Minimum earning required for ILR through GTV route?

[FrightenedPoster]

Hi everyone, I am due to apply for an ILR soon. What I am most concerned about is the impact of my life events on the success of my ILR application, specifically, on the "good character" requirements. I am trying to understand the likelihood of success and how much details I should provide for these events (especially for 1 and 2 below)? I understand this is a complex case so all your help and patience is greatly appreciated

In summary, six relevant events have occurred (all in the UK)

[1] An Arrest in 2019 - On an alleged event of domestic violence - I was released the same day with no charges. There is an arrent record on PNC and local police records.
[2] A Civil Court Case in 2019 - A UK High Court (Chancery Division) Search Order, A Summary Judgement Order, and finally leading to an out of court settlement.
[3] Outstanding Debt - I have credit card debts from 2019, currently worth around £7,500, that I have been paying off on a monthly basis.
[4 & 5] Two Driving PCN offences in 2023 - occurred in July and October 2023. Both cases for using a Bus Lane. I have paid both penalties, no points on my Driving License.
[6] Did not disclose 1, 2, and 3 on my last application in 2019

I know, this doesn't look good, does it? But I am good person - sometimes, bad things do happen to good people! 2018 to 2020 were officially the worst years of my life!

In Details,
[1] I was arrested when, after an argument, my partner decided to "teach me a lesson" by making false accusations. Was released on the same day with no charges.
Questions for [1]
[1.1] Should I get the records deleted from the PNC and local police systems? I think I may qualify for record deletion.
[1.2] If I do get it deleted, do I then need to mention it on my ILR application?
[1.3] If I do get it deleted, will the Home Office find out that I got them deleted?

[2] This was a complex case under complex circumstances. I worked for a start-up and helped build it into a multi-million pound enterprise. I was going to become a shareholder/partner as per the contract. However, when the owner (100% of shares owned by this person and his family) became more and more worried that I would become a whistleblower for many of the wrongdoings he was engaging in, he summarily dismissed me with the help of a leading law firm in the UK. He had a fair idea that I was going to blow the whistle due to my confrontations with him and he putting private investigators to watch me 24/7 (I did not know at the time; they only disclosed it during the civil case). I was left destitute as I was only paid minimal wages (on the basis of shares I would receive I would receive in future) so had no savings, and he did not pay my salary for last 2-3 months. This is when I started racking up my credit card debts (see point [3]). In the midst of all of this, I ended up disclosing some of the confidential information to one of their customers - however, I now believe I was coerced/deceived into giving away this information and that they two worked together (they had their business and themselves to protect). This is on the basis that the said customer (who was capable of using the information I shared) was not included in the Civil case. My ex-employer only filed the case against the said customer after the High Court Judge pointed this fact out, but they filed it separately and reached a settlement in about 1-2 months - no details were shared with me or in my case due to confidentiality. Of course, my visa was curtailed so I was fighting the case from abroad after the initial 3-month grace period and representing myself as I did not have any money for a legal advice. Whilst, on the other hand, my ex-employer had hired a leading UK law firm (as per The Lawyer ranking) and were instructed by a Kings Counsel (then known as QC).

Anyway, long story short, there was first a Search Order issued in early 2019 (without me being present when the application was made); I then submitted my affidavit and admitted that I had disclosed the information to one client; then a Summary Judgement was issued ordering me to pay around £30k for their legal cost and permanently delete all information from my computer (this is what they wanted so that even if I blew the whistle, it would not be supported by any evidence). Since I did not have any money, they threatened to bankrupt me by entering proceedings in my home country (on the basis of the £30k that I now owe them due to the judgement). This had been dragging too long for me (around a year), and without any money, job (all time spent in going through and preparing paperwork at which I am unexperienced), and taking treatment for clinically diagnosed depression. So, I ended up settling out of court for all the claims I had against my ex-employer - unfair dismissal, breach of contract (for not giving me shares), and discrimination. Overall, they paid me around £20k (after subtracting their £30k) to settle all matters from both sides.

Questions for [2]
[2.1] How much information should I provide on this to present a balanced view - the circumstances of the case were very complex and I struggled to keep it short here too. They essentially used the legal system against me to prevent me from whistleblowing and in doing so, caused utter devastation for me and my family and we are still dealing with the repercussions to a great extent to this date. I had even qualified for Legal Aid due to my side of the claims on the ex-employer but it was not given to me because by that time I was in my home country.
[2.2] Should I submit any documents with this? The settlement agreement itself is confidential.

[3] Debt from two credit cards that I have been paying off regularly. No court judgement or anything, just a default on my credit report.
Question for [3] - Does this need to be mentioned in the application?

