I was going to write about the process of applying for a Tier 1 visa to live and work in the United Kingdom. However my application has been approved by the British High Commission in New Zealand in only 13 days. I was honestly absolutely amped as I suspected all sorts of items would have been found lacking by the BHC and I would have to apply for the cheaper Tier 5 or re-apply for a Tier 1, costing another $1600 plus other costs associated with the collection of information.
For the purpose of documentation, here is what is basically required – this information is available on various UK visa websites, but often the information is unclear, old or contradictory. Also, this information was suitable for my application and so therefore possibly yours. But most applications are slightly different and I couldn’t possibly know what is required in your circumstance:
- It is recommended that you fill out the online points calculator first to establish whether you will have enough points for a VISA. If you are using a degree for points and your institution appears on the points calculator, then you do not need to confirm you degree is relevant on NARIC.
- You will need to complete an online application and a supporting documents form (for me this was Appendix 1). The self assessment form contains information very similar to the points calculator, but you will also be required to indicate the supporting documents that you will send to the British High Commission. For a tier 1 visa you require the Application form VAF9 – PBS Migrant (this is the same as the online application) and the PBS Appendix 1; these forms also change often, it is best to check you have the latest version.
- Evidence of income, this must cover a contiguous 12 month period which starts at most 15 months prior to your application, though possibly a shorter period would be suitable if you get paid a lot
- If you would like to work in the UK, start collecting your bank statements. You need 12 months of evidence that you get paid. I got the bank to stamp and sign each statement that I had printed at the bank.
- If you get payslips, start collecting these. You’ll need a 12 month period.
- If you don’t get payslips, you may be able to get your human resource department to officialise the printed payslips or perhaps a letter declaring exactly how much you have been paid would be satisfactory.
- I have heard of situations where applications have been denied when the totals did not match.
- Evidence of maintenance funds, this must cover a 3 month period and the final statement must be within 7 days 1 calendar month of your application. It was not clear to me whether the application date was when you paid on the online application or when you have your biometrics appointment. But all dates were close enough to when I got my statement for this to not matter.
- Again you should just collect bank statements, if you are good at budgeting this evidence may be the same bank account as your income evidence. Mine was a different bank account. The final statement should be dated very closely to your application (7 days or less).
- Alternatively a letter from a financial institution can be accepted. I got the local KiwiBank to print my statement out for me and stamp and sign it.
- Evidence of University education
- Most people have collected university transcripts when they graduate for graduate job applications. If not they can be purchased for around $20 from your university.
- You should also have been awarded a certificate of some sort from your University or academic institution. You should post this with some stiff cardboard to protect it.
- Passport; they will attach your UK Tier 1 Visa to this, if you have accumulated enough proof that you deserve it.
- 2 passport photos. They have many conditions around the size and appearance of these photos.
- You will be required to print out your online application form, pay NZ$1600 and book a local biometric testing station when you complete your online application. You may save your online application at any time and come back to it later, but they only keep it for about 7 days. In the online form you will be required to provide your travel information for the last 10 years, your current and any previous passports (and names) and your birth and nationality and that of your parents.
- The conditions of application change constantly, so check the UK Visa websites for news constantly! For example, the evidence of maintenance funds may be up to one month old now.
Really it was all rather simple, but very stressful and frustrating. Worrying that the information we provided was not correct enough and we would have our VISA application rejected like many other people we had heard about. If you prepare for your application 12 months in advance then it would be much less stressful.
It is also worth knowing that they will date your VISA from the entry date that you provide in your online application! You don’t need to make it 3 months from when you apply and a Tier 1 VISA allows multiple entry into the UK for 3 years starting from the date you provide.
Now all I need to worry about is finding a job when I arrive in London; I’m planning to document that process, which has started with my signing with an agency to smooth my move into the UK labour force.
Thanks for writing about your process. I am in the middle of Tier 1 application and hopefully finished Feb 5 2009. Please keep me updated on your job search! Its nice to read about these things.
We were really surprised about how quick our application was processed, prior to the tier system it seemed to take forever. In New Zealand applications were being sent to the UK, now they are being processed locally.
Just received a media release:
So expect some initial delays.
Hi,
I have a question. Do we have to have a single bank statement with all the transactions for the past 3 months? Here in USA banks don’t give statements or endorse them. Do you think I could add 3 monthly bank statements for the last 3 months as long as the statement end date of the last statement is with the 1 month range? eng. if app date is 11 Feb and my statements are from Nov 9th to Dec 9th , Dec 9th to Jan 9th and Jan 9th to Feb 9th.
Regards,
Laksh
I’m not an official, I am just someone like you who has made an application. However, in order to show you have maintenance funds, you require either bank statements or a letter from the financial institution confirming that you have the required funds. The last statement or the letter must be dated as close as possible to your application. We get monthly statements in the mail in NZ, however with online banking it is becoming less common (I never received mine, so I got the bank to print a statement covering the 3 month period).
