Can small & new employer get sponsorship licence

[rehan01]

Hi Guys,

Good Morning Everyone (Sorry for the long Story but have to put all the information to get the helpful replies)

i need some help and urgent advise, i am on psw and want to switch to tier 2 general category as i have a job and i fulfil all the salary and other requirement from my side (only if i get COS from my employer), As i recently started working for my new employer (because of better salary then what i was getting paid for doing same job and also fulfilling the requirements to become eligible to switch to tier 2 only if my employer get sponsorship licence which doesn’t look like they will) and it’s a very small limited company with only (3 total number of staff including director / owner of the company).
when i applied for the job i explain my situation to them about switching from psw to tier 2 general and they agreed he will apply for sponsorship licence as they don’t have to go through (labour market test) but here the problem comes as they have gone through the requirements about the sponsorship duties, responsibilities, sponsor HR system and compliance system and roles to allocate (Key Personnel, authorising officer, key contact, level 1 user, level 2 users, representatives)

As i am working for them and they are 2 bosses so 3 people including me (fresh new start of business have I have done everything I could for them to get them everything up and running and sorting the licence they need from council and operating organization they come under ) and after them going through the requirements and the process they have to go through they told me they are not interested in applying for sponsorship because they think it won’t be successful and it will leave bad mark on their company and its just too much to deal with only limited number of staff. (eg no proper HR system in place as everything is verbal or via email that do this and that and start this time and finish this time etc) but there are possibility of increasing number of staff and expanding of business but it will at least take 2 years minimum.

As they took this decision and i am kind of stuck and i don’t know what to do and it’s almost impossible to get another job in that short period of time and it will give me opportunity to go to new employer and apply for sponsorship through them to switch from psw to tier 2.

please guys does anyone have any advice regarding this, how can i convince them that it will not affect there company reputation if they don’t get sponsorship registration? Or what you guys think if they apply for sponsorship is there any chance that they will get register in sponsorship register and able to provide me with COS?

Please guys advise as i am stranded and stressed urgent responses and solution and advise needed regarding this please help.

Many Thanks in advance

Rehan

[jibri]

Dear Rehan
I hope some experts will give you better advice but because we have some common things, I am also working for very small company of same size as yours, we have applied for sponsor license last week its not mentioned any where in guidance the definition of small company i will give your answer one by one according to my knowledge and experience.
1-If the company is new their is some additional requirement company need to fulfill luckily my company is active from 2008.
2-All the roles of key personnel key contact and other can be full fill by one person.
3- proper HR means you should have written contract and all you visa documents check the keeping documents list in the office.
I know a small company having license and only three people working there
Hope this help

[madona587]

Hi Guys,

Good Morning Everyone (Sorry for the long Story but have to put all the information to get the helpful replies)

i need some help and urgent advise, i am on psw and want to switch to tier 2 general category as i have a job and i fulfil all the salary and other requirement from my side (only if i get COS from my employer), As i recently started working for my new employer (because of better salary then what i was getting paid for doing same job and also fulfilling the requirements to become eligible to switch to tier 2 only if my employer get sponsorship licence which doesn’t look like they will) and it’s a very small limited company with only (3 total number of staff including director / owner of the company).
when i applied for the job i explain my situation to them about switching from psw to tier 2 general and they agreed he will apply for sponsorship licence as they don’t have to go through (labour market test) but here the problem comes as they have gone through the requirements about the sponsorship duties, responsibilities, sponsor HR system and compliance system and roles to allocate (Key Personnel, authorising officer, key contact, level 1 user, level 2 users, representatives)

As i am working for them and they are 2 bosses so 3 people including me (fresh new start of business have I have done everything I could for them to get them everything up and running and sorting the licence they need from council and operating organization they come under ) and after them going through the requirements and the process they have to go through they told me they are not interested in applying for sponsorship because they think it won’t be successful and it will leave bad mark on their company and its just too much to deal with only limited number of staff. (eg no proper HR system in place as everything is verbal or via email that do this and that and start this time and finish this time etc) but there are possibility of increasing number of staff and expanding of business but it will at least take 2 years minimum.

