HSMP,tier 1 extension, and IELTS. Final verdict

[wpleo]

Hello to all of you

My thread should concern those who already on HSMP, and want to extend their stay under tier 1, and the required proof of english language proficiency, and in this case IELTS.

I had posted previously regarding this issue.

Today, I contacted the BIA again, and spoke to one advisor who was very helpul by all means. I explained my situation with all relevant details, dates, etc...

So, to all out there who had there initial HSMP approval letter before the 5th Dec 06, regardless of when they applied for FLR(HSMP), and regardless if they supplied IELTS with their FLR application, those need to reproduce an evidence for english language.

Those, who got their initial HSMP approval letter after the 5th Dec 06, need not to supply any further evidence.

I believe some of you here fall in the first group like me, but do not panic as yet.

I was reassured today by the advisor, that I can simply supply the same IELTS certificate, regardless how old it is ( in my case over 4 years old), and was told that the date requirement on IELTS has been removed and this apply for both initial tier 1 or HSMP to tier 1 extension, and was told if I read the whole guidance I will not find anywhere which says 2 years IELTS or less anymore.

So to those concerned, as long as your IELTS score is 6.5 or above, no matter how old is that, you just need to supply this evidence when you apply for an extension.

Hope this would be helpful for some of you, and ease off some stress and worry of your minds.

Best luck to all of you...

[jagacharaja]

So, to all out there who had there initial HSMP approval letter before the 5th Dec 06, regardless of when they applied for FLR(HSMP), and regardless if they supplied IELTS with their FLR application, those need to reproduce an evidence for english language.

Those, who got their initial HSMP approval letter after the 5th Dec 06, need not to supply any further evidence.

What's the significance of Dec 5th 2006... weren't the rules changed in Nov '06... sorry just confused about the December date.

[wpleo]

the rules changed between april and nov 2006. however, all new rules at that time came into force on the 5th dec 06, and there was a period when HSMP applications ceased for few weeks....
therefore, there are HSMPs prior, and HSMPs after that date.

[captor]

Thank you very much wpleo this is good news for me !

Did they tell you how early can you apply for your extension?!

[wpleo]

no captor, but i will apply 4-5 weeks before my current leave ends.

[mankrish]

This seems a bit confusing to me..

I have recived a HSMP approval before Nov 2006 and do not have a IELTS.

I noticed that that my university name automaticly comes up in the online caculator

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator


Does that mean that I still need an IELTS or a letter from the university when applying for an extesion?


Can you kindly clarify please


http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/policy ... appendixb/

Regards
Mankrish

[nksg]

Wpleo,

please see what i found from BIA website:-

Hi All,

Has any one looked at the official self assesment tool on HSMP website?

------.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator

I have done my assesment on this and i am able to see that tier 1 is straight forward. Also i can see that they have Naric database on the website and if your degree exists in this database, you dont need any letter from Naric and also about english language.

What i can see in the guidance notes is section 182 and 183 -

182. Where the degree was taken in another country it will, in
all cases, be assessed by referring to the Self Assessment
Tool which is available on the Agency website. This tool
contains information on the equivalency of overseas
qualifications provided by UK NARIC.

183. Points can be claimed where the Self Assessment Tool
confirms that:

• The degree meets or exceeds the equivalent UK level
academic qualification; and
• the degree was taught to a competent standard
of English equivalent to level C1 on the Council of
Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).
Checking qualifications

184. Applicants should check their qualification by referring to
the Self Assessment Tool which can be found at ---.bia.
homeoffice.gov.uk.

185. Where the applicant is unable to find details of their
qualification on the Self Assessment Tool, they may still
wish to claim points for the qualification in question. In
these circumstances applicants should contact UK NARIC
directly for an assessment of their qualification and, where
their qualification is found to meet the above requirements,
obtain a letter or confirmation certificate from UK NARIC.
Contact details for UK NARIC can be found on the following
website at ---.naric---.uk. Please note that there may
be a charge for this service.

