Post Study Work (PSW) Visa – My experience

[Cali Girl]

Most of the posts here relate to marriage and settlement visas, and I thought it might be useful to post my experiences and where I ran into problems applying for the PSW visa. *NOTE* I’m not an immigration lawyer and these are just my experiences, please seek expert advice if you need it.

Supporting Funds

In my experience, this is the most contentious part of the application. I would recommend putting the £800 in a separate, current account and make sure you are receiving monthly, paper statements. It may not be as easy to get your bank to stamp online printouts as you might think it would be.

My experience was very frustrating, and pushed back my application date by two weeks (yes, I was cutting it close!)  The HSBC in the Norwich city centre will not stamp e-statements, nor will they write a letter for the HO. The delay could have been totally avoidable if I had asked them in September if they would stamp my statements/write a letter if I needed them to. If I had known that they wouldn't I would have made sure I was receiving paper statements.

However, as unhelpful as the local branch was the people at HSBC call centres were very helpful! They sent my original statements to me for free, and also sent me a partial statement (something that my local branch said was impossible!) Here's the number to request statements should anyone need it: 0800 328 1278.

Working while waiting for your PSW

Now, you should have no problem working while awaiting your visa. Here’s the information from the HO that your employer will need: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/preventingillegalworking/support/ecs/.

But don’t rely on being able to work, even though I provided this information and more my employment agency decided that until I received the new visa I would be working illegally! What would be best is to apply before your visa expires, but that isn’t always possible in every case.

Everything else was really straight forward, just allow yourself plenty of time to get the supporting information together and you should be fine. I found my university’s PSW fact sheet really helpful during the process: http://www.shef.ac.uk/union/advice/international/post-study-work.php

Currently the time line for straightforward applications is about one month:
PSW applied: 26 January
HO received: 27 January
Payment taken out: 8 February
Acknowledgment letter dated 06 February, received 13 February
Visa dated 24 February, received 27 February

I hope this helps others who may be considering applying for a PSW.

[internet addict]

That's fab!  Congrats on getting your visa. 

Most of us are doing the married/civil partner route thing, so it's really useful and valuable when people going a different way put up their experiences.

[amyj]

Thanks CaliGirl!  That will certainly be a help to me in a few months time!

[NoseOverTail]

Thanks! This will be helpful for me too! 

[phatbeetle]

Congratulations

[Cali Girl]

Thanks! I'm glad this is going to be helpful to others.

[Bmore_2_UK]

I successfully received as PSW visa back in January 2008. I don't usually talk about it because it was so long ago and I'm never sure if my experience is still valid, but it was very similar to yours.

My student visa was expiring 31 January 2008. I had received a full-time job offer in December 2007. When I was interviewing I made sure to tell them what I needed to do for my visa and that it wouldn't be an issue. They were fine with that, just asking me for a copy of my new visa when I received it. I flew back to the US for Christmas, arriving back to the UK 6 January 2008. The IO looked at my visa and questioned the fact that it was expiring that month. I told them my plan was to apply for the PSW visa that week and I had all my documents in order for it. No problems there.

I was banking with Lloyds TSB and they had no problem stamping my statements for the visa.

All in all, I had no issues with receiving my visa. It was sent off by the 15 January and I received it back within a few weeks. I imagine my being in full-time employment really helped as I sent a copy of my contract.

The thing that really cheesed me off is they kept the only original copy I had of my course certificate. I had to pay another 40 GBP to get a new one!

[gadgetchik]

I got my PSW in Dec 09 and it expires in Dec 11. It was very stressful due to the time waiting and trying to go home to USA for Christmas. I found the application and process very straight forward. Here is my question I hope someone can help.

In my current role it is entry level. My age and predicted wages will not add up for me to get a TIER 1 on my own. I was reading about Tier 2. My current company is not one of the registered sponsors. However, the way I understand the Tier 2 as someone transitioning from Tier 1 PSW to Tier 2 General I have all the point with out needing sponsorship as long as I am in my current role more then 6 months. it seems straight forward but we all know it can be more confusing then it seems. 

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier2/general/eligibility/switching/

Do my points count if my employer is not on the list of registered sponsors? I do not need them for sponsorship i am switching. I am confused and I don't feel I have a case that needs an immigration lawyer.

[sah10406]

I flew back to the US for Christmas, arriving back to the UK 6 January 2008. The IO looked at my visa and questioned the fact that it was expiring that month. I told them my plan was to apply for the PSW visa that week and I had all my documents in order for it. No problems there.

