23 January 2007
| In light of the first weeks of operating under the amended eligibility criteria the HSMP FAQs on this website have been updated with further clarification of existing guidance to provide customers with help in making their HSMP application. Evidence is required to support your claim for previous earnings. More than one piece of evidence is required for the period you are claiming so that the information can be corroborated. The evidence must be from an independent and verifiable source. To ensure that the process is objective and transparent, the evidence we require is detailed on the application form. Different types of evidence are required if you wish to apply using Salaried Earnings, as an Independent Contractor or as a Self-Employed person. Please refer to the FAQs before you submit your application. They are updated with the latest information on questions being raised by applicants. They will help in completing your application form correctly and providing the required evidence. This update of the FAQs provides further clarification on the following:
The FAQs are available by clicking here. If you have questions regarding the HSMP application process that are not explained in the FAQs or the guidance notes provided with the application forms please contact us. Details of how to contact us are available here. |
| 1. How can I obtain the guidance notes and application forms?
Please note ? a consultation on a new charging regime for immigration and nationality fees was launched on 30 October 2006. The consultation paper seeks a wide range of views to inform the development of a new charging strategy which will start to underpin prices in UKVisas and Immigration and Nationality Directorate from April 2007 onwards. 4. Do you accept copies of certificates or other evidence? We will only accept the original specified information. Where a document is not in English the original must be accompanied by a fully certified translation by an officially recognised translator. An officially recognised translator is defined as one that is recognised by the local British High Commission or Embassy. 5. Will my documents be returned after consideration? Decision letters and original documents can only be returned to the applicant's current address, declared on the front of the application form, or the address stated on the representative's declaration page, if supplied. The HSMP case-working Team will return your documents once the application process is complete. If you need your documents back before this time, you will need to contact the HSMP Team on telephone number 0114 207 6020 For applications made within the UK, all documents will be dispatched using Recorded Delivery. For applications made from outside of the UK, documents will be sent by airmail 6. Can I arrange a courier to collect my documents from Sheffield? Yes. If you wish to arrange a courier to collect your documents please notify the HSMP team by fax on 0114 207 6021 and they will contact you to let you know when and where your documents will be ready for collection. Please be aware that the HSMP team will not sign any documents from the courier company or pay for this service. 7. Can I send additional documents after I have made the initial application? You should send in all the required supporting evidence with your application. Failure to do so is likely to lead to the refusal of your application. You may send in additional documents provided they reach the HSMP team before a decision has been considered. Please send any clearly identifiable additional documents directly to the HSMP Team in Sheffield. By post: HSMP Team Home Office PO Box 3468 Sheffield S3 8WA By courier: WP (UK) HSMP Team Home Office Moorfoot Sheffield S1 4PQ 8. Do I need to send my passport in with the HSMP application forms? No, do NOT send your passport for an HSMP decision. 9. Can I apply for this scheme by e-mail? This service is not currently available for HSMP applications. 10. What is the provision for Masters of Business of Administration Graduates? The 2004 Budget announced a new provision for graduates of the top 50 business schools to work in the UK for up to 12 months on completing their MBA. This provision forms part of the HSMP and aims to attract highly qualified and talented managers to the UK. If you graduate from one of the eligible MBA programmes while that programme is on the list of eligible courses then you are eligible to apply for the MBA Provision. Successful applicants will be awarded 75 points for their eligible MBA. 11. Where do I send the completed application form and how? Initial applications should NOT be sent directly to the HSMP team. Application forms should be sent to our payment-processing site at the following address: By Post: Work Permits (HSMP) P.O. Box 3975 Sheffield S1 9BL By Courier: Work Permits (HSMP) 7th Floor Fountain Precinct Balm Green Sheffield S1 2JA Applications for Further Leave to Remain should be sent to the following address: By Post: Work Permits (FLR) P.O. Box 493 Durham DH99 1WT By Courier: Work Permits (FLR) Millburngate House Durham D99 1SA 12. Do you acknowledge receipt of the application? We will confirm receipt of your application if you complete the relevant section of the application form. This acknowledgement will be sent once the payment has cleared and the application is received by the HSMP team. 13. What are your processing times? Our service standard is that 50% of new applications should be decided within 5 weeks of receipt at our payment handling service and 90% within 14 weeks. Your decision may be delayed if we need to make further checks or seek additional information. This action may result in your application taking over 14 weeks to decide. More information on our service delivery standards. 14. Can my application be processed any faster than published estimates? It is possible to make a request for your application to be processed urgently but only in the following circumstances:
You will be required to complete an HSMP Urgent Treatment form which can be faxed to the HSMP Team on 0114 207 6021. You can obtain a copy of this form from the 'All Forms' page. 25. What is a tax return? Under the Required Evidence section of the Previous Earnings guidance, the term 'Personal Tax Return' is used. A tax return is
This term does not refer to the tax return document completed and returned by an individual to the relevant tax authorities. Nor does it refer to a P45 (Details of Employee Leaving Work). 26. Salaried earnings - I have not got a tax return to cover the full period ? what can I do? Your personal tax return documentation must be submitted wherever it is available. Where you have not yet received this documentation for the current tax year, or if your documents only cover part of the period claimed, you must submit what tax information you have. In addition, you must complete the exceptional consideration box AND send us documentary evidence to support your request for exceptional consideration (this may be your most up-to-date tax return but may also include other documentary evidence to support the reasons you have given). If you provide sufficient information to support exceptional consideration Work Permits (UK) will then consider the alternative documentation you have asked us to look at (i.e. Bank statements covering the period claimed for or a letter from your employer stating salary as claimed), and make a decision based on these. 27. Independent Contractors - I have not got a tax return to cover the full period ? what can I do? All four pieces of specified evidence must be provided. However, one of the required pieces of evidence is your income tax return. If you have not yet received this documentation for the current tax year, or if your documents only cover part of the period claimed, please provide your most recent tax return or what tax information you have. We will consider the tax evidence you have provided, alongside the other three pieces of required evidence. 28. Self-Employed Applicants - I have not got a tax return to cover the full period ? what can I do? You must supply both an income tax return and personal bank statements to cover the entire period claimed. In addition, one of the listed combinations of additional documents must also be supplied. If you have not yet received your tax return or if you do not have an income tax return to cover the entire period claimed, please provide your most recent tax return or what tax information you have. We will consider the tax evidence you have provided alongside the other required evidence. Separately, under the listed combinations of additional documents for Self-Employed Applicants, the requirement is for company/business tax returns to be provided. These need not cover the entire period for which previous earnings are being claimed, but should detail your individual earnings for the period they do cover. 29. What is an independent contractor? Under Previous Earnings on the application form, evidence can be submitted under three different categories, Salaried Earnings; Independent Contractor and Self-Employed. It has been designed this way to help you submit the right evidence to support your claim for previous earnings. The evidence required is different for each category and you must determine which category to use. The type of evidence you have available will help you to determine which best fits your circumstances. We cannot advise on your employment status but there are some guidelines which you might find help you. If you operate as a business or as a limited company you will fall into the self-employed category. If you are an independent contractor you may consider yourself to be self-employed because you do not have continuity of employment with a single employer, but you may only be able to provide some of the required evidence from the self-employed evidence list and some from the employed salaried evidence list. To help cater for this we have created a specific category for Independent Contractors (e.g. some IT Consultants, Freelance Journalists, Artists, Management Consultants etc.) You might find it helpful to refer to the H.M. Revenue and Customs (HMRC) definition of an independent contractor to help you - Information on employment status for NIC can be found on the HM Revenue and Customs website, at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk under the section on Intermediaries Legislation IR35, found on the A-Z list via the site map on the HMRC website. 30. What are overseas earnings? When completing the Previous Earnings section of the points scoring assessment, you must declare which of your earnings, during the period in question, have been UK earnings and which have been overseas earnings. UK earnings will be considered to include any earnings that have been paid either to you (in the form, for example, of your salary), or to a UK based company or business which is capable of being taken into account for the purposes of UK taxation calculations. Conversely, overseas earnings will include payments made to a business that remain overseas and which are not therefore subject to UK tax regulations. |
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