Points-Based System training course 28-29 March: Tiers, Points, Dependants, qualifying for ILR.

We offer a 2-day weekend course at our office in the City of London. Multi Travel Visas Ltd and its sister company, 1st 4Immigration Ltd, are both accredited by The OISC, ref F201100418 and F200800152 respectively.

This course has a particular emphasis on Tier 2 General and Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa categories, applying for a Sponsor Licence and using Tier 2 Code of Practice as well as qualifying for an Indefinite Leave in these routes. It also covers (often forgotten in training) rules for family members of PBS migrants. You can earn 12 core CPD hours credit, subject to the successful completion of the test after the course.

You can book PBS training courses here: http://www.mtv-training.co.uk/index-pbs.php

As a practicing company, we are offering to share our experience to help you deal with the applications of Points-Based System migrants, their family members and ILR applications based on PBS categories. Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredited practicing immigration advisers who handle the real cases during the week and teach on weekends. You can read about them on the Tutors page. You can read Testimonials on our immigration cases here.

Unlike most traditional courses, ours is conducted using plain language and does not simply contain quotes from the Immigration Rules. We include cases studies from our practice, a Questions& Answers session and a test to test your knowledge, which is given to the candidates at the end to complete in their own time and send to us. Generally, we try to keep it as entertaining as possible!

TRAINING DATES:

Weekend 28 - 29 March 2015 (in the 2014-15 CPD year for The OISC!)

Weekend 9 - 10 May 2015

Detailed Course Agenda can be found here and is designed in our own unique way.

Multi Travel Visas Ltd: 68 King William Street, City of London, London, EC4N 7DZ. Near Monument underground station. Email: info@mtv-training.co.uk , Phone: 0871 472 1468 (£0.10 per minute, emails are free).

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Course Agenda:

DAY 1:

PART 1: IMMIGRATION RULES AND POINTS-BASED SYSTEM

Immigration Rules, Part 6A | Appendices | UKVI Operation Guidance | Multitasking - Why do you need to use all 3 in your practice | How to determine if switching is possible?| How to determine if a visa allows to work?

 

PART 2: POINTS-BASED SYSTEM - ABOUT THE TIERS

As ‘Points-Based’ as it sounds? | PBS Tiers

 

PART 3: TIER 2 (GENERAL) – MAIN WORK VISA

Step 1: Sponsor Licence

UKVI Guidance for Sponsors | Appendix A – Supporting documents | UKVI policy of refusing, not asking to correct the documents | Application process | Authorising Officer, Key, Contact, Level 1 User, Level 2 User | Decision: A and B-rated Sponsors | Sponsor Management System (SMS)

 

Step 2: Tier 2 Code of Practice  

What is the Code of Practice | SOC codes and types of jobs | Jobs eligible for Sponsorship | Go by the duties, not a job title | Salary: New Entrant v Experienced   

Step 3: Shortage Occupation List

What is Shortage Occupation List and why it is important    

Step 4: Resident Labour Market Test (advertising a job)

Why and when a job has to be advertised? | Exceptions from advertising: Shortage Occupation List, salary min £153,200 pa, extending to work for the same employer | Special arrangements for those switching from a Tier 4 Student visa | Where to advertise | How long to advertise for | Records to keep (table of candidates, why they are suitable or not, who was invited for an interview)

 

Step 5: Certificate of Sponsorship (COS)

APPLICANT’S JOB:

Type of jobs which can be offered | Does applicant need to have experience or qualification for job sponsored under Tier 2? | Does an applicant need to work for this employer before he/she can be sponsored for Tier 2? If yes, how long for? | 

APPLICANT'S SALARY:

Minimum salary | New Entrant salary category | Experienced salary category | How can a number of weekly hours be determined | What if employer cannot offer minimum £20,500? | Salaries pro-rate, based on the full-time salary on the Code of Practice

RESTRICTED AND UNRESTRICTED CERTIFICATES:

Annual limit and when it applies | Resident Labour Market Test and annual limit are not the same thing and not connected | Assigning an unrestricted COS v requesting a restricted COS | Useful tip – request allocation of unrestricted certificate at the time of applying for a Sponsor Licence, if possible

COMMON QUESTIONS:

What’s the minimum salary for Tier 2 General visa? £20,500 or as on the Code of Practice? If Tier 2 application was refused, does the applicant need a new COS or can he/she use the same one? | Where to find a confirmation that Sponsors employing Tier 4 migrants don’t need to advertise the jobs