As they took this decision and i am kind of stuck and i don’t know what to do and it’s almost impossible to get another job in that short period of time and it will give me opportunity to go to new employer and apply for sponsorship through them to switch from psw to tier 2.

please guys does anyone have any advice regarding this, how can i convince them that it will not affect there company reputation if they don’t get sponsorship registration? Or what you guys think if they apply for sponsorship is there any chance that they will get register in sponsorship register and able to provide me with COS?

Please guys advise as i am stranded and stressed urgent responses and solution and advise needed regarding this please help.

Many Thanks in advance

Rehan

Hi,

Here is the deal; It's not difficult to get the license for a new company; If your company can provide the correct documentation and proof they will be able to get the license. If the company is new then HO will pay very close attention. Means you will get audit visits and they will carry out checks to make sure everything is followed properly and the 'company' is not created to abuse Tier2 route. Only thing is if the business is VERY new then you might have problems collecting enough evidence. e.g: Annual reports, Bank accounts, Insurance etc. You have to provide original documents or certified once.

Don't worry about the users, Level1 user can be your Boss and you don't need comprehensive HR plans. You have to make sure the common HR practices are followed. You don't even need a authorizing officer. You only need a level1 user. As long as they do a good record keeping of their staff. (Checking visa status, making sure no one is illegally employed, follow health and safely practices etc)

Since its a new company it might take longer to get a license.

Even if the license is refused its not going to leave any black mark on your company. My company got refused 3 times

First speak to the company owner and see if they can collect enough supporting documents. Cause if they don't have them then no point going forward. Good luck.

[rehan01]

Hi Madona and Jibri,

many thanks for your replies guys much appreciated.

@ Madona
your comments were very helpful as I guess u went through same trouble as what i am going through and especially when u have license refused 3 times would have given you a lot of experience in this and also you know the reasons why u got license refused that some documents were missing etc.

Like I said it’s a new business & employer, they have registered company last year July and then it took them almost more than 1 year to get the rest of the paperwork sorted so they can start trading (which include planning Permission from Local Council, registration with a Governing Body to obtain a registration certificate which is mandatory to start trading and they should have this registration certificate from governing body soon, 2 weeks I am guessing).

Regarding the documents you have mentions I have checked the Appendix A (List of Documents required for sponsorship certificate) and as per my discussion with employer they will have all the documents they need to apply for sponsorship license but they are worried that no proper HR system in palace and level of users etc.

During my in depth study of Appendix A, My employer fall in
Group 1: Start-Up Companies as company registered less than 18 months old and about to start trading soon.

All Documents Marked A, plus primary documents Marked B applicable to your type of organisation and any documents Marked C that you are able to provide

Here is the list of Item my employer need for sponsorship and they are able to provide:

1. Evidence demonstrating that you have current, corporate bank account with a bank registered by the financial services authority in the United Kingdom (GROUP 1 Document Marked A)

Answer 1 =

Bank Statement of Company bank Account and bank account is 2 months old

2. Employer liability certificate for at least 5 million pounds from an authorised insurer. (Group 1 Document Marked A)

Answer 2=
Liability Insurance Certificate (Liability insurance started 2 months ago)

3. Registration with Governing Body. (Group 1 Document Mark B)

Answer 3=
Certificate of Registration (which employer is expecting in 2 weeks’ time) Also a letter from governing body can be produce confirming the registration


4. Certificate of VAT (Group 1 Document Marked C)

Answer 4.
Employer has already applied to be a VAT register, employer received confirmation letter from HMRC and additional documents they requested provided and waiting for the decisions on the application of VAT.

5. A letter from bank providing your corporate banking facility, setting out the dealings it has had with you. Including the nature and duration of its dealing. (Group 1 Document Marked C)

Answer 5.
I am sure employer can request and easily get a letter from the bank requesting a letter with the required information mention in the question.

6. Evidence of registration with HM Revenue & custom (HMRC) as an employer to pay PAYE & National Insurance. Provide Proof of PAYE Reference Number & Account Office Reference number. (Group 1 Document Marked C)

Answer 6.
A letter already received from HMRC confirming PAYE reference number and Account office reference number. This letter is received on successfully registration of PAYE.

