HSMP / HWV issues - Australia

[danalis]

I would really appreciate assistance with the issues outlined below.

Background

My wife (29) and I (30) are Australian citizens intending to live and work in the UK.

We will be departing Australia on 27 November 2007 (the flights have been booked) and taking a short holiday before touching down in London. Neither of us currently has work lined up in the UK but one of us would like to arrange work from here prior to our arrival.

I do not qualify for the HSMP but my wife does. She is in the process of putting together her HSMP application. Given the potential lengthy processing time involved in the HSMP application there is a chance that we will not receive the approval letter in time to apply for entry clearance prior to leaving Australia on 27 November. If we have not received the approval letter by the start of the second week in November we would each apply for entry clearance under a WHV.

Issues / Questions

In the event that the approval letter arrives after we have we have already obtained entry clearance under a WHV or have left Australia, can we rely on that same HSMP approval letter to apply for leave to remain in the UK when we arrive in London (probably at the start of January)? If so, for how many months is the HSMP approval letter “validâ€

[goldfish]

Not sure I can help with all your questions, but here are answers to what I can...

[quote="danalis"]Issues / Questions[/b]
In the event that the approval letter arrives after we have we have already obtained entry clearance under a WHV or have left Australia, can we rely on that same HSMP approval letter to apply for leave to remain in the UK when we arrive in London (probably at the start of January)? If so, for how many months is the HSMP approval letter “validâ€

[VictoriaS]

The letter is valid for several months so you could apply for your LTR after you arrive provided you have an appropriate visa to actually get in, such as WH. I am not sure if the validity of the letter is different depending whether you applied outside or inside the UK. Mine was valid for 3 months when I applied from inside the UK so it should be at least 3 months.

The HSMP approval letter is valid for 6 months, however, you can only switch from WHM to HSMP once you have been in the UK for 12 months, so you are not going to be able to do this.

Victoria

[ausapp]

Not sure about this, but you should be able to get the HSMP Entry Clearance from any UK embassy.. so you might have to leave the UK to get it stamped on your passport once you get your approval letter. I think the 12 month restriction applies only to applying for HSMP from within the UK.

I applied recently from Australia after rereading the guidance several times. Haven't received a reply yet, but hoping for the best. I got rejected the last time because my undergraduate degree from the US is in Latin and I failed to provide an English translation (I provided a transcript as well). So my advice would be to get the degree out of the frame and send it to them. If they lose it or damage it, you can always get it replaced. And don't forget that letter from the university stating your degree was taught in English.

I had the same issue with the tax return, my earnings period was from Aug 06 - Jul 07 inclusive, and the ATO assessment notice is pretty useless. Send your group certificate with the ATO assessment, even if the periods don't match. I also included payslips (online, but printed on company letterhead), a letter from my the payroll office at my company listing all salary paid in the period and bank statements. I also gave them the contact info of the payroll person at my company.

Like the previous poster, from what I've heard getting a job or even access to a GP is pretty hard if you're on a WHV. I thought about the WHV route, but decided to wait for the HSMP instead. Besides don't want to arrive in the UK in the middle of winter

Best of luck.

[goldfish]

The HSMP approval letter is valid for 6 months, however, you can only switch from WHM to HSMP once you have been in the UK for 12 months, so you are not going to be able to do this.

Victoria

Hi Victoria, is this a recently introduced rule then? because I applied for my HSMP after only being in the UK three months (on WHM), although I qualified based on my AU earnings.

[Bones]

In a similar situation. But I'm curios about Victoria's statement about WHV not being able to change until after 12 months. I have never heard of such a thing. Can you please direct me to where it is written on Work Permit documents? Thank you!

The letter is valid for several months so you could apply for your LTR after you arrive provided you have an appropriate visa to actually get in, such as WH. I am not sure if the validity of the letter is different depending whether you applied outside or inside the UK. Mine was valid for 3 months when I applied from inside the UK so it should be at least 3 months.

The HSMP approval letter is valid for 6 months, however, you can only switch from WHM to HSMP once you have been in the UK for 12 months, so you are not going to be able to do this.

Victoria

[Bones]

I have read that the 12 year rule applies to the work permit category and HSMP lies under the permit-free category. Please advice if I'm wrong.