[4 & 5] I recently got my driving license and a car. I entered into a bus lane on two separate occasions when I was in cities that I do not live in (London and Manchester) at night. Just need to be more aware next time. No license points and have paid them in full.
Question for [4 & 5] - Would this affect the outcome of the ILR, especially given that this occurred very recently and within 3 months of each other?

[6] I did not mention the arrest or the Civil Case in my entry clearance application in 2019 simply because of the wordings in the form - I was not convicted of any criminal offence; and the civil court judgement option normally mentions things like bankruptcy, anti-social behaviour. I never thought this would be relevant for this option until I started reading about the ILR and the "good character" requirement came up in my research.

Many thanks for reading my post - I know it is unusually long! Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated.

[zimba]

There is no good character requirement for ILR per se, that is for citizenship applications which is a whole separate system.
Do not assume a complex case because you perceive it to be as such. There are simply grounds for refusal with respect to criminality under the rules that may lead to refusal, often in cases of serious crime or regular patterns of offending. None of the issues raised are even close to being an issue for your ILR

There is a whole guide on this: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... nality.pdf

- Being arrested without charges has no relevance to ILR
- Civil issues are not relevant at all, e.g civil cases or personal debt which is also a civil issue
- PCNs are not important at all and are not even issued under your name. They are irrelevant
- None of the above need declaring for ILR

[FrightenedPoster]

Thank you Zimba for the prompt response and sharing the guidance. Your advice brings a bit of joy to me. However, I want to ensure we are doing this right, so please hear me out.

I had read this guidance earlier and have revisited it. I would like to draw your attention to page 5 which reads,

Disclosure of criminal offences/penalties
Immigration applicants are required to disclose all offences and consequent
penalties both in the UK and overseas, in addition to other relevant information about
their conduct, character and associations.

Then there are a numerous articles on law firms' websites that indicate that offences need to be declared even for ILR applications, For e.g.,third party weblinks removed by moderator

Therefore, my interpretation is that I need to disclose all of these in the ILR (or for that matter any visa application). Do you agree?

So whilst the "good character" requirement may only apply to Citizenship applications, and hence it is unlikely for my ILR to be rejected, I think I may need to declare these? At least the Driving offences and arrest? Please advice.

Many thanks.

[zimba]

None of the above are offences, so they do not need to be declared. A PCN is not a driving offence (but unsuccessfully challenging it in court is viewed as an offence) and as I said it is not even issued under your name (it is a simple charge notice) Being arrested and released without a charge is not an offence either. You may declare whatever you want in your application, but there exists no such requirement to do so

What a law firm says is not important, the advice must be based on the immigration rules in place. Note that the character and conduct disclosure are different for citizenship as a grant of citizenship (unlike ILR) is fully at the discretion of the home office. So they can refuse it for whatever reason they see fit. In contrast, the scope for discretionary refusal of ILR is very limited and specific as you see in the guide

[FrightenedPoster]

I was endorsed under the 'Promise' criteria under the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Route before 2020 by the Royal Academy of Engineering. I am now preparing my application for ILR and I need to understand what exactly is my "Field of Talent" or "Expert Field", as this is relevant to determine whether I have earned money in the relevant field or not.

When I applied for Stage 1, in the form there was a free text question,
"Please state your field of talent"; to this, I had responded "Biocidal Products"

Another question in the same section was as follows with drop down lists,
"State your acedemic field"; to this, I had responded "Innovation & Policy; Biomedical and Medical"

This "acedmic field" is also called "Disciplines" on the Government guidance page, and each of these Disciplines have multiple sub-disciplines. For e.g., 'Regulations' is part of 'Innovation & Policy'.

The issue is that I have now moved away from Biocidal products and now work for a company to manage compliance to a Regulation that covers multiple product types.
The question is, will this still be classed as work in my endorsed/expert/talent field given that 'Regulation' is part of 'Innovation & Policy' and I had seleced that during my Stage 1 application?

The letter I received after my successful Stage 1 did not mention any of the fields, and when I applied for Stage 2, I only included "Biocidal Products" against "Please state your field of talent". There was no second question, unlike Stage 1.
I also could not find any specific guidance for this.
Thank you.

[FrightenedPoster]

Dear all, just want to understand what is the minimum earning required in the endorsed/expert/talent field when applying for an ILR if I am currently on Tier 1 Exceptional Promise route?

I cannot find any guidance on this and some people have even suggested to me that there is no minimum requirement with someone even saying that just GBP 1 would be enough to apply for ILR!

Thank you.

[CR001]

1. Please do NOT post ILR questions in the GTV sub forum.

2. It is not necessary to start a new topic with each question you have!

3. Keep ALL your questions on the same application in ONE topic, this one, all topics merged.

[FrightenedPoster]

Dear Moderator,

Thank you for highlighting the rules. I agree that perhaps the questions posted recently could be posted in the same post. However, I felt that these two questions - although part of the same application - covers completely different topics. I thought posting them seperately with appropriate subject would give other members an easy way to find answers if they have similar questions. Lastly, the old post that you have merged it with was very old and with completely different subject.