So in total can provide 6 documents instead of 4 which is minimum they need to apply for sponsorship,

So 2 documents Marked A
1 document Marked B
3 Documents Marked C

As per my understanding these documents my employer can provide without any trouble but the problem is there is no comprehensive HR PLANS. But like u mention common HR Practices are followed so in reply to that they have already took copies of my passport and my psw visa when I start working with them.

Regarding the users, As it’s a small and new company trying to establish in its sector and do not have enough staff in place because of the fresh start of business, can a Director of company (my boss can do all the users work for example he can perform all the task of Sponsorship management system)

Sorry for the long reply but i just put everything i know regarding this and answer of the question as per best of my knowledge and information given my employer and what i have gained from reading the documents.

my apologies once again for lengthy reply but i mention everything as you have experienced of applying for sponsorship before and it will give u better idea of my case and see if i am able to apply and get the certificate of sponsorship.

Finally thanks you very much for taking time out and posting reply, your response are highly appreciated.

Regards

Rehan

[madona587]

Rehan,

Sounds like you have a better chance. The most important thing is to get things started ASAP since its now taking more than 6 months to issue a license.

Speak to your employer and see if they can hire a solicitor to help with the process. Maybe find a good agent. Make sure this person knows all about Tier2 cause most of these so called solicitors aren't up to date. Be careful.

We dealt with the registration almost 1.5 years ago and I forgot about what documents we submitted. If you search my old posts in Tier2 section you can find almost all the information. Once you have a short proposal submit to your employer and talk to them. Usually employers take the cost of the license etc but I'm not sure. If they hesitate say you will pay for it. You know anything to convince them

My gut feeling is that you will make it if you can convince your employer. Remember it only takes 10 mins for you to get a COS allocated and you can make the application a day before your PSW expires. So your priority is to get the license now.

Don't worry too much about the HR policies. We had audit visits by UKBA and they were kind and helpful. Make sure your employer knows all about Tier2, COS, RLMT, etc cause when they audit they will ask questions up to 3 hours + So its very important your level1 user (Probably your boss) knows all about the immigration system with regards to hiring workers. Since your company is new they won't expect you to have a comprehensive HR system. As long as they do a good record keeping and play by rules you should be fine. UKBA likes honest people and they will do whatever they can to help you. If your company doesn't have anything don't hide it. They will recommend you to make changes accordingly. But if you hide and later they find out then you are in trouble.

When they came for a post audit they were very friendly and assured me again and again that this is a standard procedure and they are not here to bully workers or employer.

If you need any help with COS, SOC codes, Salary, Holidays blah blah anything to do with Tier2 drop me a PM or post here.

Just remember one thing: There is no such thing as impossible..

[rehan01]

Thanks a Million for the detail reply to my questions and your advice very much appriciated @ Madona587


I will definately ask you if i have any question will do PM

[rehan01]

Hi Madona

please check ur pm and reply whnever you get chance many thx

Rehan

[rehan01]

Hi Jibri,

how u doing mate, just wondering how far u have got wit the sponsorship please update as my employer has applied for sponsorship and i have only 3 months left for my visa to finish and i dont know will they get the sponsorship or not i am very stress and frustrated and dont knw what to do?
as this delay from ukba is just annoying and we cant do anything about it either


please update

regards

Rehan

[jibri]

Hi Rehan
yar problem is they taking at least 6 months I applied on 10 Aug and My visa is valid till March hope I get it by that time.
Regarding your case the problem is ideal you won't get it in three months just ask for priority service on your last 2 weeks or you can apply without COS and play with them by delaying your biometrics read the thread my gameover

[skltvl]

Dear all ..... I have applied for sponsor license mid may and still no luck yet .. I called several times and emailed them but same answer always they have too many application and they are with short of staff. My employee visa is about to expire next month. Don't know what is the way out in this situation.

Hi Jibri,

how u doing mate, just wondering how far u have got wit the sponsorship please update as my employer has applied for sponsorship and i have only 3 months left for my visa to finish and i dont know will they get the sponsorship or not i am very stress and frustrated and dont knw what to do?
as this delay from ukba is just annoying and we cant do anything about it either


please update

regards

Rehan

[rehan01]

Hi Skltvl,

Since you applied have you heard anythng frm them at all ? Didn't they write you abt the visit thy do before issuing the lisense and also there is a question which my employer wasn't sure abt and see if u can help ....

