UK Immigration on HSMP Tier-1 Visa - Moved to United Kingdom For Long Term

October 16th, 2008 | email this

Leave your comment Posted by Life is Colourful

Published in Life, UK

Hey, so here are little update from my side. Last month, I had been tremendously busy on my visa process for UK immigration. I found it really tedious documentation but after 6-7 months of continuous efforts, I could finally arrive in UK on HSMP Tier-1 visa which is valid for three years.

So all you UK readers of this blog, and my UK blogger friends - drop a line here if you are around London and we would set up a meeting if possible.

So why UK? Must be a quick question in your mind. Well, I want to travel all Europe with my wife for next 1-2 years. And when we can fit into highly skilled people for UK, why not to work here and travel along with, enjoy life to the fullest, that would make more sense isn’t it? Looking for a job is the most important activitiy for me now otherwise I would be shelling out my online earnings and savings to live the expensive jobless life here. That said, I started looking for a job already and seeing some luck in the first week itself. But I heard a lot about slow recruitment process in here, so you might find me little tied up with job search.

I am foreseeing First few months needed to settle down in UK and understand how the things work here, it’s little different than USA where I had been many times and know the culture and all. I would post some cool posts on my travel or experiences in UK if you like.

Also, if you have any questions on UK Immigration on HSMP (Tier-1) visa, feel free to ask me in the comment form below.

Calling for Guest Bloggers

When I would focus on job search, and it’s one of most important and priority one task for me, there should not be ignorance towards this blog. I would like to call my blogger readers and invite them to write guest post on this blog. Remember, that would give you a good quality backlink from this blog as an author link and lot of exposure in the blogosphere.

53 Responded To This Post

24812. Fery said in October 17th, 2008

hello again, I’m the one who interviewed you couple weeks ago, sorry for delaying of publishing the interview because I’m little busy to prepare my engagement ceremony at the next Dec. May be in the next several days I will send you email about the summary of our conversation several weeks later. Congrats for your safety moving to the UK, I’m dreaming when I will go to the UK too :). Can I apply for your “Calling for Guest Bloggers” program? What are the requirements?

24816. Paul said in October 17th, 2008

What country are you from originally from? and congrats!

24856. Nick said in October 17th, 2008

Hey, congrats on the move, I’ll email you in regards to guest posting.

25015. Journeyetc said in October 25th, 2008

yeah, in UK there is the goood life, but very very expensive. Are you only working online?

25026. Clare said in October 26th, 2008

Good luck with your move. I’m sure you’ll enjoy living here in England - make sure you spend some time travelling to different cities while you’re here to experience the real country (not just London!)

25139. Puneet said in November 2nd, 2008

good move frd … Enjoy!

- there is always Fatal Error in Partner links on your sidebar … and sidebar is not proper in IE 6 too … hv a look on it frd

25164. judith said in November 5th, 2008

I’m in the UK, lived here all my life and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but my home in lovely Lincolnshire. Do take the opportunity to visit as many places as you can. For example: The Lake District, The Yorkshire Dales, a typical seaside resort such as Whitby or Scarborough (Blackpool is a bit rough these days)Also the Eden Project in Cornwall, York Minster, the Humber Bridge. I could go on, but I won’t!

25873. Resmi said in December 17th, 2008

Hi….

Nice to read ur blog.. I’m in the process of applying for tier1 from India.. from where did u apply tier 1 from? how diffuclt it is?
I am eligible and i have all the required proofs listed from the UK border agency site. Still my agent says, we should give as much as documents as possible.. hence the question…
And how long can u stay wthout job once u have tier1. My spose is already in UK with a job, so I can afford to hang around for a while in case my current employer sticks to the notice period of 3 months.
Thank you for your response.
Resmi.

25900. Life is Colourful said in December 19th, 2008

Hi Resmi, You can stay for 3 years without a job but with no job - you cannot renew it after 3 years. If your spouse has visa, you need not to apply for a separate one, but you can go for dependent Tier-1 visa.

