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General guidance for applicants of the Points-Based System

General guidance for applicants of the Points-Based System

Documents we require

You must ensure you provide all of the necessary supporting documents at the time you send us the application. UKVI will only accept the documents specified in the Immigration Rules.

If you do not provide the specified documents, UKVI will contact you to ask for them only when you have submitted:

A sequence of documents and some of the documents in the sequence have been omitted (for example, if one bank statement from a series is missing);
A document in the wrong format;
A document that is a copy and not an original document; or
A document that does not contain all the specified information.

If you have submitted a specified document that is:

in the wrong format; or
a copy and not an original document; or
does not contain all the specified information but the necessary information is verifiable from:
- other documentation submitted with the application;
- the website of the organisation which issued the document;
- the website of the appropriate regulatory body,

UKVI may approve your application exceptionally if UKVI is satisfied that the specified documents are genuine and that you meet all the other requirements. They reserve the right to request the original documents in the correct format and to refuse applications if the specified documents are not provided.

UKVI will not ask for further information where a specified document has not been submitted (for example an English language certificate is missing);

or where UKVI do not anticipate that a correction of minor errors or omissions will lead to an approval because the application will fail for other reasons.

Any documentary evidence that you provide must be the original (not a copy) unless they say otherwise.

Where a document is not in English or Welsh, the original must be accompanied by a fully certified translation. This translation must include details of the translator’s credentials and confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document. It must also be dated and include the original signature of the translator.

UKVI only need evidence that is directly relevant to your application, as set out in this guidance. They will not consider unrelated evidence when calculating the points score.

Verification and other checks

UKVI aim to consider applications quickly. However, They must also be confident that applications meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, and that the information you provide is a true reflection of your background.

UKVI will ask for a variety of verifiable documents to enable us to consider your application.

UKVI may want to check the supporting documents you send with your application. Therefore, you must ensure that all the evidence comes from a source that can be clearly identified and that it can be independently confirmed as being genuine.

There are two situations in which they will undertake a check:

Verification checks– where UKVI have reasonable doubts that the documents are genuine; or

Other checks – where UKVI carry out further checks, for example where UKVI have doubts about your application or the documents sent with your application but the doubts are not serious enough for us to make a verification check.

Verification checks

Where UKVI have reasonable doubts that a specified document is genuine, UKVI may want to verify the document with an independent person or government agency.

The purpose of these checks is to ensure that the document provided is genuine and accurately reflects statements made in your application. If the document is being used as evidence to score points, UKVI also wants to ensure that it entitles you to score those points.

Verification may delay our decision on your application so UKVI will only do it when there are clear reasons for it.

Reasonable doubt

There are many reasons why we may doubt that a specified document is genuine and what we consider to be a reasonable doubt will depend on an individual application. However, our judgments will be based on the facts we have.

Outcome of verification check

There are three possible outcomes of a verification check:

Document confirmed as genuine. If They can conclude that the document is genuine, They will consider your application as normal.
Document confirmed as false. If they can conclude that the document is false, they will refuse your application, whether or not the document is essential to the application. If a document is confirmed as false, they will normally refuse your application for more than one reason. For example, if you send us a bank statement to show that you have enough funds available, and they have evidence that the statement is false, funds they will refuse your application because you do not meet fund's requirement and because you have sent a false document. Where they confirm that a document is false, it will be retained by the Home Office and is likely to jeopardise any future application made by you.
Verification check inconclusive. If they cannot verify that the document is either genuine or false, then they will ignore it as evidence for scoring points. If you have sent other specified documents as evidence for scoring the relevant points, they will consider these as normal. If you have not sent any other documents, they will award no points in that area.

Refusing applications without making verification checks

They may refuse your application without making verification checks where they are concerned about a piece of evidence but would, in any event, refuse the application for other reasons; those reasons will form the basis of the refusal. They will not make verification checks in these circumstances. However, they will always verify passports if they doubt they are genuine.

Other checks

They will make other checks where, for example, they have doubts about your application or the documents sent with it, but these are not serious enough for us to make a verification check.

These checks may delay our decision on your application so they will only make them when they have clear reasons to do so.

Extra checks

Sometimes they will have suspicions about a document, but they will not be enough to make us doubt that it is genuine. For example, this may be because previous verification checks have found that some supporting evidence is invalid and some are genuine, or where evidence provided contradicts information they already have. In these cases, they may carry out more checks

Outcome of other checks

There are four possible outcomes of these checks:

• Document confirmed as genuine. If we can conclude that the document is genuine, we will consider the application as normal.

• Document confirmed as false. If they can conclude that the document is false, they will refuse your application, whether or not the document is essential to the application. If a document is confirmed as false, they will normally refuse your application for more than one reason. For example, if you send us a bank statement to show that you have enough funds available, and they have evidence that the statement is false, they will refuse the application because you do not meet the fund's requirement and because you have sent a false document. Where they confirm that a document is false, it will be retained by the Home Office and is likely to jeopardise any future application made by you.

• Check inconclusive. If they cannot verify that the document is either genuine or false, they will consider your application as if it is the document is genuine.

• Check gives us cause to have reasonable doubt about the genuineness of a specified document. If they cannot verify that the document is either genuine or false but as a result of the checks they find other reasons to doubt the genuineness of a particular specified document, they may decide to make a verification check.

Genuine Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Migrant Test

On 1 October 2013, the Immigration Rules changed to tackle abuse on this route, while leaving genuine applicants unaffected. When applying for entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain, They must be satisfied that you genuinely intend to undertake, and are capable of undertaking, the role for which the Certificate of Sponsorship was assigned and you will not undertake employment in the UK other than that permitted by the entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain, should it be granted.

