ILR on Hold and License Suspended

[jatala005]

dear experts.

I am very confused please help me. I applied my ILR after 5 years on tier 2 in person about 5 months ago unfortunately it was held due to some unknown reason. all required documents were submitted along with 5 P60s and 1 year wage slips. I was told it will take couple of days to make a decision but I haven't heard anything from UKVI yet.

few week back there was a compliance visit from UKVI 1 officer came to check all paperwork and found I had a salary jump in feb 2016 from £26000 to £36000 and it was not updated in sponsor notes. my employer explained to compliance officer that due to good performance and additional duties assigned to the employee we gave him wage raise. but compliance officer said it should have been reported via sms.

now my company's tier 2 license has been suspended and my application is held with the UKVI. although company hired a solicitor to give explanation to UKVI but I am so confused and feeling very helpless. I need advise, should I start looking new sponsor just in case they revoke the license? if UKVI revoke the license my ILR also will be refused? I have only 7 months left for my current tier 2 leave can I switch to other sponsor?

thanks

[zimba]

It is rare that someone's salary increases by 38% and by coincidence ends up almost above the min required salary of Tier 2 settlement which is 35K.
I think they are suspecting that your employer deliberately increased your salary to help you get your ILR.
I suggest to look for other sponsors as the Tier 2 licence of your current employer could be revoked.
Did they tell you if you are allowed to continue to work or not ??

[jatala005]

thanks for reply.
no they haven't mentioned anything to stop my from work but they asked my employer to explain the situation in 20 working days and solicitor is "hopeful" to get the license back on register. total 32 people working in the company but i am only one who is on tier 2 rest of them are local people.
can someone please advise what are my options now. if I successfully find a tier 2 sponsor is it possible to switch sponsor as I only have 7 months left to complete my 6 years on tier 2.? I am here from 8 years and have a 1 year child too. please advise me, to find a sponsor asap is the only option or should I wait till the final decision from UKVI? I already paid premium fee
thanks

[Frontier Mole]

I doubt your Sponsor will get their licence back, I fully expect it to be revoked. Expect the reason to be non genuine vacancy and facilitating the continued stay in the U.K. through the artificial increase in your salary.

Solicitor is hopeful - hopefully he gets paid his fees more likel.

[jatala005]

thnks for you comments. I agree solicitor will get his fee and they are always hopeful. vacancy is genuine I am working with the same employer from many years and wage raise was given approx 1 year ago. I was interviewed for couple of hours by compliance officer. there are additional duties which were assigned to me and all the proofs were handed over to the officer. in the letter they only mentioned that the wage raise should have been reported in 10 days.. however my fear is after revokation where I am standing? please tell me if there is any option as I dont want to waste 8 years of my life for nothing.. can I switch to another sponsor if I find a job with the same salary? regards

[Frontier Mole]

If the additional duties actually pushed you outside the current SOC then you would be working in breach. So there would have been a need for a RLMT.

As a for a genuine job, all well and good until you get a massive pay rise and suddenly it looks like less than genuine. For many roles £35k is above the 95th percentile of earning so it is neither credible or acceptable that this amount would be paid to 95% of people doing the role.

I doubt very much you will see ILR from this application.

[jatala005]

Dear Frontier Mole.
thanks for your comments. additional duties are not outside of current COS therefore UKVI have no objection about additional duties and they are satisfied. as I said in my previous post they only want the explanation why the pay raise was not updated in SMS. they have not any issue with the other things. pay raise was given almost 1 year ago and its not artificial (shortly 1 month before ILR application). I spoke to a solicitor and he advised to wait till the final outcome as my application was same day and my sponsor had valid license at the time of application plus I have completed my 5 years continuously. so there are chances to get the ILR because UKVi never raised any issue about the genuineness of vacancy. in worst case scenario I will still have the chance to switch the sponsor and submit another ILR application. I will post here the progress of my case.
thanks

[SRK007]

Hi Jatala,

Can you pls update the status of your ILR application? Have you moved to different sponsor or ILR application was successful?

I have applied under the same category and ILR application was put on HOLD for further checks.

Appreciated for your inputs.

[jatala005]

Hello SRK007.

I haven't received any update from home office but I spoke to immigration solicitors after checking my paper work and immigration history they advised to wait till the final outcome and go for JR instead of re-applying from different sponsor "IF" there is any refusal etc as they don't see anything wrong from my end and I already completed my continues stay and have provided all required documents at the time of application it was a premium application and should have decided accordingly . I don't know the advise is right or not as home office and lawyers they both love easy money.

