Covering letter+documents:Do these look good for submission?

[QEF8DD]

1. Age Assessment – 20 points claimed - 27 years as of date of application
Documents provided:
• Original Passport stating date of birth
• Notarized copy of Passport
• Original Birth Certificate

2. Qualification – 30 points claimed
Degree recognized by the ‘Self Assessment Tool’. In addition, I am providing the NARIC UK certificate as well to prove equivalency with UK Bachelors Degree.

Documents provided:

• Original Degree certificate
• Original 3 years Degree Mark sheets
• Original Academic reference from University.
• Original NARIC certificate

3. Previous Earnings – 30 points claimed
Period claimed ->1 Jan 2008 to 31 Dec 2008 (12 Months)

I have worked in two countries during the above period. I worked:-

a) In UK from 1 Jan 2008 to July 31 2008 and
The daily allowance I received while in UK is reflected in my Indian salary slip in terms of Indian rupees. Thus, for the period 1 Jan 2008 to July 31 2008, I am claiming previous earnings based on the gross salary in my pay slip without using any uplift calculation. The online points calculator (attached with the application) handles this automatically. (Earnings table with country of earning, gross and net earnings provided separately)

b) In India from 1 Aug 2008 till Dec 31 2008.
For India, the uplift ratio is 5.3 per the Tier1 guidance document. Hence, I am using this uplift ratio on the total gross salary for the above period (Earnings table will be provided to VFS).

The tax year in India starts from 01st April and ends in 31st March. So my latest Income Tax Return document covers the period from April-2007 to March-2008 only. As my claim period starts from Jan-2008 to Dec-2008. Hence my latest Income Tax Return document covers only three months (i.e. Jan-2008 to March-2008) of my claim period. However, I have attached the IT returns for the last 3 years as additional proof.

Documents provided:
• Payslips : 12 Months Salary slips signed and stamped by employer for the period 1 Jan 2008 to 31 Dec 2008 showing gross and net salary per month.
• Personal bank statements: Signed and stamped official ICICI Bank statements for the 12 months claimed showing net salary credited into my ICICI Salary account XXXXXXXXXXXX. Net Salary paid is highlighted on the bank statement as well as on the salary slips.
• Official tax document produced by the tax authority
- Latest ITR (Income Tax Returns) which covers 3 months of my claim period (i.e. Jan-2008 to Mar-2008)
- Income tax return and Form16 copy for last three years. As original Form – 16 is retained with Income Tax Department I have provided copy of Form – 16.

PS: I am NOT using any uplift in conversion rates for the duration I was in UK but availing it only for the period I was in India. The details can be seen from the points calculator sheet attached in which I have included the gross earnings based on the subtotals in the table above for the period
- Jan-July ’08 (UK) and
- Aug-Dec ’08 (India).

As per exchange rate on Oanda.com (http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic)
1 British Pound = 71.987 Indian Rupee for 31 Dec ‘08

Hence my total earnings in pounds sterling for the full period of my claim (Jan – Dec 2008) comes to GBP XXXXX.XX.

This is in the range of earnings between £29,000 - £31,999 and per the guidance note, I have claimed 30 points for this.

Employer details:
Mr. XXXXXX, (Finance Manager)
Ph: 0091- XXXXXX Ext: XXXXXX
Fax: 0091- XXXXXX
Email: XXXXXX


4. English Language Requirement– 10 points claimed

I have claimed 10 points under the category ‘English Language Test’. The minimum Grade required to score 10 points in English language requirement is an IELTS score of 6.5. I have scored 7.5 in this exam which I gave while I was in London. The result was declared on 9th April 2008.

Documents provided:

• Original IELTS Certificate/mark sheet (Total score 7.5)

5. Maintenance Funds – 10 points claimed
Documents provided:

• Stamped and signed official bank statements of my Salary account XXXXXXXXXXXX with ICICI (India) Pvt Ltd. covering last 5 months - 1 Aug 2008 to 14 Jan 2009.
• Letter from ICICI Bank (India) stating my minimum balance over the last 5 months and closing balance as on 14th Jan 2009.