UK border agency suggests to provide enough documents, not more than required. Feel free to ask questions if you have any. We are developing a forum at http://www.hsmptier1.com - you can register there as well.

26082. mb said in December 30th, 2008

Hi There,
Well done for your Tier 1 application,congratulations!!

You have gently proposed to help for any issue on Tier 1…so here I am! As you can see,tomorrow is NYE and I’m not in the mood to party…with my Tier 1 application:(

I have 2 questions for you!
Does this Tier 1 ( when successful) provide residency to the applicant i.e. as soon as I have it,do I need to move to the UK? Knowing that all the economists are predicting a recession for 2009 in the UK ,I was wondering if I can come later on 2009 after having been accepted for the Tier 1.
Also,how can you apply for a Shengen visa or a US one ( for travel purpose) once you have the Tier 1 on your passport?
First,how to apply from your home country if the Tier 1 is already stamped on your passport and in the case it provides you with residency (It’s therefore linked to the residency issue around the Tier1).
Second,the same question,If I want to apply for those visas to travel around with my boyfriend who is European and resident in the UK ,from London ( in the case, I decide to move to the UK as soon as I receive the Tier 1 ?
Do you think,as me, that I would definitely need to have a job in London otherwise no one is going to provide me with a visa?
Many thanks in advance for your valuable help:)
Cheers

27545. Monica Paul said in February 10th, 2009

Hi,
We(My husband and I) are planning to apply for HSMP and move to UK. CAN you advice us on the job scene there? My hubby is a MBA with 6 years in retail experience in India. Any info. will be helpful
Thanks.

28303. minhaash said in February 26th, 2009

Hi all,

This is minhaash, from Bangalore. I got to read all these just recently… It’s really nice to see all the informative posts.. am an HSMP tier 1 visa holder and migrating to UK next month… The validity of my visa starts from 10th Jan, would like to know within what date I am supposed to migrate…

Replies much appreciated.

28442. Mayank said in February 28th, 2009

Hi,
I am currently in the UK on Tier 2 and it is expiring in March. Now I am planning to apply for tier 1 (general category). I would like to know:
a) What are the chances of visa being granted these days
b) What are the things that I must be aware of, for applying the visa - what are the general reasons for reduction
c) Is there a consideration to apply from UK or from native country (Mine - India)?
Thanks,
Mayank

29780. Rajesh said in April 19th, 2009

Hi all,

Hope you all going lucky in life

I have applied for Tier 1 general recently form Pune. Anyone else with similar status..

feel free to contact me, mrhajesh@yahoo.com

keep hoping,

29782. Life is Colourful said in April 19th, 2009

Hi Rajesh, let me know what happens with your Tier-1 visa!

29870. Niteish said in April 25th, 2009

Hi ,
I am IT professional and having Tier1 General. I am in a process of finding job in U.K. Most consultants tell me that face-to-face interview is required there. Do you suggest me going to U.K for interviews?.. in the time of recession?

Also, if I do not go to U.K for some months (how many?), will my Visa become invalid?

-NS

29873. Life is Colourful said in April 25th, 2009

@ Niteish, I have many friends who have been in this dilemma of whether to search for job from outside UK or after coming into UK. My opinion is to come here in UK and take some calculated risk. The job consultants here certainly don’t entertain the people outside UK (specially in the time when they have ample candidates available for interview and joining next day).

29880. R.P said in April 25th, 2009

if I do not go to U.K for some months (how many?), will my Visa become invalid?

29886. ss said in April 26th, 2009

Hi ,
Is it Possible to Tier 1 Dependent to Stay alone in UK for Some Time?

29887. Life is Colourful said in April 26th, 2009

@ R.P / Niteish, normally it’s preferred if you come to UK within 3 months of Visa approval. But it’s not legal requirement. It’s just that you might be asked few questions in airport immigration about your extended stay in your country even after Visa approval. In today’s market scenario, it should not be diff to give reasons

@ ss, Yes, it’s possible for Tier1 dependent to stay in UK alone for 2 months max (I think). I need to check the exact time.