CASE STUDIES:

A manufacturing company: we helped with the licence, requested allocation of certificates at the same time to speed it up and the company had an unannounced UKVI inspection a year after | A company whose Sponsor Licence application took record 3 days! | When and how to request urgent consideration | “Don’t try this at home”: how we applied for a Tier 2 visa by post, explained we will be submitting a Sponsor Licence application shortly and asked to hold the case, then sent a COS later. It worked but you should use it only in truly exceptional cases

Step 6: Tier 2 visa application including for Tier 4 Students switching to Tier 2

Main requirements for a visa application | Employing Tier 4 Students who are switching to Tier 2 category | Example of application refused because of the salary (and approved when re-submitted by us) | Example of application refused because of the wrong SOC code (the 2 were similar job titles but very different salaries) | TABLE: Tier 2 General in questions and answers

Step 7: While holding a Tier 2 General visa

3 and 5 year visas and extensions | 6 year limit and 12 months cooling-off period | Is work restricted to working for the Sponsor? | Can a Tier 2 migrant change a Sponsor? | What if the job is finished early?

 

PART 4: TIER 2 (INTRA-COMPANY TRANSFER)  

Important date: 6 April 2010 – who can and who can’t qualify for an ILR | Important date: 6 April 2011 – who falls and who doesn’t fall under the ICT 5 year limit | 12 months cooling-off period | Can an ICT migrant switch to Tier 2 General? TABLE: Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer in questions and answers

 

PART 5: NOTES ON ENGLISH FOR ALL TIERS UNDER PBS

Meeting automatically: Based on the previous visa(s) | Tier 1 (Investor) applicants are exempt from this requirement | Nationals of majority English-speaking countries (and common countries which should be on the list but they aren’t) | Degree taught in English | English language tests | TABLE: English language required in each category

 

PART 6: NOTES ON MAINTENANCE FOR ALL TIERS UNDER PBS

Meeting automatically | Certified by the Sponsor – Tier 2 | Savings: 90 days for Tiers 1, 2, 5 or 28 days for Tier 4 | TABLE: summary of Maintenance requirement for each category | Funds held for 90 days (Tiers 1, 2 and 5): How to count 90 days and when should this period end, a day before applying or when? | What if the applicant does not have the funds ‘held for 90 days’? | Foreign currencies and foreign banks | Black list of foreign banks | Dependants and Funds | Whose name should be on the bank account?

 

PART 7: SPECIFIED EVIDENCE AND EVIDENTIAL FLEXIBILITY

It goes further: specified details on the documents, not just specified documents | Evidential (in)Flexibility | The Immigration Rules provide 4 examples when Evidential Flexibility applies

 

PART 8: TIER 1 (INVESTOR)

Tier 1 (Investor) in Questions and Answers

 

DAY 2:

PART 9: TIER 1 (ENTREPRENEUR)  

Initial applications – General:

Summary of the Rules: Part 6A, Appendices | UKVI Guidance |  Purpose of this visa category | Funds £200,000 / £50,000

Who can apply with £50,000?

Examples from the Rules | Common question – can I apply with £50,000 from my family?

Tier 4 Students wishing to have an Entrepreneur visa:

Rules - and restrictions - for Tier 4 Students

Funds available to invest:

Where the funds can be held | Regulated institutions |Funds transferrable to the UK | Common question from the applicants from China where strict currency controls exist  | Useful tips from our practice

Entrepreneurial Teams:

Conditions of 2 people sharing the funds | Sharing does not mean sharing 50 / 50 | What if one team member is eligible to apply with £50,000 and the other – with £200,000

Funds from the third party:

Who is considered as third party | Funds held on the name of a spouse or parents | Funds held on the name of a company  

Evidential Flexibility:

Why it is very important | Why we call it Evidential (in)Flexibility | Case from our practice which was refused but an appeal was allowed (should have been under Evidential Flexibility but the UKBA chose to refuse) | Case from our practice which was refused because one detail on the document was missing (that’s a detail on the document, not a document)

Genuine Entrepreneur Test:

Business plan | previous experience and qualifications | Other extras: business insurance, bank account, evidence of having clients, advertising

UK Visas and Immigration interviews and questions asked:

Examples of cases where applicants were invited for an interview (including a phone interview on a Saturday) and questions they were asked  

Useful case studies:

Entry Clearance from Ukraine – 2 applicants applying as an Entrepreneurial Team, one of them also being a third party for the other (exciting case to study!) |  Switching inside the UK – case which took only 3 weeks without interview and before contractors’ rules were changed

What to do once a visa has been issued (and requirements for an extension):

REGISTERING A BUSINESS:
Setting up a business within 6 months | Taking over or buying an existing business | Joining an existing business | Types of businesses in the UK (limited company, sole trader etc)

INVESTING THE FUNDS:

What is considered as making investment – transferring the money to your business account? (The answer is No) |  What is not counted as investment including paying yourself | What evidence will the migrant need to prove investment (director’s loan agreement etc)  

CREATING JOBS:

Creating 2 jobs for settled workers | Definition of a “settled worker” for this purpose (which is different from the definition for the purpose of the Immigration Rules | What if the applicant had to employ more than 2 workers

Why working as a “contractor” is not considered a business:

Who is a contractor | Changes in the Rules in July 2014

Entrepreneur visa in Questions & Answers:

Does it allow to work in the UK? | Can the migrant switch to a different business from the one he/she initially invested? | Can the migrant combine time spent on Entrepreneur visa with the time spent on Tier 2 or other categories? | Can the migrant switch to a Tier 2 General visa from this category?

Accelerated route to ILR:

3 years instead of 5 | business turnover | creating 10 jobs

PART 10: INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN (PERMANENT RESIDENCY) IN PBS ROUTES   

How to check whether a category leads to an ILR | Examples of PBS categories which do not lead to an ILR

Common routes to an ILR:

Tier 2 General | Counting Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer visa | Tier 1 Entrepreneur | Tier 1 Investor

Tier 1 (General) – remaining ILR applications in this route

Why was this visa so popular? | New applicants cannot join it but existing applicants can still apply for permanent residency until 6 April 2018 | Last extensions in April 2015

SCORING THE POINTS FOR AN ILR:

The main thing to remember here is 3 dates and how the points differ | Age is ‘frozen’ in time and points are given accordingly | Qualifications | Earnings from employment | Earnings from a limited company | Earnings from being a Sole Trader

Common ILR requirements and issues:

ABSENCES:

Do we count 5 years from the date of visa issue or date of entry to the UK? | Absences from the UK: From 13 December 2012 | Purposes of absences | Before 13 December 2012

CRIMINALITY:

Before 13 December 2012 - Spent and Unspent criminal convictions | From 13 December 2012 – Sentence-based thresholds | Table of offences and impact on applications | Driving offences: drink-driving, driving without insurance, driving whilst using a mobile phone and similar | Fixed Penalty Notices | Fines

KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE AND LIFE (KOLL):

Before 28 October 2013 | From 28 October 2013 | Examples of applicants who are affected by these changes

PART 11: SPOUSES AND PARTNERS OF PBS MIGRANTS

Part 8 of the Immigration Rules - still applies! | If the main applicant holds a Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa | What to do if the main Tier applicant qualifies for an ILR but his/her spouse/partner has not spent enough time in the UK? From PBS Dependant to an ILR? | All changed on 9 July 2012! | There is one exception – 10 years Long Residence | Absences for dependants | Criminal convictions for dependants | Life in the UK Test and English language

 

PART 12: CHILDREN OF PBS  MIGRANTS

If the main applicant holds a Tier 1 or a Tier 2 visa | Child born in the UK, do the parents need to apply for a Dependant visa? | Children born in the UK – no need to include them into ILR as they can be registered as British | Children who turned 18 years old | When can a child qualify for an ILR | What if one parent qualifies for an ILR and the other one doesn't

PART 13: STUDYING IN THE UK – TIER 4

2 types under tier 4: General and Child students  | Tier 4 Sponsors | Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) | Acceptable types of courses | Academic progress | How many years can one study in the UK?3 and 5 year limits | English language courses

MAINTENANCE (FUNDS):

Low-risk nationals | How much money does a Student need? | Reduced maintenance levels for established students | How many days does the money need to be on account? | Whose name can be on account (and a common cause for refusal)? | If the money is on the parents’ accounts

WHILE HOLDING A TIER 4 VISA:

How long is a visa valid for? Can students work in the UK? What about changes: change a course, change a sponsor, drop out of the course?

DEPENDANTS | WHAT’S NEXT AFTER TIER 4 VISA? | DOCTORATE EXTENSION SCHEME

PART 14: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

 

To book please visit the page Booking or contact us: info@mtv-training.co.uk