contacted by a consulting agency who provide Tier 2 general sponsorship.

"This agency is also listed as a Category A sponsor in the UK BA website."

If I understand correctly, this agency would file my Tier 2 sponsorship and I would be sub-contracted to clients in UK by this agency. The agency has asked for a one-time fee for application and also asked me to fund the visa fees for me and my wife. The agency would then perform the duties of an umbrella company - i.e. process my payroll, expenses, taxes, etc.

Now I have the following questions -

1. Is this legal?? I can confirm that the agency is listed as a Tier 2 Category A sponsor on the UKBA website.
2. Does anyone have an experience with a similar set-up for Tier 2 sponsorship and are there any hassles/problems that I need to be aware of?
3. Are there better solutions besides the one mentioned above for obtaining a Tier 2 sponsorship?

Many thanks in advance for your kind help and assistance.

Regards,
Alexis

[aja]

Hello Alexis,

The other option would be to secure a permanent job with a company that has sponsorship license.
This might be a bit time consuming, to get the company which is willing to sponsor.
However, if you manage to get through, its all safe-safe.

The list of companies that has the rights to sponsor are listed in :
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... ofsponsors

Best Wishes

[alexis_london]

Hello Alexis,

The other option would be to secure a permanent job with a company that has sponsorship license.
This might be a bit time consuming, to get the company which is willing to sponsor.
However, if you manage to get through, its all safe-safe.

The list of companies that has the rights to sponsor are listed in :
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... ofsponsors

Best Wishes

Hi

Thanks for your reply. The consultancy I referred to is also listed on the list of companies on the link provided by you. Is it safe to assume that the option described by me above is a legal one?

Rgds,
Alexis

[aja]

Not sure on the legality.
Would leave that for the experts / mods to comment on.

You probably might find some answers in
http://www.immigrationboards.com/employ ... 11586.html

[alexis_london]

Hi All,

I also wanted to know if Tier 2 sponsorship is prevalent in the UK IT sector. Does anyone have an idea if Tier 2 sponsorships are handed out by companies in UK for IT roles? Any inputs are welcome.

Rgds,
Alexis

[aja]

Yes, they are.

If you access the link provided in the previous post, you can see a lot of IT companies in that.