My tier1 documents checklist- please check

[tulipz]

Hi,
Here are my documents for Tier1 General initial application from India. Please check if it looks complete. It'll be helpful if you give you comments and suggestions.

1. VAF 9 form
2. Cover letter
3. Self Assessment summary (for points claimed)
4. Oanda conversion page.
5. Age assessment Proof- Passport
6. Qualification proof-Original degree certificate and marksheet
7. Previous Earning proof: Payslips signed and stamped by the employer, Oanda conversion page, 15 months Online HSBC Bank statements signed and stamped.
8. English language proof: Original degree certificate (Recognized by the self Assessment tool)
9. Maintenance Funds: Last 3 months original statements.
10. Accomodation Proof: Invitation letter from friend, rental agreement, his payslips and passport copy (I am yet to arrange for this) I mailed Chennai BHC and got the following reply:

"It is advisable to show accommodation proof as the UK authorities want to be sure that you have a place to stay when you arrive in the UK. You may show the same in the form of hotel bookings. You may also wish to note that a few applicants have had adverse decisions for not enclosing accommodation proof."

My application is straight. All documents clear. Incase I dont submit accomodation proof, under what rules can they reject my application? Acco proof thing is nowhere mentioned in the rule book.

[geriatrix]

My two cents -

Previous Earning proof: Payslips signed and stamped by the employer, Oanda conversion page, 15 months Online HSBC Bank statements signed and stamped.

As per policy guidance

2) Personal bank statements showing the payments made to the applicant: Bank statements provided must be on official bank stationery, and must show each of the payments that the applicant is claiming. If the applicant wishes to submit electronic bank statements from an online account he/she should also provide a supporting letter from the bank on company headed paper confirming that the documents are authentic.

Incase I dont submit accomodation proof, under what rules can they reject my application? Acco proof thing is nowhere mentioned in the rule book.

Accommodation isn't a Tier 1 requirement, but is a Entry Clearance requirement. So the BHC is well within their right if they wish applicants to provide proof of accommodation. The ECO might choose to reject / not reject EC in absence of accommodation proof - depending on the merits of your application. See Chapter 9 – The maintenance and accommodation requirements

Marksheets are not required to be sent as they are not acceptable evidence, but people seem to think otherwise and attach them anyway to be " on the safe side" (whatever that means in this context)! Will leave it to you to decide what's best for you.

regards

[CoolestGuyC]

So the BHC is well within their right if they wish applicants to provide proof of accommodation.

No they are not. BHC has to grant/reject visas according to Tier 1 rules, and they cannot deny any visa on their own discretion. (As my understanding is that uk govt. has tried to make Tier 1 visas as objective as possible, removing any discretion from ECO's part).

The ECO might choose to reject / not reject EC in absence of accommodation proof - depending on the merits of your application.

If they choose to reject the application, they would need to provide some reference to guidance notes/immigration rule for rejecting the application. I could not find any reference in:
1. Immigration rules for Tier 1 main applicant, or
2. Tier 1 policy guidance notes, or
3. UK Visas website
which said that Tier 1 main applicant has to show accommodation proof.

Also, despite of Chennai BHC claiming that some applications have been rejected for not providing accommodation proof, I do not see any new Tier 1 applications being rejected for not providing accommodation proof.

Please note that I am not talking about people in following categories
1. about Tier 1 dependents. I am talking about main applicants.
2. transitional Tier 1 applicants who already have HSMP letter. If ECO wanted, he could reject some transitional Tier 1 applicant quoting rule 135A(iii) under old HSMP rules. But there is no such immigration rule for new Tier 1 applicants.
3. I am also not talking about those super intelligent Tier 1 main applicants, who have provided "uk rental agreement" from a friend which has some obvious mistake (e.g. it says no one extra can live in house w/o landlord's permission and his permission letter is not given, etc.)


I am yet to see a new Tier 1 application rejected on this forum for not providing accommodation proof.

See Chapter 9 – The maintenance and accommodation requirements

In this link http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/ecg/chapter9/ , the following paragraph reads:

The following guidelines are designed to help you assess these requirements. The guidelines deal particularly with the Rules on fiancés/fiancées, spouses/civil partners and unmarried partners, and dependants, although much of what they contain is applicable to persons coming for temporary purposes.

