The new Tier Systems

Well, this week was one of the most confused and indecisive ones. SreeRaj is on a permanent job with an employer’s work permit for the skilled worker. And the leave to remain (called visa) expires on the 31st of December 2008. Our thoughts a couple of years back were to move from UK by the end of this year. But now, we have changed our minds and are likely to be here. So, another couple of year’s extension for this work permit can give us indefinite leave to remain in UK otherwise called Permanent residence (PR- which is different to citizenship). His employer is more than happy to give this extension. As this consultancy group shifted its main base from Netherlands to England, HR department experienced some problems with paper works and they couldn’t apply for the extension earlier (as always!!! I expected this as I had the first hand HR experience –and there is no point in winging or blaming anyone for HR specific paper works).

Meanwhile UK Border Agency has changed the Immigration system to Tier 1, 2, and 5. All the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP) people should now be applying through the Tier 1 system whether it is a new application or an extension. A point based system with some bits of difference from the old rules. This one went active on June 2008. One of the striking points of this is on the maintenance funds- the candidate who is applying for Tier 1 should be having at least £800 in his/her bank account EVERYDAY(each single day) for the last 3 months from the time of application. This must have been an unexpected one for quite a few I suppose. And we heard a friend of ours got his application rejected because his account balance was less than £800 for one day in the last 3 months when he made the application; and had to leave UK. And if you have dependants with you, then you should have a maintenance fund of £533 for each dependant; again EVERYDAY for the last three months. Oops– A guy with a wife and 3 children (if above 18) should have £2932!!! Detailed and more information can be obtained from UK Border Agency website. I appreciate the UK Border Agency website as it gives clear cut information including the point’s calculator to check if you qualify for Tier 1 (former HSMP) even if you are from outside of UK.

However, our case falls under the Tier 2 system which is now a new piece of software where the employers can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) , a unique number to the skilled worker they wish to keep with them. For this the employer needs to obtain sponsorship license from the UK Border Agency. This makes it extremely difficult for new work permit applications; in fact the UK Border Agency says 200,000 fewer jobs in UK for overseas candidates, with a point’s calculator again. All this is clear and SreeRajs’ employer who has the sponsorship license is all set to go, and we would (hopefully) not have a problem as this is an extension for the existing work permit; also the points based system seems quite favourable for us. To make a new Tier 2 application the employer will have to prove (with solid evidence) to the UK Border Agency that despite numerous efforts to recruit a EU person to the same skilled job (mainly engineering jobs and certain specialist skills), they couldn’t get anyone. And that is the reason they are offering to a non-EU person and hence need a Tier 2 for him/her (no wonder 200,000 fewer jobs!). This online system was expected to go live months back, but unfortunately it didn’t! Now, this is expected to go-live on 27th November midnight. And by 28th November it is expected that SreeRaj will get the CoS, again it is a Friday and may not be very easy to catch hold of people. So, may be on Monday, 1st Dec 2008. But that leaves us only less than a month of leave to remain in UK to make the visa application.

This morning I rang up the UK Border Agency Work Permits Customer Contact Centre in Sheffield to check if this can be an issue; and they confirmed that as long as you have leave to remain in UK this shouldn’t be a problem. But being a sort of person who worries too much, I explained the whole situation to them including our indecisive situation. I was directed to the UK Immigration Services for further clarification which is a 087...number and I got through after half an hour of waiting time. Spoke to one of the Immigration Services Consultant who assured that as long as you have leave to remain in UK you can submit your application and it should be processed normally. And, confirmed that your application will not be rejected on the grounds that you have less than a month to remain in UK. So, that’s how things are at the moment.

However, need to check more on the Tier 1 system regarding the time frame you need to make the visa application. As both of us qualify for the Tier 1 application, in case if the Tier 2 doesn’t work (I am being on the extreme here I know) can go through the Tier 1 system. There had been a lot of thinking and discussions happening over this last week.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this blog are strictly personal opinions and is not a source of any legal information; so no one has the right to use this as any source of proof. Again, these are my personal opinions and hence no one can use this against me in a court of law or in any other way. Thanks.

Options and Priorities - can find a balance?

These days the normal reads everywhere are on global recession, credit crunch, market crisis and the likes. Any magazine will feature a couple of pages on money saving tips! It ranges from - book your holidays early, eat healthy from local markets, find budget restaurants, switch your energy supplier, hunt for offers and promotions - to the ‘Recession Wear’ in the French capital – new ways to cope by top brands like Louis Vuitton, Carlo Brendalli and many more.

While browsing through Shortlist just got to see a bit of news on Dubai, saying Dubai does culture by investing on an art museum. Good idea for impinging their ethnicity!
It is supposed to be one of the fastest growing cities and is predicted to overrun London by 2012 in business. Main business being tourism and real estate it seems! Oil reserves are not the main catch unlike fellow UAE cities. I guess it already swarmed over London in traffic and accommodation expenses. I have this friend in Dubai who says people who cannot afford homes in Dubai live in Sharjah and drive 3 hours up and down for work (6 hours in road on a good day…I shouldn’t mourn about mine then!). The point to be noted here is that the whole deal is for a 25 km drive. And to avoid the traffic they begin their day at 4 am in cars to their destination and sleep in car parks.

