# Tier-2 Visa applications: Delayed or Just Denied?



## jbond (Jun 7, 2012)

Hi Everyone. I'm in a tricky situation and was hoping someone could give some advice.

Long story short, I'm a US citizen who just received my Canadian BEd in Scottish Gaelic. I have successfully interviewed for a high school position in Scotland and started on my paperwork right away. My application to the General Teaching Council of Scotland will be sent out tomorrow and I have taken all the steps to obtain my Tier-2 visa, including my biometrics. 

However, when I thought to call a relocation expert, he told me that I need to have my registration with the GTCS completed _before_ I apply for my visa. He also said that this was a condition of getting my Certificate of Sponsorship yet I have my reference number already and this is the first I've heard of this condition in my month of research. 

My predicament, as I see it, is that by the time I'm registered with the GTCS (about a month from now), my current application will be dead in the water. And since I've been to my biometrics appointment, I can't get a refund of the $804 I spent to apply. My question is:

*1. If something is missing/not included in the Certificate of Sponsorship, will the UKBA deny an application right off the bat or delay it until they figure out what is going on?*

Any kind soul out there with some guidance? I would do just about anything to avoid having to pay another application fee. 

Thanks much


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

jbond said:


> Hi Everyone. I'm in a tricky situation and was hoping someone could give some advice.
> 
> Long story short, I'm a US citizen who just received my Canadian BEd in Scottish Gaelic. I have successfully interviewed for a high school position in Scotland and started on my paperwork right away. My application to the General Teaching Council of Scotland will be sent out tomorrow and I have taken all the steps to obtain my Tier-2 visa, including my biometrics.
> 
> ...


This is a complicated area and I'm not an expert on teaching in Scotland as overseas teacher, but I can offer some general guidance.
1)To teach in Scotland, you need full registration with GTCS. For those qualified outside Scotland, there is a long list of requirements and procedure to follow. Since this can take some time, and without registration you can't take up a teaching post in Scotland, I'd have thought you cannot apply for your visa without it.
2) The fact that you have certificate of sponsorship (presumably issued by the school in Scotland wanting to hire you) doesn't mean you have fulfilled registration requirement with GTCS. The two aren't connected.
3) Your subject - Scottish Gaelic - isn't on the shortage occupation list for secondary teachers. So your employer (school) has to meet resident labour market test, meaning they have advertised the vacancy but haven't received applications from eligible candidates who don't require a visa. Have they passed the test?
4) So your application for visa is likely to fail because you probably won't meet the points total required. You lose all your fees and when re-applying, you have to pay again.
5) UKBA won't wait until your registration is complete. If you don't meet visa requirements for Tier 2 General at the point of applying, you will be denied a visa.

Perhaps I've got the situation wrong, in which case you can correct me. But as I've said, don't treat what I say as gospel. What does your Scottish school say? They should be familiar with procedure for hiring an overseas teacher.


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## jbond (Jun 7, 2012)

Joppa said:


> This is a complicated area and I'm not an expert on teaching in Scotland as overseas teacher, but I can offer some general guidance.
> 1)To teach in Scotland, you need full registration with GTCS. For those qualified outside Scotland, there is a long list of requirements and procedure to follow. Since this can take some time, and without registration you can't take up a teaching post in Scotland, I'd have thought you cannot apply for your visa without it.
> 2) The fact that you have certificate of sponsorship (presumably issued by the school in Scotland wanting to hire you) doesn't mean you have fulfilled registration requirement with GTCS. The two aren't connected.
> 3) Your subject - Scottish Gaelic - isn't on the shortage occupation list for secondary teachers. So your employer (school) has to meet resident labour market test, meaning they have advertised the vacancy but haven't received applications from eligible candidates who don't require a visa. Have they passed the test?
> ...


Thanks for your input Joppa! I'm going to ask around a bit more but I think I've got my situation figured out. Feel free to delete this post. Cheers.


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