29888. ss said in April 26th, 2009

Hi,
Thanks for your Reply. My spouse Got Tier -1 , I am Tier 1 dependent. Due to Some Problem my wife is not able to Travel for few months to UK. Is it Possible for me to Travel Alone(its a First time after getting visa) and Stay in UK?

30228. ManiKumar said in May 26th, 2009

Hi,

Congrats on taking the big plunge. Best wishes in your job search.

I am also in a similar position like Niteish. Got my Tier1, and am writing to consultants from here in India, and no responses to my e-mails even. So, I am now thinking, if I should travel to the UK and lookout for a job. But, the market condition, recession is making me think twice. I want to know if consultants will be helpful in marketing my profile, if I were to travel to the UK without a job.

I just want to be assured that If I were to travel without a job, I should start getting interview calls once reaching there, so that I can land a job even if it’s going to take me a couple of months.

Your opinion and suggestions in this regard is much appreciated.

Many Thanks,
ManiKumar.

30236. Life is Colourful said in May 27th, 2009

Mani, there is no way than jumping in the UK market to search for a job. Playing safe is not helping candidates. With my and my friends’ experience, we realized that coming to UK is very important leaving everything out there and taking calculated risk

30242. ManiKumar said in May 28th, 2009

Thanks a lot. I have also pretty much come to that conclusion. I am just going to jump right in.

Thanks,
ManiKumar.

30243. Life is Colourful said in May 28th, 2009

@ Manikumar, wish you the best for your UK search. Let me know you or your friends are expecting any information that I can write in detail about?

30429. Eagle said in June 24th, 2009

Hi
I have two questions
I m under tier 1 and I returned to London after 1 month I got it. but the next 3 months in London I couldn’t find work. so I m now living in Spain. But now I want to keep on living in Spain and I want to know with tier 1 does it allow me to stay in spain longer than the normal Schengen Visa? also if 3 years later I want to extend,(for sure) what is the minimum time that I have to work in the UK??

thanks a million

Eagle

30432. Life is Colourful said in June 24th, 2009

@ Eagle, without much information on your country of origin, I assume that you are not European as you mentioned Schengen visa. Not sure why you are living in Spain, but if you are outsider of EU countries with Tier 1 visa for UK, and living in EU on Schengen visa, that would not help you in your further stay in UK.

1. Tier 1 visa does not allow you to stay in Spain, it’s only for UK
2. You would need to show enough earnings at least in last 12 months of before your extension of Tier 1 visa. Current known earnings in last 12 months are 40K GBP.
3. Staying out of UK for more than 6 months in 5 years duration, would cause problems in your PR application

30471. Vamsi said in June 28th, 2009

I am holding a HSMP workpermit and a avalid visa for 3 years. With many hopes and aspirations I will be landing in UK very soon. I am looking for a good job in ITES. Kindly help me with some references in london.

Thank you

30515. SUKHP said in July 3rd, 2009

I have a valid tier 1 visa. I applied from india and travelled within 15 days of getting it from my company. I stayed in the UK for 3 months due to some business requirements, I had to come back. Now I am not sure when will my company send me again to the UK, and seeing the emarket situation, its does not seems to be right to go there without a job. I want to know, if there is any time period that i can stay outside the UK? I have heard I should not stay more than 3 months outside UK. Is this true??

30623. manoj said in July 22nd, 2009

Hey all, am on tier 1 visa and currently am putting up in London.

30624. manoj said in July 22nd, 2009

Its really a wonderful place but at the moment we need to keep some patience.

30698. vaishali said in August 3rd, 2009

Hi….

I’m in the process of applying for tier 2 from India. how diffuclt it is?
I am eligible and i have all the required proofs listed from the UK border agency site. Please guide me.