186. Where UK NARIC is unable to confirm these details, points
will not be awarded for the qualification in question. In
such cases, applicants may wish to consider presenting an
alternative qualification if they possess one.
Documentary Requirements

187. For the purposes of paragraph 245F of the Immigration
Rules, the documents specified are as follows:
1. Original degree certificate,
The original degree certificate must clearly show:
• the applicant’s name;
• the title of the award;
• the date of the award; and,
• the name of the awarding institution.
In all cases this document must be provided unless
the applicant is awaiting graduation in which case the
document will be as specified below

------.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/pbs/tier1general

I can understanf from this if your qualification exists in the tool, you dont need to provide NARIC letter or english language requirement certificate either from test or from awarding institution.

Please feed in your comments/feedback/experiance on this.

N

[asamdani]

Dear all,

I would appreciate if some read my concern guide me.

Next month I am going to extend my HSMP (or Tier 1 extension) for the just one year as i alredy extended my VISA in 2005 for three with the hope that I would be applying for indefinite by now . In past two year Home office has been constantly changing the rule and as a result I am bit nervious about my extension.

Basically My only concern is justify English qualification. I have not done any IELTS but I already certificate from my University confirming the degree was taught in English. couple of months ago I prodcued certificate from UK NARIC confirming my degree is equivalent to a UK Bachelors degree. Plus at the same time when I requested Home office team whether they would accept it, they said it would be acceptable. This was confirmed about six month ago.

Now when I check Home office point calculator, my university does not appear in the list. Is it going to be a problem, will I need to pass IELTS in order to avoid case refusal?


Regards

[nibbs08]

Hi everyone,some queries in this thread which is making my life hell
for extending HSMP (done before nov06) to tier 1,the english requirementbit is bit doggy.
I have MBBS from Calcutta university which is being recognised by point based calculator for english laguage requirement.But appendix B of immigration rules 2(ii)states "has obtained an academic qualification (not a professional ..."see http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/policy ... appendixb/

does that mean that MBBS would be considered a professional degree and thus invalid.
I also have a certificate to prove that my medium was english...

Even though I have an IELTS of 7.5 but that is 6 years ago.

I am in a fix which one of the above I should provide as evidence???

help n advice please

[asamdani]

nibbs08 i think you are safe as you already have IELTS passed, it does not matter what period you passed IELTS exam as Home Office does not say about IELTS pass period, so my question still stands for someone to help

[nibbs08]

asamdani thanx for your reply,I have also emailed BIA to get it in writing,lets see
cheers

[wpleo]

asamdani

If I were you, I would give BIA a ring and query my situation, coz your situation is bit different, and I dont think you will get any definite answer here, so please, dont lose anytime, and pick up the phone tomorrow

To nibbs08

If you get any reply via email, try to post it over here. I just hope they will reply in the first place, coz in my cases they dont, or just send you pages of FAQs. Good luck anyway.

[farazfastian]

Guys my case is almost similar to asamdani and i've contacted BIA twice and both of the times they said to me your university letter will work BUT as this is not what mentioned in guidance notes so i'm still confused.
Does some one having further info on it, this is really frustrating.

Details of my conversation with BIA can be found here
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 016#154016

[asamdani]

Guys,

I donno what happened but I posted my update yesterday but it is no longer here anymore.

Anyway I spoke with HO adviser and he confirmed to me that if I have my degree certified with UK NARIC and got letter certificate from my University confirming that the degree was taught in English then it is ought to be acceptable

Since i have got email from then via email as well (from last year) so i will stick it with my extension case.

regards
asamdani

[nibbs08]

hopefully thts should be sorted then

[farazfastian]

well I think its still risky as the bia customer service is totally a separate department and case workers belong to separate department so verbal verification is nothing.
secondly I talked to bia again and this time I continously insisted on this point then she told told me let me confrm it with case worker then she came back almost after 5 mins and said they are not sure about this situation and they v passed the case to Policy Department and they ll be dealing with it. then she advised me either wait for the policy department update or give ielts. so it looks risky to me. sorry for typos as im writing it from my mobile. cheers

[nibbs08]

so its still to be decided

[farazfastian]

yes! my visa is going to expire on 13 June, i was planning to apply on 1st May as recommended in the Guidance Notes but that's just an ideal case. So i'll wait little bit more to see further development around this area if nothing happens then i'll give ielts and apply in the end of May which will still be safe i reckon.

