Hi, I have a got a job offer and the company assigned sponsor of certificate for 3 years for me as a skilled worker visa. But now looking at the fees, i have to pay the application fees + 3 x IHS. I was wondering if i can apply for only 1 year in the beginning and then next year i renew for the remaining 2 years to save some cost initially. Is that possible, or i must follow what’s in the certificate of sponsorship? Can anyone advise?
Farooq
For a company assigned sponsorship (presumably tier 2 general), why are you paying for the application fees and IHS? Normally company should pay for it.
The company is not paying for it, it s start up company, so i have to pay for everything. If they were paying, there would be some sort of bond, there is no bond associated with it.
if the COS says 3 years, can i still apply and pay for 1 year and then figure it out while i am in the UK or must be 3 years? And also for the family dependents. its too much money for all 4 people.
This is unheard of. I have worked in multiple markets and never have I seen a company demanding their employees to pay for their own visa and IHS fees when the visa is connected to the company itself. The bond is there but it is implicit. You can’t change job to another employer on this visa unless they agree to redo this whole thing.
if the COS says 3 years, can i still apply and pay for 1 year and then figure it out while i am in the UK or must be 3 years? And also for the family dependents. its too much money for all 4 people.
I know you are looking for an answer to this question, and I don’t have one for you, because, as I said, this situation is definitely unheard of. You might need to check with an immigration lawyer and since this is General Tier 2, almost any immigration lawyer should be able to help you.
I think I take back what I advised you at My TechNation Application - September 2020 - #30 by Shreeniwas_Iyer - it looks like you might be better off TechNation, as with your current approach, you would end up paying for 2 visa, one for your startup and another for your own TechNation visa. Please proceed with that trade-off in mind.
Hi @farooq0520, from what I can recall, my impression is you have to pay the period associated with your visa period. But if you leave the country earlier, some part of IHS will be refunded.
Maybe you can ask your company to modify the sponsorship letter, and make the visa to 1 year? Or try to negotiate the offer.
For global talent visa, you can select the number of years as a part of your visa application. If you need to make it 1 year, you can.
(Btw, some startup and companies do ask employees to sort out their visa.)
@steven4320555 Yes this is a start-up company and asking me to sort out the visa my self, which is a lot of money as i have to apply for dependents of 3 as well with my self, that comes out to almost 10K for 3 years. i am not sure if the global talent visa is approved after i have moved in to the UK, do i need to repay the IHS again? That’s the reason i am confused.
Yes. you will have to pay IHS again. In theory you will be refunded the amount you’ve overpaid. In practice those refunds are not always painless or done in a timely fashion.
@Alex_P Thanks for the information, i understand what you are saying, but it seems like a lot of money and going to the same immigration, i can understand the visa is different, but IHS should be same for all the visa right? I need to think it through what i should do and best for me at this point. I am really interested in Global Talent, that gives me the option to be there for 3 years on TechNation sponsorship and then apply for ILR.
When I moved from Tier 2 to Global Talent, neither me nor my employer got a refund of the IHS. The risk of not getting it back is very much there.
@Shreeniwas_Iyer wow really that is strange why u had to pay 2 x IHS for the same year? When you applied for tier-2 visa nd then global talent, u know this could include the time starting from day 1 for the ILR?
IHS has nothing to do with ILR.
ILR is based on time in UK (and the visa category). IHS is what you pay to cover for the health services as a migrant (on top of National Insurance).
The reason I had to pay twice is because IHS system doesn’t have an option to pay from future date. Hence the application and IHS had to be aligned. Hence 2 times payment.
@Shreeniwas_Iyer i know IHS has nothing to do with ILR, the reason i am asking about ILR is the time period on TechNation, would the whole time count that u have on tier 2 and also global talent both together or would it be separate.
But the IHS should be for 3 years if i pay 3 years, then after 1 year i want to apply for global talent, i have to repay the IHS for another 2 years again?
would the whole time count that u have on tier 2 and also global talent both together or would it be separate.
Didn’t you ask me the same question here - My TechNation Application - September 2020 - #31 by farooq0520 ?
But the IHS should be for 3 years if i pay 3 years, then after 1 year i want to apply for global talent, i have to repay the IHS for another 2 years again?
Yes
IHS is a lot of money, especially if you have family - no doubt about it.
Unfortunately there is just no way to apply for Global Talent (in fact - any visa) without paying IHS again. Please also bear in mimind that if you get tier 2 visa for one year, than apply for Global Talent endorsement unsuccessfully you will need to apply for tier 2 once more and pay visa fees which are extremely high even without IHS
I know at least about several people who managed to get a refund.
There’s absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that you will get Global Talent visa as the bar is extremely high and it is only getting higher. So I would not be worried about the IHS now.
Also, I would think twice if joining a company which can’t cover the cost of the visa is a good idea at all. Since your visa would be chained to that company and will be revoked if you are laid off, company goes out of business or simply can’t afford sponsorship license anymore.
Paying for a visa is a minimum relocation compensation a decent company would offer.
I know the prospect of a sponsored role is quite attractive. However, theres a lot to be implied from an employer that does not support with the associated fees, start-up or not.
This might be an indication that the employer may not be vested in the employee for the long term. Considering you will have 3 dependents whose visa status will be depended on your status, you may want to renegotiate the term of engagement with the employer. In this way the employer would have invested in you and the whole process and will keep you on for the long term.