I am currently living and working in UK on old work permit/entry clearance (leave to remain) and need to switch to Tier 1 as I have received a new job offer from a company who has not applied yet for sponsorship under new Tier based system. I have all attributes (85 points), English is native language but have concerns over the maintenance requirement as it is urgent that I get my visa ASAP as new company would like me to start on 2nd March 2009. I would like to submit statements from 01OCT2008 to 01JAN2009 and submit tomorrow however I have 1 day in October (30OCT08) where my account dipped to 776.15 GBP. On the following day, pay was submitted and account did not go below 1000 GBP for the remainder of the period. I have seen much information on web chats that I will definitely be rejected for this one day of 23.85 GBP below requirement, however I have the following questions:
1) Were the refusals all for people applying for Tier 1 OUTSIDE UK? Is it the same rate for those that are switching (like me)?
2) Doesn't it make a difference that I have an offer letter and will move directly from one job to another with no interruption in pay? (I have 3 months notice period on current job which will run straight up to start of new job)
3) I have an account in the USA still that had greater than 23.85 GBP in balance on that day, can I send those statement in to supplement my UK bank statement even if it has my old USA address on it? (when I phone UKBA they said this was acceptable)
4) What is the current waiting time for submissions done WITHIN the UK (as it seems like all waiting times on this forum are for those apply outside UK)?
5) Why does it seem like there are so many refusals on the new system?
I have a friend who completed Tier 1 applications from outside UK back in October and she had a very easy time and got all of her stuff back, including visa, in less than 10 days. She even had errors on application and missing documents (applied in SF, CA) and they called her up to correct the errors and request missing documents. On this forum, it seems there is much more negative feedback about the new system. Is it only that nobody with positive experiences are posting?? (I will get her to write one tomorrow!)
I am really going quite mad
with this whole thing as I thought the new company was going to sponsor me when I went through the process and then they requested I apply for the Tier 1. I would be happy to get any advice and feedback to help calm me down a bit and allay some of my fears of this awful system.
Thanks.
K