6. Additional Documents –
I am attaching some additional documents which can be referred to in case of any doubt.

1) Notarized affidavit stating that there are minor variations in the way my name has been stated in the birth certificate, degree certificate and passport and that they all refer to the same person, which is me.
2) Letter from my employer, stating that I am a regular employee since XX Month 200X.
3) ICICI UK Statement for Dec 2008 and letter stating I am maintaining a fixed deposit with them for XX GBP which will mature on XX 2009. I will have these additional funds as well for use once I reach UK.
3) Please note that I have recently obtained the Original letter from my University confirming that my degree course was taught in English as well. This is the same letter as attached in the ‘Qualifications’ section earlier as the ‘Awarding body reference’ and is additional proof for scoring under English language requirement.

[QEF8DD]

Please advise on some of my questions as well

1. I got a letter printed from icici on their letterhead (although the logo is in black and white they are stamped and signed) that I maintained a minimum balance of 3,78,000 in last 5 months and my closing balance as of yesterday is 3,60,000 INR.
- Is it fine to use minimum balance as 3,60,000 as it is the lowest in the immediate 3 months prior to date of application. If someone could suggest how to word this it would be great.
- I believe I have to take the Oanda as of yesterday(i.e. min balance day) and convert to GBP to show I maintained > 2800 GBP. Am I Correct ?

2. I have more than one document in certain areas like, for English requirement I have IELTS certificate as well as recently obtained English language letter from University too.
I have NARIC equivalency with UK bachelors degree even though my university degree is recognised in points calculator. (It was not there when I submitted for NARIC initially).

Is it fine to submit both the proofs that I have in each section ? I will submit the second proof in additional details section so as not to confuse the entry officer checking the documents.

[tvn_ramesh]

1. I got a letter printed from icici on their letterhead (although the logo is in black and white they are stamped and signed) that I maintained a minimum balance of 3,78,000 in last 5 months and my closing balance as of yesterday is 3,60,000 INR.
- Is it fine to use minimum balance as 3,60,000 as it is the lowest in the immediate 3 months prior to date of application. If someone could suggest how to word this it would be great.
- I believe I have to take the Oanda as of yesterday(i.e. min balance day) and convert to GBP to show I maintained > 2800 GBP. Am I Correct ?

QEF8DD.. if your 3.6lakh INR qualifies to show for maintenance funds.. than get letter with that amount, BUT dont do the silly mistake by stating u have 3.78lakhs for 5months but closing balance is 3.6L INR..

which doesn't make sense.. straight away will become a cause to get rejected...

Just follow what HO UKBA asked for...

statements should clearly show:
the applicant’s name;•
the account number;•
the date of the statement;•
the financial institution’s name and logo;•
transactions covering the three month • period;
Tier 1 (General) Policy Guidance page 35 of 49
that there are enough funds present in the • account (the balance must always be at least £2,800 or £800, as appropriate).

[QEF8DD]

QEF8DD.. if your 3.6lakh INR qualifies to show for maintenance funds.. than get letter with that amount

hi tvn_ramesh.. yes, 3.6 lakh is sufficient to show 2800 min balance.I will show that only. Which 'letter' are you asking me to 'get' ? I've already got the bank letter. Just need to convert to INR based on Oanda and mention that in covering letter.

[tvn_ramesh]

I just thought you had the same wordings even in the Letter from back for the Maintenance funds as you mentioned in ur query like 3.78lakh for 5months but 3.6L balance thing..

sorry for confusion.. goodluck

QEF8DD.. if your 3.6lakh INR qualifies to show for maintenance funds.. than get letter with that amount

hi tvn_ramesh.. yes, 3.6 lakh is sufficient to show 2800 min balance.I will show that only. Which 'letter' are you asking me to 'get' ? I've already got the bank letter. Just need to convert to INR based on Oanda and mention that in covering letter.

[QEF8DD]

the bank does not include current month(since it is not finished yet) in mimumum balance statement - that seems to be a norm- one of my friends told me. when the bank says last 5 months it actually means August 1 till Dec 31st.

The letter from my bank is as below -
**********************************************************
... hereby certified that XXXX holds a saving account with ICICI..... acct no:....
The minimum balance maintained in the account in the last 5 months is Rs. 3,70,000 (in words..).

The balance in the acct as on 14-01-2009 at close of business was Rs 3,60,000 (in words..)..

<Bank Disclaimer> stamp and sign
**********************************************************
So I will just include the 3,60,000 as minimum. Hope this suffices ?