Question in the form: is your organisation currently employing migrant workers (non settled workers). Or sponsoring overseas student?

Yes or no

As I am working for them and I am on psw visa and as per my knowledge and understanding they should have answer yes to this question but I gues they have put no in there as they said we looked up in help and the explanation it shows there is migrant and non settled workers are someone who don't have right to live and work in uk.

Please advise if you have any knowledge abt it.

Regards

Rehan

[skltvl]

Dear Rehan ....

Answer to your question should be YES ....
the application, forms and other documentation is done by my solicitor.

Regarding reply from UKBA yes they confirmed via email that file is with a case worker and will hear soon form UKBA. This is also now almost 5months so far we are no where ... when we call or email them we get same reply ....

Dunno what to do ... and what if they refused to issue license last minute so where do we stand in this situation .. not fair the employee/migrant will be of no where and it is about his/her career n life - it will be a die situation for him ...

skltvl.

Hi Skltvl,

Since you applied have you heard anythng frm them at all ? Didn't they write you abt the visit thy do before issuing the lisense and also there is a question which my employer wasn't sure abt and see if u can help ....

Question in the form: is your organisation currently employing migrant workers (non settled workers). Or sponsoring overseas student?

Yes or no

As I am working for them and I am on psw visa and as per my knowledge and understanding they should have answer yes to this question but I gues they have put no in there as they said we looked up in help and the explanation it shows there is migrant and non settled workers are someone who don't have right to live and work in uk.

Please advise if you have any knowledge abt it.

Regards

Rehan

[mm0909]

Hi rehan01,

You sounds a lot like my situation in term of nature of job and tier 2 application experience. I am also used to be in the same position as you. my company manage to get the license last year and it takes like around 4 weeks. They refused the license application first time though, saying that we missed certain documents. I have also gone through the experience of applying without the sponsorship number, since my visa is expiring before the license approval. I submitted my application just with a letter from my boss. I do sent the number as soon as i got it. At the end, ukba did give me the tier 2 visa. Now i m looking to new jobs and found an employer who is willing to employ me. since they are not the sponsor yet, they have applied for the license this week. i will keep you posted of anything i heard from my potential employer. I just find out that license applications are taking too long these months. They used to be responding after 4 weeks. Please also do let me know of your updates.

best wishes.

[rehan01]

Hi Mm0909,

Many thanks for the reply and sharing your experience yes man I am too stress about the whole situation because they applied for the license and i am 101% sure tht they will not get the license by January 2013 and that is when my visa expires and i simply dont know what to do as they are taking so long to decide on the sponsorship license application now a days as i have read other people thread and people for the outcome of the application made in April so i doubt it very much that my employer will get license by that time but finger cross as u never know but i will have to be super lucky for this to happen (that they get the license by the time my visa expires).

so at the end i will have 2 options either look for another immigration category or apply the Tier 2 visa with the employer letter attached to it and request them to put the application on hold, as applying without the COS it will be considered as the incomplete application and more likely i will have refusal of the visa.

2nd option someone mention in there post that you can keep delaying the biometric apointment and buy time till your employer get the license (easily 2 to 3 months they said) as they mention they send you 3 to 4 reminder to book for the biometric and than if you change the address after the 3 biometric booking reminders they send you again and they will follow the same procedure on the new address you given them so 3 more reminder on the same address so roughly you can buy 6 months on time easily and i hope by that time they will issue license to the employer even with the delays they working with at the moment but i am not too sure either it will really work or not but there are people out there who have submited the visa application without COS and they have done this trick and they are buying time so let c.

and yes i will definately update you if there is any progress on my side.

good luck and best of luck also i have sent you a private message too

cheers

[rehan01]

@ SKLVT,

yes you are absolutely right we cant do anything apart from waiting and waiting and wait for there reply and i do hope you get it sorted before ur visa expires.

regarding the asnwer my employer said he put NO to it because he said you are not a migrant i am employing under tier 2 and you are not sponsored by me as you have psw visa and its is under non settled uk worker and I have not sponsored you to work for me and i dont have sponsorship license at present to employ migrant worker either which does make sense because i think the answer should be yes ..... ? what do you think is he right ? or anyone else put light on this

@ Jibri,

thanks for updating your situation and yes i am keeping eye on the gamover thread as i am sure in 3 months time i will be on same track by the ways things r looking now ......... so just pray and hope for the best .... also check your private msg

[mm0909]

hey there, i will definitely keep u updated with my position. lets hope for the best. be positive

[skltvl]

Dear Rehan,

Hope u are well !!!

any updates hows things going any improvement from UKBA ....