Thank you for your response.

vaishali

30702. Life is Colourful said in August 3rd, 2009

@ Vamsi, Hello dear, more than references, the job sites work better here because companies prefer to just leave it upto employment agencies to get the candidates. Let me know how it is going if you are already here. I would also check from my side depending on your profile.

@ SUKHP, it depends on what is your future plan. If you want to go for permanent residency (PR) in future after 5 years, you cannot stay more than 3 months outside UK at one time, and not more than 6 months in 5 years time period. If you don’t have plans to go for PR, don’t mind about outside UK stay then.

@ Manoj, hi hows your job / jobsearch going on?

@ Vaishali, if you have all the documentation, I don’t think there would be any difficulties. Let me know anytime if you need any help in understanding any documentation needs

30789. riya said in August 19th, 2009

Iam currently holding a valid UK General Migrant tier 1 visa. I would like to know if there is a stipulated time within which I have to make the first entry to UK from the visa validity start date.
Is it acceptable to enter UK say after, 10 months from the validity start date? If not, does this have a repercussion on visa extension at the end of 3 years or otherwise on filing a PR?And if had completed my 5 yrs stay in uk do i get extension to stay there?
Your advise would be appreciated

30790. riya said in August 19th, 2009

If i had not completed my 5 yrs stay in UK then do i get further extension on hsmp visa or i have to apply for the fresh application?

30803. Life is Colourful said in August 21st, 2009

@ Riya, here are points to remember:
1] Though officially there are no notes on when you can enter UK on Tier-1, you might be asked questions at the immigration on why the 1st entry was delayed. The VFS guys suggest that you should enter within 3 months to be on the safest side. If delayed, please be ready with legitimate reason

2] Your entry time does not have repurcassions on any of the extensions. But once you enter, you cannot stay outside of UK for more than 3 months at a time and some X months in total [As per my knowledge currently the X is either 6 months or 18 months].

3] After 5 years, you never know what could be the new rule by UK immigration. So I don’t want to comment on what happens after 5 years, but as of now, you can apply for PR after 5 years so you would not need any visa extension.

30826. Arjun Abishek said in August 26th, 2009

Hi,

I’ve the following documents collected to apply for Tier 1 Visa. Are the below given documents suffice to get the Visa or should i’ve to submit any other documents?

1. Original Academic Transcript (MBA)

2. Original Reference from Awarding Body – (Could not submit the original MBA degree certificate, as the degree will be awarded only in Dec, 2009.)

3. Pay slips for the past 12 months

4. Personal Bank statements covering a 3 month period

5. Official tax document – Can someone explain as if there are any other documents apart from Form 16 have to be submitted?

6. Original Degree Certificate (B.E.) – This is for English language reference.

7. Original academic transcript (B.E.)

Regards,
Arjun

30829. jj said in August 26th, 2009

HI Riya,
Also I would like to tell you that there is no time period defined for first entry. I have entered in UK after 4 months the date issue of visa. In Immigration I come to know about new rule that if you enter in UK than I have to secure Job within Six months.

30839. NC said in August 27th, 2009

Hi,
I am in UK on Tier 1 General-Partner along with my partner. I have managed to grab a job in UK but my partner(Main applicant) is still searching the Job. Being a partner am I eligible to work in UK when the main applicant is not having any job.
2) Also am I eligible to drive a car with Indian License(English with Photo). I have confirmed my DVLA they said I can Drive in UK for 12 month with True Full License or International License. I don’t have International License but I have License Issues from Jharkhand Government,they don’t have provision of issuing international license.

Regards
NC

30852. Life is Colourful said in September 1st, 2009

@ Arjun, for English language the degree certificate won’t be suffice. Please collect a letter from university in the a typical format. Would you get that easily, or would you like me to send that.

If you could get bank statement for last 6 months, that would not harm

Rest document list is fine.

@ NC, Yes, you are eligible to work as dependent even if main applicant does not have job yet. And you can drive the car for 12 months on your full Indian driving license, no problems with that.

