Sticky situation - Please advise

[sirleanalot]

Hello everyone.

This is going to be a long one so please be patient!

There exists a scheme in the UK called Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), which is run by the department of trade and industry. Under this scheme, they employ graqduates to work for an employer under the supervision of a university. The idea is to infuse fresh knowledge and ideas into the company. The companies participating in this scheme are usually SMEs. The salary for these roles tends to be quite low but the roles are attractive as the graduate has the opportunity to work closely with senior management, and also there is a development budget that pays for personal and professional development of the graduate.

In March 2007 I was working in Scotland under the FTS scheme. At this time, I was offered a role as a KTP associate with a company in the West Midlands. For administrative purposes, KTP Associates are employed on the payroll of the partner university. Hnece, my job offer came from the partner university. I accepted and they proceeded to obtain a work permit for me. What no one was aware of at this time was that one cannot switch from FTS to work permit from within this country, it can only be done from the home country. The university proceeded to obtain an in-country work permit for me. When I rang the home office to obtain an appointment to apply for leave to remain, I was informed that I will need to return to my home country and apply for entry clearance. And first, my future employer will have to reapply for an out-country permit. I duly informed the university and they obtained an out-country permit. WIth this, I proceeded to my home country and obtained the relevant entry clearance. All these delays meant that, while my offer letter and work permit stated that my employment would commence on 15th May 2007 for a period of 2 years, I was only able to commence employment on 11th June 2007. The contract was revised to reflect this but my work permit ran from 15th May 2007 to 15th May 2009.

In January this year, the host company offered me a permanent position after the end of the KTP project. I accepted but we still had to complete the project until 11th June 2009. So the university obtained a tier 2 certificate of sponsorship for me. At the same time, the host company applied for a license to sponsor me (this was in March 2009). The university's oversight was that they did not bother to check the minimum salary requirement for such a role ( probably because it was only to be a 3 week extension). When I applied for leave to remain, my application was turned down on the grounds that the salary I was being offered was below the minimum. They gave me the right to appeal.

In my appeal document, I have argued that in the application for leave to remain I was not able to state that beyond 11th June I have a job offer waiting at a salary level that is significantly above the minimum for such a role. I have been invited to a tribunal on 23rd July for ahearing of my appeal. Do I have a reasonable case? The biggest problem at this stage is that the host company have still not received their certificate of sponsorship. So no matter how reasonable my argument sounds, I can't see what solution the tribunal can offer to me. The job contract for the inital application was only until 11th June 2009. The university are not able to offer me anything as that role does not exist anymore. The host company have given me an offer letter but are unable to sponsor me without their license. This really is bureaucracy gone mad and in my case, everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong.

Where do I stand? Any advise would be appreciated.