The point is, it's damn £750 fee you'll be paying, so if they refuse your application because of english then eventually you'll be giving ielts and paying the fee again. So i'll recommend if there's even a 1% risk involves give ielts. Cheers!

[asamdani]

I would wonder why HO adviser would confirm something which is wrong and going to risk someone's extension! As I said I also got an email confirmation from them which i believe is going to be written proof.

Farazfastian could you tell which point your have mentioned because according to the caseworker guidance for english requirement it seems straight forward.

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... iew=Binary

[farazfastian]

asamdani, i can understand your situation but my friend the caseworker guidance you've mentioned are old, secondly the email proof you are talking about once again its old (as you mentioned you got that reply at the the time of hsmp application).
Here we are talking about extension under Tier-1 which requires to proof your english qualification if you see my previous posts it clearly mentions that new Guidance Notes requires English language proof for hsmp approvals prior december,06.

Further, i've talked to three different BIA advisors and they all have given me a different information as follows:

First advisor - he mentions that uni letter will work and you dont have to submit your uni letter again

Second advisor - he mentions that uni letter will work but you've to submit your uni letter again

Third advisor - she mentions that uni letter won't work as mentioned in the guidance document, she literally read the notes for me and then she talked to Case worker which i mentioned in my earlier post

That's why i cannot trust them, i hope the situation is clear to you now. Thanks

[asamdani]

Faraz

English requirement is mandatory since dec 2006, when HO adviser confirms this in past year then i am sure it is not going to change.

I have also Tier 1 document as well

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... yguide.pdf

but it also says guides similar thing - as a result one can submit following proofs and it should be fine

1. original degree
2. UK NARIC letter confirming degree is equivalent to UK bachelor
3. certificate from univerity confirming course was tought in english


I am really not sure why the third adviser (lady) gave you different statement!

Or maybe i am not getting to the exact point you are insisting! Can you highlight the point from HO website where my above proof is going fail?

thanks

[farazfastian]

asamdani,

The problem we are discussing here is only applied to those who got their HSMP approved prior DECEMBER, 06, so if your case is after december,06 then there's no confusion at all, its clearly stated in the Tier-1 Guidance Notes that if your approval is after dec,06 you don't have to show any proof for english.

[asamdani]

For you information I extended my Visa back in 2005 so at that time new rules did not come into force so I need to show english qualification.

Even Today I have spoken with HO adviser and the lady said you according the case you have explained you should be fine and we can accept your university letter where it says course was tought in english. however when I informed her about my university not being listed in the HO point calculator then she said it is strange but if your degree is already certificed by UK NARIC and you have letter from university then it should be fine!

I also told her that I had an email confirmation form HO about it and she did say that english requirement is still that same so you can attach that email as a proof of confirmation.

[girishkuks]

This seems a bit confusing to me..

I have recived a HSMP approval before Nov 2006 and do not have a IELTS.

I noticed that that my university name automaticly comes up in the online caculator

http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator


Does that mean that I still need an IELTS or a letter from the university when applying for an extesion?


Can you kindly clarify please


http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/policy ... appendixb/

Regards
Mankrish

Hi,

I am planning for applying HSMP this year. In UK border agency website(Points Calculator), when i select this below mentioned option for langauge section "I have a qualification that was taught in English", it is automatically selecting my university which i given under education section before and alloting me 10 points.

Now I want to know, still I need to furnish the letter from university or just degree certificate is enough for this. Please help me on this.

Rgrds,
Girish Kulkarni