P.S. As always, no offence meant, to ever helpful sushdmehta. The above ranting was against Chennai BHC for propogating extraneous requirements which are not documented in rule book.

[CoolestGuyC]

Marksheets are not required to be sent as they are not acceptable evidence, but people seem to think otherwise and attach them anyway to be " on the safe side" (whatever that means in this context)! Will leave it to you to decide what's best for you.

(Final year) Marksheets are not required for ECO's assessment, but they are required for verification by IntegraScreen.

[geriatrix]

My two cents (with no intent, whatsoever, to offend / displease anyone) -

(Final year) Marksheets are not required for ECO's assessment, but they are required for verification by IntegraScreen.

Do the Tier 1 rules / UK Immigration rules or the UKVisas / VFS websites mention anything about the need to submit marksheets for Tier 1 applications background checks (leave alone mention background checks using documents which do not form part of Tier 1 documentary evidence). Nevertheless, it isn't difficult to imagine whether the ECO would approve / refuse an application when the applicant decides to not provide marksheets for IntegraScreen checks (if it is indeed a requirement prescribed by local BHCs) - citing the reason that Tier 1 rules do not mention submission of marksheets (for anything).

If BHC can demand marksheets when the Tier 1 / immigration rules do not mention it (but helps IntegraScreen verify qualification details, which in turn has a direct bearing on a Tier 1 application approval / rejection), can't they likewise demand evidence of accommodation? I tend to believe they can, and are within their rights if they've chosen to do so.

The following guidelines are designed to help you assess these requirements. The guidelines deal particularly with the Rules on fiancés/fiancées, spouses/civil partners and unmarried partners, and dependants, although much of what they contain is applicable to persons coming for temporary purposes.

I am not sure if I am legally correct on this one, but my limited understanding tells me that unless you are entering UK with an indefinite leave to enter endorsement(i.e. - you're not subject to immigration control in UK), any other leave to enter is "temporary" (i.e. - subject to time restriction) and thus even Tier 1 applicants (like everyone else applying for a non-settlement visa) would fall within the scope.
Well, I will definitely be off the mark here if temporary = visitors only! But I tend to believe it is not so.

It is always better to be well-prepared than be ill-prepared! A completely personal opinion again, but I also believe it is not wise to assume that rules that are not freely visible do not exist in reality! After all, there's a reason why legal profession is so highly paying.

Regarding accommodation, it is best to check what BHC has to say and try to get a conclusive response on the issue. If they (BHC) are asking for it, there has to be reason behind it. Do not rely on what VAC recommends with their auto-reply tool - they (VFS) are the real culprits behind all such confusion(s).

regards

[CoolestGuyC]

To cut the long story short, it is better to apply with accommodation proof (for Indian applicants) as recommended by BHCs.

As BHC Chennai itself recommends, even hotel booking is acceptable evidence. So even if you have no friends/family in uk, you can go ahead and submit hotel booking proof(e.g. from http://booking.com , etc.), as it is very easy and hassle-free to produce.

[tulipz]

To cut the long story short, it is better to apply with accommodation proof (for Indian applicants) as recommended by BHCs.

As BHC Chennai itself recommends, even hotel booking is acceptable evidence. So even if you have no friends/family in uk, you can go ahead and submit hotel booking proof(e.g. from http://booking.com , etc.), as it is very easy and hassle-free to produce.

So, here is the query and reply from Chennai BHC regarding docs required for accomodation proof

Chennai.VisaEnquiry@fco.gov.uk" to me
show details 11:46 am (1½ hours ago)

Dear Mr XYZ,

You may include a letter from your friend along with his/her tenancy agreement or mortgage statement.

Yours Sincerely,

UK Border Agency
Visa Services
Visa Support Officer
Casework Section
British Deputy High Commission,Chennai
dr


-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent: 23 July 2008 21:05
To: Chennai.VisaEnquiry@fco.gov.uk

- Hide quoted text -
Subject: Re: Tier-1 (General) Queries


- Hide quoted text -
Dear Officer,
Thankyou for the reply. I have a few friends living in UK who are willing to accomodate me. Please let me know the documents I need to submit as evidence for accomodation proof. (For properties owned and rented).

Regards,
XYZ