This friend who lives in Dubai on her recent visit, who we call an envoy of the place has tried to sway some of us to move to Dubai. The start was all on congenial aspects of Dubai – the HUGE take home u can dream of (no taxes!!!), any style of living options to choose from in Dubai – posh as well as reasonable (unlike London! She could very well relate it as she was a London resident a couple of years back), shopping options – local as well International, eat outs and nightclubs – from budget Malayali restaurants to Burj Ul Arab, local public schools to Cambridge School and American Univeristies, and on top of all it is only 4 hours away from home land.

As the conversation went on the other side of the coin was also divulged like the learning aspects. It was something personal to this person as she experienced a better learning curve and job satisfaction in UK. There may be difference of opinion on this with many Dubai resident professionals I suppose, not a categorical case here. Especially when Dubai is attracting or I would say buying in specialists and professionals for their Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Financial Market and the likes. Top IT giants and financial leaders have invested in heavily. Head hunters are on the run it seems even during this ‘recession’! On the investment side, this friend who tried to enter the property ladder was taken a step back when she heard the market price of a single bedroom apartment as 1.3 million. It is not one of the Palm Islands or The World bit by Nakheel! Another point was the expected one on the extreme heat and chilling cold and sudden change of weather conditions. How can you complain too much on weather especially when you are living in North England?

It is shame that we didn’t get to spend a couple more of days in Dubai when we stopped over early this year. All we could do was the Desert Safari and a night drive to the city and both were quite enjoyable. We did recognise the shopping options as we found Debenhams next door to Nalli Silks. What more can you expect in terms of options! And the new International terminal is referred to ‘feel of heaven’ (yet to see this as we found the old one terrible with more living and non-living things than its capacity!). The place and its prospects have the pros and cons like any other place and like what this friend says, it is all on priorities. If this is the time in life when you feel ‘make money’ and you have the right skills, give it a try – may be the best choice for you! This girl guaranteed SreeRaj with three times more take home income (excluding accommodation, medical insurance and yearly travel tickets to base land) for the specialist area of his work and experience. And Projects Management is definitely on demand, so it wouldn’t be hard for me to find a good bargain it seems. It is definitely good to know that you have options; and the stress is again on priorities.

Guy Fawkes this week!

Guy Fawkes and BonFire was new to me a couple of years back. SreeRaj had explained the Gun Powder Plot and Guy Fawkes story to me in 2006. But then in 2007 when BonFire time came again I asked ‘what is this for?’. Short time memory!!! But in 2008, I could relate some bits and pieces of it. Halloween was pretty quiet for us; you cannot expect much when you live in an apartment. It was last year when we had dozens of kids knocking at your door all dressed for Halloween.

Yesterday there were fireworks held near High Street by Northallerton Council. After a marathon to catch an earlier train to reach home on time to see the fireworks I was too tired to walk to the ground to see this, car parking would have been a nightmare if we opted that. But, I didn’t want to disappoint my better half as it was his birthday; and after all we said council is celebrating his Birthday. So, came home dumped all my stuff, didn’t even bother to change from office wear we did walk to the ground near High Street. It was only a ten minute walk though.

On fireworks, the ones I have come across are with the local festivals like Diwali, Onam etc in India. I was never a big fan of these. I like the light part of it, not the sound at all. But its less of an effect here I guess. Yesterday night was foggy with a little rain as well. I could not have enjoyed a bit of it if not for my jumper, huge winter coat, woollen socks, gloves, hat and boots. Felt a bit comfy!!! I am already into my typical winter style especially at nights if I am out. The sight of fireworks was good. They had half an hr of fireworks followed by the bonfire. There was Guy Fawkes positioned on top of the junk wood!!! The ground was horded with people, never knew there were that many people living in that posh little village. There were these kids with their fluorescent light sticks, all those junky funky star war stuff, balloons, the moon rider and the likes which kept them occupied. Not many little ones seemed to enjoy the fireworks. Some of the kids were bawling hard, ‘I don’t want to see this!!!’. We had plans to catch up some of our friends there, but it wouldn’t have been a facile task to locate anyone in the foggy, rainy night with a flock. So, we walked back home when Guy Fawkes was about to be burned.

Last year we had seen the fireworks held at Saltwell Park which was huge. The one this year was ok with relatively less innovative patterns. However when you have the bigger patterns getting showered on top of your head you tend to enjoy it; I got the feeling that I am getting blessed lots; crazy me! It was even colder that time I guess. But none of them can be compared to the Thrissur Pooram. I have seen it only in TV, but had seen the sample one held there a week before the original Pooram which was the biggest I have ever seen.