30855. Arjun Abishek said in September 2nd, 2009

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Can you please send the format letter which should be received from University for English language proof?

I’ve one more question as well. Have you come across any case where the visa is rejected because of submitting the Original Reference from Awarding Body instead of Original degree certificate? Can you confirm if it is still valid and accepted to submit with this Original reference certificate?

Regards,
Arjun

30883. osimen said in September 8th, 2009

How long do I need to stay outside the UK under tier1 visa (general). Or can I stay more than 3 months outside UK at any point in time. if i do stay outside for morethan 3months,will affect my renewer extention/indefinite stay after 5 years. pls. reply via osimen360@yahoo.com

30895. shace26 said in September 9th, 2009

i got my tier1 in may 2009, i opened up a consulting firm in uk, and got a project to do in qatar for 6 months, and i am currently in working in qatar, hoever i will be paying the tax in UK since my company is registered in uk, still will this affect my application for PR, because i will be living outside uk working on projects,please advice

30990. Akinbo Shada said in October 5th, 2009

Hi iwant to know how my HSMP Tier 1 status can make me have a trip to other part of Europe……

31021. Shiva said in October 14th, 2009

Hi,
I’m holding HSMP visa which was stamped on 20-Feb-2009. Due to my personal reason i could not make my first entry to UK. I would like to know, is there any time time period for the first entry to UK. I’M really worried because my friends were telling i should make my first trip within 6 months. But mine is already six months is up. But when i searched in http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk, im not getting this information.
Could you please tell me, the first entry time period for UK.

I’m really tensed and worried. if i could not make it.

Thanks and Regards,
Shiva

31063. vj@ibm said in October 23rd, 2009

hi,
I have a valid work tier 1 visa but i got that in april 09, so its been almost 7 months over. I am plannin to travel nov first week, so when i travel can at the immigration check i tell the excuse for not coming before as it was recession i was not getting any calls at all hence i didnt travelled before.
Also by any chance they can send me back means just worrying what would happen if i leave job plan to travel uk and sent back from the airport would be very painful.
Would appreciate your reply on the same.
Thanks
Vishal

31118. gotovamsee said in November 5th, 2009

Dear Subject Expert,

Thanks for a wondeful blog.

Here is ma query.

I am in the verge of applying for tier1 visa next month as I would be able to show maintenance funds as required. I currently work for IBM as an SAP consultant still m all set to leave that for UK.

Friends are suggesting not to take any risk leaving the job here. But from here we wudnt get any calls. Now I got another offer from a friends consultancy providing work permit so that I can find a job without loosing the current one but at the cost of freedom finding own job and remuneration.

In this juncture some one suggest me whether to go for hsmp or work permit with a dependant in view of risking jobless life at UK and more earnings??

31126. Vij said in November 6th, 2009

Hi,
I have 7 years of exp in Software Testing
and i got the HSMP VISA (tire-1) on NOV-01-2009 to 2012.

Can you please suggest me to come down to UK, is it right time?
How are the jobs in UK right now?
I have plan to come in 1st week of jan is it correct time?

Iam alreday getting good pack over here so taking risk like resigning the job overe here and searching job in Uk is it correct decission in this time?

Is there any agencies to process our resume to get job soon once we reach uk?

as per your sugesstion i can take the final decission and get in to uk

Please suggest me over here

Eagarly waiting for your reply

somebody can help me over here

Thanks in advance
Vijay

31296. ashish said in December 22nd, 2009

Me and my wife are in UK, My wife is on teir1 visa but she is not working, i am on teir 2 visa but working, i want to get the teir 1 dependent visa. can it happen from UK or do i need to travel to India for the same please advice

31514. Eduj said in February 3rd, 2010

I’m a late reader of your blog, am in the process of finding out job opportunities in UK, I qualify for Tier1 visa. A little hesitant about job market there. please advise. Thanks