Do u have any idea after applying for Licence do UKBA visit company

and if yes what is the further procedure after that.

Regards,

SKLTVL

@ SKLVT,

yes you are absolutely right we cant do anything apart from waiting and waiting and wait for there reply and i do hope you get it sorted before ur visa expires.

regarding the asnwer my employer said he put NO to it because he said you are not a migrant i am employing under tier 2 and you are not sponsored by me as you have psw visa and its is under non settled uk worker and I have not sponsored you to work for me and i dont have sponsorship license at present to employ migrant worker either which does make sense because i think the answer should be yes ..... ? what do you think is he right ? or anyone else put light on this

@ Jibri,

thanks for updating your situation and yes i am keeping eye on the gamover thread as i am sure in 3 months time i will be on same track by the ways things r looking now ......... so just pray and hope for the best .... also check your private msg

[rehan01]

Hi Skltvl
All is gud and since my company applied after that we havnt hearf anythng from ukba.

Regarding the visit as per my understanding its not compulsory but ideally they should come and inspect the company but so far nothing at all but if they do come for visit I wil update you.

Also do you have any update on your case?

Do update us

Kind Regards

Rehan

[madona587]

Hi Skltvl
All is gud and since my company applied after that we havnt hearf anythng from ukba.

Regarding the visit as per my understanding its not compulsory but ideally they should come and inspect the company but so far nothing at all but if they do come for visit I wil update you.

Also do you have any update on your case?

Do update us

Kind Regards

Rehan

Hi Rehan sorry I was out of the country for a while. Missed your PM'S.

It seems you have already applied.

To answer your question: Depends. For some people they do a pre license audit and for some post audit. Our company had an 'unannounced post license audit'

Hope you will get the license soon mate.

[rehan01]

Hi Madona587,

Many thanks for the reply and I hope u had good time out of country also could u check ur pm and reply whnever u get chance.

Regards

Rehan

[skltvl]

Dear Rehan,

Finally the long 6months wait ends here and I have my licence/cos here ...

Any update on your case ?

Regards,

Skltl

Hi Skltvl
All is gud and since my company applied after that we havnt hearf anythng from ukba.

Regarding the visit as per my understanding its not compulsory but ideally they should come and inspect the company but so far nothing at all but if they do come for visit I wil update you.

Also do you have any update on your case?

Do update us

Kind Regards

Rehan

[rehan01]

Hi Skltvl,

Many Many congratulation atleast one worry is over now ....... well done and noow hopefully there wont be any problem you extending / applying for your visa main thing is that you got the cos / license which is fantastic ..........

Party Time now i guess

Since we applied we havn't heard anything from them at all and just one question did ukba came for a visit? reply when u get chance and also drop me ur email via private msg so we can keep in touch just incase if i need some help.

once again congratulations mate and good luck

cheers

Rehan

[sai123]

[quote="skltvl"]Dear Rehan,

Finally the long 6months wait ends here and I have my licence/cos here ...

Any update on your case ?

Regards,

Skltl

Hi SKltl
good luck for you. does ur company send any urgent treatment for the licence? because we applied on April 24th. still didn't hear anything. my visa expire on december 1st week. please inform to me ASAP. that will be very helpfull for me.
thanks

[skltvl]

Dear Rehan .. Hope u doing well ... for your update please note we recieved our sponsor licence last week

[rehan01]

Hi SKLTVL,

BIG CONGRATULATIONS ............................ if you dont mind could you tell me when did your applied for the license ?

as my company applied on 9th of october and so far havn't heard anything from them at all not even a ackowledgement letter so just hoping will get the license before my visa expires in first week january otherwise i dont know where i will end up.

anyway gud luck with your visa application

cheers

Rehan