Well you say "no problems there", but that was actually quite a risky thing to do, to attempt to enter the UK on a student visa after your course had already finished.  These days, someone doing that would almost certainly be refused entry.

[Bmore_2_UK]

Well you say "no problems there", but that was actually quite a risky thing to do, to attempt to enter the UK on a student visa after your course had already finished.  These days, someone doing that would almost certainly be refused entry.

I understand what you're saying, but if they didn't want me in the country after my course was finished, why would they give me a visa that ran 2 months past the end of my course? Would they expect me not to travel outside of the UK at all after my course was finished? What if I had just gone to France or something for the weekend?

I'd be curious to hear if someone out there was actually refused entry in an instance similar to mine. The UKBA website suggests if you're making an in-country application to do so a month prior to the expiry of your current visa. I was traveling so I made my application as close to that one month as possible. I had a full-time job offer and I was clear about my knowledge of the visa process. I don't think I was given any special treatment in my instance.

[Cali Girl]

I don't know anyone who was refused entry once they heard of their results. But it's certainly possible that they will stamp you in as a visitor and then you won't qualify for the PSW. My Uni was very explicit about this point and warned everyone looking to apply for the PSW not to leave the country once they received their results.

[loveaturtle]

Do my points count if my employer is not on the list of registered sponsors? I do not need them for sponsorship i am switching. I am confused and I don't feel I have a case that needs an immigration lawyer.

The guidance isn't explicit on this one, but this is how I'm reading it:

Your employer will still be considered your sponsor even though you already work for them and would be switching from PSW in-country instead of applying from out of the UK. Anyone who is a Tier 2 worker has a sponsor. Therefore, your employer will need to apply for a sponsorship certificate. If you look at the table of points awarded, you'll see that PSW switching, which nets 30 points, is under the Sponsorship category: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/sponsoringmigrants/migrantspoints/tier2skilled/.

You mentioned that you are entry-level. Does your salary net you enough points? If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, you'll need to make at least £20,000 to earn the 70 points necessary.

(A question for those with more expertise: The points table evaluates "future expected earnings." How does the applicant determine that? I mean, I could be making £20,000 now, but £35,000 in two years with a promotion. But neither my employer nor I have a crystal ball.)

[Bmore_2_UK]

I don't know anyone who was refused entry once they heard of their results. But it's certainly possible that they will stamp you in as a visitor and then you won't qualify for the PSW. My Uni was very explicit about this point and warned everyone looking to apply for the PSW not to leave the country once they received their results.

Interesting! Thanks for the heads up!

[sah10406]

if they didn't want me in the country after my course was finished, why would they give me a visa that ran 2 months past the end of my course? Would they expect me not to travel outside of the UK at all after my course was finished? What if I had just gone to France or something for the weekend?

You can stay in the UK until the end of your student visa (which is normally 4 months after the end of your course), but if you leave the UK after you studies have finished, that's it.  You can't logically expect to come back in again on your student visa.  As someone above has said, a non-visa national trying to do this would now probably be admiitted as a visitor, or refused.

I'd be curious to hear if someone out there was actually refused entry in an instance similar to mine.

I know of dozens, sad to say.  Things have changed a lot in the last 2 years, don't forget.  There is a topic at IKResident.com about this matter:

http://www.ukresident.com/forums/topic/77660-psw-can-i-travel-back-to-uk-on-my-student-visa-to-apply/page__p__166024

[gadgetchik]

The guidance isn't explicit on this one, but this is how I'm reading it:

Your employer will still be considered your sponsor even though you already work for them and would be switching from PSW in-country instead of applying from out of the UK. Anyone who is a Tier 2 worker has a sponsor. Therefore, your employer will need to apply for a sponsorship certificate. If you look at the table of points awarded, you'll see that PSW switching, which nets 30 points, is under the Sponsorship category: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/sponsoringmigrants/migrantspoints/tier2skilled/.

You mentioned that you are entry-level. Does your salary net you enough points? If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, you'll need to make at least £20,000 to earn the 70 points necessary.

(A question for those with more expertise: The points table evaluates "future expected earnings." How does the applicant determine that? I mean, I could be making £20,000 now, but £35,000 in two years with a promotion. But neither my employer nor I have a crystal ball.)

Hi thanks for replying. it seems like a murky area to me.

I have a MSc From a UK University. My yearly salary is crap and I'm too old. So i do not qualify for enough points for Tier 1 but I have exceeded the amount of points for Tier 2 if i switch. my employer will not sponsor me. maybe I should seek legal advise closer to Dec 2011