I would request you please don't stress yourself, this is not end of the world and nothing is important than your health. I was extremely worried & I an understand about your situation too. I had a very good job offer last month but unfortunately I missed it because of my pending application since last 6 months.

[CR001]

I spoke to immigration solicitors after checking my paper work and immigration history they advised to wait till the final outcome and go for JR instead of re-applying from different sponsor "IF" there is any refusal

You should be aware that JR does not automatically extend Section 3C protection and is very expensive (which is why lawyers will tell you to do this).

[jatala005]

Dear CR001,
Thanks for your comment, but I will be completing my 6 years of tier 2 soon and its hard to find a sponsor for couple of months. the objection they raised with my employer is a mistake done by my employer and I was not responsible to update SMS. so if UKVI deliberately delay my application I will have no option to change my sponsor. the only available option will be JR or switch of another category.

you are senior member/adviser. you know better than me. I've read the guidance for case worker and requirements for ILR from tier 2. I can't see anything wrong or missing from my application. sponsor was A rated with valid license and they have more than 30 settled people working for them all my paper work is genuine/legitimate and can be proved. if I still don't get the ILR then that's the something which is not destined for me after all my hard work

[CR001]

As FrontierMole has already said, a sudden salary increase of £10,000 is VERY unusual and has rightly flagged up to HO. As FrontierMole said, if your duties changed and are different to your SOC, a new RLMT will have been required.

Surprising that an A rated sponsor does not know what their 'duties' are

[jatala005]

thanks once again. yes salary was raised due to additional duties but the duties are not outside from the COS. my employer expand their business largely therefore wage raise was given. as I said it can be proved that the business is booming and my employer have provided all the relevant documents to show. they assigned the same duties to avoid another employee and training etc which is more costly than giving me pay raise. lets see what happens. I hope everything will be good at the end.

[1mm1bunny]

Hi jatala005, any update on that? i have the similar case.
so your salary increase was about 8 months before your ILR application, right?

[jatala005]

Hello 1mm1bunny.

yes you are right when I applied for ILR my salary was increase 8-9 months before my application date.

I would appreciate if you can share your timelines. when you you applied for ILR and any progress??

thank you

[1mm1bunny]

Hi Jatala,

i haven't sent ILR yet, will do it next month. that's why i am really worried to read your case. what did the lawyer say? are they doing anything apart from waiting? is there a deadline for you to hear back from HO? if possible, can you give me your email?

thx.

[CR001]

Hi Jatala,

i haven't sent ILR yet, will do it next month. that's why i am really worried to read your case. what did the lawyer say? are they doing anything apart from waiting? is there a deadline for you to hear back from HO? if possible, can you give me your email?

thx.

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[SRK007]

Thanks for the reply Jatala!

I will have to wait patiently for my update without any stress, as you rightly suggested

have you tried to reach out Home Office for the latest status through solicitor? if YES what's their usual reply? Also, Has Home Office send out any communication your employer with respect to your application? I would advise that you can think of switching a sponsor and try your luck again before the tier2 validity crosses 6 years.

Appreciated if you can keep us posted your latest progress. It will be helpful to lot of community members to set the expectations on their applications.

[avi]

Hi Jatala,

Yes been on the same boat as yours. Applied 1st week of March and still not heard anything from them, neither have they contacted my employer.

Have they got in touch with your employer yet ? Please keep us posted

Cheers

Avi

[jatala005]

hello mate.
Thanks. just one reply from home office months ago that they have to do further checks. I have not sent any letter to UKVI through. I am just waiting for the outcome of my application now. I don't know how long its gonna take & I have already missed a very good job offer due to this uncertainty. home office is now punishing us for someone else's mistake.
take it easy and wait wait... hope all will be fine as long as everything is genuine.

thanks!

[1mm1bunny]

I called a few immigration advisers and solicitors.
They seem to be relaxed about the case especially when ILR hasn't been submitted.
Just put a note on Sponsorship Management System and at the same time prepare all ILR documents.
They said HO is short staffed and a potential check in the office will probably happen weeks after a note has been put on the system.
I know this may not help much when ILR has already been processed. but don't give up:)

[avi]

Hi Jatala,

Hope you got a response from home office. Any idea what they ask on compliance visit, i have got one 1st week of May. Home office contacted my employer today and asked to keep all the files ready and asked me to be present as well. Just curious what sort of questions to expect? Please share your experience.

Thanks

[1mm1bunny]

Hi Avi,

did you apply by post or same day service?
how long have you been on high salary before application?

thanks.

[avi]

Hi,

Applied for the same day , 1st week of March. Had a pay rise in January. What about you?

Cheers

[1mm1bunny]

my salary increased more than half year ago.
did they say the problem is actually the increase not reported on SMS?