Many thanks.

[zimba]

Dear Moderator,

Thank you for highlighting the rules. I agree that perhaps the questions posted recently could be posted in the same post. However, I felt that these two questions - although part of the same application - covers completely different topics. I thought posting them seperately with appropriate subject would give other members an easy way to find answers if they have similar questions. Lastly, the old post that you have merged it with was very old and with completely different subject.

Many thanks.

You are advised to ask your application-related questions in one thread to maintain your immigration history in one place. This enables us here to provide accurate and correct advice easier, without the need for such information to be repeated over and over again in multiple posts.

Tier 1 Exceptional Promise route does not exist anymore. You are applying under the GTV route. GTV route has no minimum financial requirement for ILR at all: There is no specific earning requirement for ILR under Global Talent Visa route

[FrightenedPoster]

Thank you Zimba for explaining the need to maitain all questions in the same post - it makes sense now.
Thank you also for confirming that no minimum earning requirement is present.
What are you views about what is considered to be the 'Field of Talent' or 'Endorsed Field'? Is it just the 'biocidal products' or the wider academic field/discipline of 'Innovation & Policy' - sorry, it is important for me to understand this given that my current job does not deal with biocidal products.
Thank you.

[zimba]

Thank you Zimba for explaining the need to maitain all questions in the same post - it makes sense now.
Thank you also for confirming that no minimum earning requirement is present.
What are you views about what is considered to be the 'Field of Talent' or 'Endorsed Field'? Is it just the 'biocidal products' or the wider academic field/discipline of 'Innovation & Policy' - sorry, it is important for me to understand this given that my current job does not deal with biocidal products.
Thank you.

I guess you should seek advice from the endorsing body. They may be able to help you with whether a position fits within the 'Endorsed Field'

[FrightenedPoster]

Thank you for the suggestion, Zimba. I had actually written to them in 2021 soon after I changed my role. They asked me too many questions in a few rounds of emails and then went silent. I also stopped chasing them after a point as I did not want to annoy them or draw unnecessary attention.

I had also sought legal advice from 2 solicitors and 1 barrister. Unfortunately, they all have different opinions and, in fact, I corrected the advice of the barrister using some form and guidance produced by the Home Office for these endorsig bodies

So I guess I just have to apply and find out. Good thing is that I do have some earning from what has been categorically stated as my endorsed field so I hope that my application will succeed either way. *fingers crossed*

[lolo2]

I have my own ILR application in front of me now and there is no section asking for your expert field. The only related questions are those asking for evidence of "previous earnings" in the expert field, and the application or endorsement criteria, i.e. exceptional talent or promise. Remember that the GTV (and old Tier 1) and ILR forms are completely different.

Some people have successfully applied for ILR under the GTV route doing a completely different job - not related to the field they were endorsed for. The only thing they needed to evidence was have earned money in their expert field, at any time while they were endorsed.

As you previously contacted RAEng to inform you changed jobs, I would be concerned about them withdrawing the endorsement. They might have thought you're no longer working in the expert field, which likely would make your ILR application unsuccessful. However, as far as I understand when an endorsement is withdrawn, the endorsing body informs the individual about it, but I agree with you this will be only found out once you apply.

I am firmly convinced that using a solicitor for this is absolutely unnecessary and a waste of money and time, but that's a personal decision.

[FrightenedPoster]

Dear lolo2, thank you for your reply and you're absolutely correct that there is no field asking to specify the expert field. However, there is a field that asks you how the employment is related to the "specialist field". The queston reads,

How is your employment or self-employment in the UK related to your specialist field or the prize you have won?

So the question is, do I simply show the earning of about £4-5k specifically related to the biocidal products; or do I also show the significant earnings from a job that involves regulatory compliance (i.e., 'Regulations' part of the 'Descipline').

If I can rely on both income, then do I explicitly explain that £4-5k from 'Biocidal products' and circa £35k/year from the current job that relates to the 'Regulations' which falls under the 'Innovation & Policy' as per the gov.uk page?

I also agree that using a solicitor is a waste of money and time and I have experienced that they do not seem to have solid opinions/experience in these cases. This is why I am trying to rely on personal experiences from the community.

Many thanks for all your help

[lolo2]

You can answer that question saying: I am still working in the specialist field I was endorsed for "Innovation & Policy", and submit the appropriate evidence. Dealing with another "commodity", different to biocidal products would not make any negative impact. For this route the salary is irrelevant as commented above.

I don't see any complications here. Check the GTV sub-forum and you will see cases of successful ILR applications from members working in something not related at all to their endorsements.

[FrightenedPoster]

Hi lolo2, thank you for the helpful answer. I will let you all know how it goes. Thank you.