If you have 3 months of statements, then that sounds like it covers that requirement. However, these statements must be recognisable as official bank statements, showing your name (and possibly address), your account balance, any transactions that may have occurred and be on official bank stationary (i.e. with bank logo clearly visible). If you have bank statements that show your name, address and the date, but not on official bank stationary, then it may be satisfactory to get the bank to stamp and sign these papers, but it would probably be better to get the bank to send you a letter confirming that you have had the required funds for the 3 months.
If the british home office aren’t sure the papers are official, they will happily take your money and reject your application, so if you aren’t sure I’d give the home office a call (or email) and make sure you get documents that they’ll accept.
James,
Firstly, greatly appreciate your blog and it is very helpful. I just have some confusion on the online application. I did complete the online application for Tier 1 General but it does not ask anywhere in the application about your qualification like ( Income, Age, Education). So as you mentioned do we need to submit the supporting Application form which are in PDF formats. I wish they made that clear on the application or provided an online version as well. Let me know. Thanks
You need to submit the online application, and also print out that same online application and send it with your submission. You also have a supporting documents form that you must print out/fill in and submit. This indicates what your required documents are. There is also a points calculator PDF that is generated (when you work out whether you are eligible for enough points), print this out and submit it as well! If you studied at a University that does not exist in the points calculator, then you must send your qualification details to a place called UK NARIC who will respond to you with a letter indicating whether your qualification has an equivalent UK qualification. Then you must send this letter as part of your submission.
Hope that helps.
Hi James, thanks for your posts, very useful.
I read the following on the BBC today:
“….From April, non-EU workers wanting to come to Britain without securing a job beforehand must have a master’s degree – rather than a bachelor’s degree…”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7904393.stm
I haven’t seen any similar mention of this on any official sites. This will surely affect many applicants, including myself. I have been preparing for my visa application for about a year, to ensure I meet all the criteria, but this really changes things.
Do you know anything about this? Cheers
That is interesting and would affect many people. It is surprising they estimate that it would affect only 12,000. I have also read that they have a bill that would change how long you would have to work in the UK before you are eligible to become a UK resident (currently only 5 years – proposed 8 years, it is much longer if you don’t have a working VISA).
It is important to be prepared for these changes if possible, obviously not many of us would be prepared to enrol in a masters course to enter the UK. But it would appear to be sensible if that is your intention and you are still at university.
When I read the BBC article, it appeared that these were actions that Ms Smith was proposing. In this article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5784420.ece it reads that this has been passed and these actions will come into affect from April this year. There doesn’t appear to be any mention of this on the UK VISA website, but this is a new development and paints an ugly picture of current sentiment.
I just received a notice from BritBound [http://www.britbound.co.uk/] announcing the mentioned changes to the Tier 1 program:
This is an important update for those wishing or considering the Tier 1 Highly Skilled Migrants visa for the UK.
This week The British High Commission has announced that from the 1st of April it will change the Tier 1 Highly Skilled Migrant program to restrict new applications to individuals that hold a Masters degree qualification.
This means that people who currently only have a bachelors degree and qualify under the current points matrix will be no longer eligible for the Tier 1 General visa (previously the HSMP) after the 1st of April – unless they have a Masters degree qualification.
Hi James, thanks for the information.
I have a question regarding to VAF9 form, the questions in the forms seems identical to the ones in the online application. Do I still need to fill the VAF9 form and print it out on top of the online application? Thanks
I didn’t need to print and send in the VAF9 PDF form, but it is handy to see what information will be required to do the online form. I found the online form very sluggish to respond; but that is how you are supposed to do your application for NZ (and many other countries applications).
You will need to fill in Appendix 1
Hi James, thanks for the reply. I don’t need to my VAF9 form then. I have got another question, have you heard of including marriage certificate in the supporting documents if you are married? The checklist from VAF9 form mentioned it, but not the online application or anywhere else.
Sorry Eric, I don’t know. I’d expect that you’d be more likely to need to include a marriage certificate if you’ve had a name change or if you are applying with dependants.
Do you mind me asking if you have a masters or if the recent Visa changes have encouraged you to apply now?
That’s right James, I do not have a masters degree therefore I need to apply for the visa before the policy changes.
I know a few people in that situation.
Hi James, did you make a photocopy of each of the supporting documents in your submission?
Yeah, you don’t submit the photocopies, they are in case they lose your documents. Luckily there was no need for it in our application.
We photocopied our stuff at the stationary warehouse.
James,
Very informative. I just have a couple of questions.
i) Do they absolutely insist on the transcript? I have separate marksheets for every semester if they want to see my marks. My university is present in the PBS Calculator and I have the original degree certificate.
ii) I have my salary slips sent by mail from the pay roll company doing the pay roll for them. It mentions the name of the company but it is not really official stationary of my company. Do I need to get these stamped and signed by the company?
Hi Anurag,
i) I’d send in then transcripts, they are easy to get from your university. I believe you can use a letter or other evidence from your university instead, but remember that the BHC are basically looking for reason to reject your application. The BHC are looking for at least two forms of evidence that you are qualified.
ii) If you are in doubt about your payslips then it would probably be best to get your HR person to stamp and sign the payslips or get their contact information and put it in the application. You don’t need to tell HR why you want your payslips stamped and signed. If that isn’t possible you can also ask for a letter stating how much your were paid in the period that you are using in your application.