Where you are applying as a private servant in a diplomatic household, they must, in particular, be satisfied that you will be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

In order to assess this, they may:

request additional information and evidence, and refuse the application if the information or evidence is not provided. Any requested documents must be received by us at the address specified in the request within 28 working days of the date the request is sent, and
request you attend an interview, and refuse the application if you fail to comply with any such request without providing a reasonable explanation. In making the above assessment, they will base our decision on the balance of probabilities and may take into account your:
- knowledge of the role;
- relevant experience relative to skills required to do the role;
- knowledge of the Sponsor in the UK;
- explanation of how you were recruited; and
- any other relevant information.

Any information obtained during the course of an interview may be relied on for the further purpose of assessing a sponsor’s compliance with their sponsor duties.

Rights of Appeal and Administrative Review

In country applications for leave to remain made before 2 March 2015

If your application for leave to remain (permission to stay in the UK) under Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) was made before 2 March 2015 and we refuse it, depending on your appeal rights, you may be able to submit an appeal if you want to challenge the decision. Details on whether and how you can appeal against our decision will be included with the reasons for refusal letter.

Applications for permissions to stay made on or after 2 March 2015

If your application for leave to remain under Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) was made on or after 2 March 2015 and they refuse it, you cannot appeal against our decision. You can apply for an administrative review, however, if you think the Home Office has made an error in considering your application. Details of how to make an administrative review application will be included in the decision letter.

Related FAQ's

We specialise in Immigration Law, Human Rights Law, British Nationality Law & European Law (post Brexit).

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Our speciality lies in the field of Immigration, Nationality and EU Law, so it means we always are dealing with this side of the law. We are able to support you in making a correct decision, avoid delays on your case, save money and time, not forgetting the stress of any doubts with your application.

There are many routes available to come to the UK, extend or switch, some of them do not allow extension or even switching. Knowing what is right can be a difficult task and this is why we are here. Simple task of not using the prescribed forms can mean your application is invalid, which means if you have no valid stay, you would have to return back and there is no appeal rights.

Our initial consultations are a chargeable service. We initially discuss the requirements of the application to ensure you meet the requirements and have the documentation required at hand for the submission. It gives you an opportunity to meet us and ask questions.

Each case will be checked thoroughly, everything will be cross referenced so guidelines are met and we will also add our legal document which would outline the Immigration Rules and how the client has satisfied the rules. We use documents that are used by Home Office case workers, so we know exactly what they would look for in your case.

The most important fact is that law constantly changes, policy guidelines and requirements are always changing, so it is best that you always use specialised services to support you. We never compromise our services, our fees remain very competitive but our expertise is at the very highest standard.

We are regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) - at the highest level which is Level 3 with JRCM licence.

IAA which is the rebrand of OISC is the UK Government Regulated Body and it is a criminal offence if someone is providing Immigration advice without being regulated by the IAA.

Please visit our regulatory bodes page to find more information of government and other agencies which we listed by. Click here.

Your Lawyer would take some background information regarding yourself. Relevant questions would be asked to ascertain whether your case can be handled by our team.

You will also be able to ask questions, understand what is required to meet the Immigration Rules, Nationality Law and EU Law where relevant.

Should we be able to provide assistance, your case worker will give you a customer care letter whereby it would outline the service agreement and the cost associated.

After each consultation we aim to provide a consultation report which would outline what was discussed, the action plan and what to do next.

We have a procedure in place for ensuring client confidentiality.

We keep the affairs of our clients and all information relating to our clients confidential, except where we are compelled to disclose information by reason of a legal or regulatory obligation.

A customer care letter from us will ensure that we outline the service we would be providing, it would also provide a break down of the costs associated so you can rest assure that there are no hidden charges and that fees do not go up unless changes are made (i.e. Home Office fees etc).

We place our clients first, so when you sign the customer care letter and we go through your case file, and we believe that the case would not be successful, we will terminate the agreement and return your documents.

We will also provide alternative solutions with no added costs. We also have a cancellation period should you feel you want to withdraw your file.

Please note that all cases cannot be guaranteed as circumstances depends and whether you met guidelines, however the Home Office caseworker can still refuse cases on the balance of probabilities and other factors.

Our job would be to prepare your case in the best possible way.

Yes, we do. ICS Legal other than fixed costs, offer our client's priority services in what we do including retainer services.

As a private legal firm, we want to ensure we can provide the service you want. Our fees are very competitive and that is why we do not provide a No Win No Fee service as we do not feel the need to over charge our clients with such schemes.

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The fees are to be paid through cash or bank transfer.

Home Office, third party including other costs not charged by us, will be confirmed when that is possible and are subject to changes.

Our commitment to our clients is that we will update you every time we get an update from the Home Office. The waiting period can be a very daunting time as decisions can be life changing however the Home Office do set some guidelines on waiting times, but we intend to keep you updated throughout the process.

No, and this is the same even if you use a no win no fee service, it would be impossible for anyone to guarantee a successful application. The likelihood of an application being successful can be given based on previous cases or success rates, however we do not operate such a policy of selling our services based on previous applications.

We aim to ensure that this service is not used by any of our clients, but there are times where even with the best possible applications are unsuccessful. As we take our clients cases personally, we would like to provide a helping hand. We have designed an aftercare service whereby if your case fails, then your case worker would be able to help you look at other formalities of staying in the UK should you have valid leave still remaining or help you make an out country application. Please note should you require appealing on your matter, we can only deal with the initial appeal and your application will be straight away referred to an advisor who deals with representations.

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