Contract rejected due to residency issue

[knight007]

A friend of mine got a contract through SpringIT with the Home Office. He obviously needed security clearance but he still had his clearance from his previous job. This helped him to win the contract.
After the home office had said "yes", my friend had to supply some ID documents to them (such as passport).

The contract was in the bag at this point in time. My friend was on a rolling 1-week notice period with his permanent job so he was able to quit very quickly and start up his limited company.

However about 3 weeks later the agent forwarded my friend an email stating that the home office had rejected his application for security clearance since he was not a permanent resident of the UK (i.e. he did not have his indefinite leave to remain but he is currently residing in the UK on a "highly skilled migrant professional visa"). In their response, the home office said that they would add the permanent residency requirement to the list for security clearance in the future (basically admitting to their mistake)

does my friend have a case in employment law that he can win with the home office?
Who is to blame in this case - the Home office or SpringIT? The agent said that they are also very shocked by this. They also said that as a result of this, the home office has now asked all agencies to state the permanent residency requirement on all job adverts and they have increased the number of CV's requested from all agencies.

Why could they not have told my friend of this when he sent them his foreign passport? They waited for three weeks.
In that time my friend has turned down around 5 interview opportunities.

Furthermore the level of security clearance required was the same as he had in his previous job (Ministry of Justice) however he didn't have to meet the residency requirement before.

[JustMe]

A friend of mine got a contract through SpringIT with the Home Office. He obviously needed security clearance but he still had his clearance from his previous job. This helped him to win the contract.
After the home office had said "yes", my friend had to supply some ID documents to them (such as passport).

The contract was in the bag at this point in time. My friend was on a rolling 1-week notice period with his permanent job so he was able to quit very quickly and start up his limited company.

However about 3 weeks later the agent forwarded my friend an email stating that the home office had rejected his application for security clearance since he was not a permanent resident of the UK (i.e. he did not have his indefinite leave to remain but he is currently residing in the UK on a "highly skilled migrant professional visa"). In their response, the home office said that they would add the permanent residency requirement to the list for security clearance in the future (basically admitting to their mistake)

does my friend have a case in employment law that he can win with the home office?
Who is to blame in this case - the Home office or SpringIT? The agent said that they are also very shocked by this. They also said that as a result of this, the home office has now asked all agencies to state the permanent residency requirement on all job adverts and they have increased the number of CV's requested from all agencies.

Why could they not have told my friend of this when he sent them his foreign passport? They waited for three weeks.
In that time my friend has turned down around 5 interview opportunities.

Furthermore the level of security clearance required was the same as he had in his previous job (Ministry of Justice) however he didn't have to meet the residency requirement before.

This is tulip for your friend. Some advise. Your friend will always loose from a Goverment instit. Try to put some pressure on Spring. Maybe they can put some extra efford in finding a new role for your friend.

good luck

Justme

[tarbera]

blame

Does my friend have a case in employment law that he can win with the home office?

NO - your having a laugh

Who is to blame in this case - Your Mate for making the schoolboy error of not handing in his notice until ALL the T's are crossed

[Wanderer]

Why could they not have told my friend of this when he sent them his foreign passport? Furthermore the level of security clearance required was the same as he had in his previous job (Ministry of Justice) however he didn't have to meet the residency requirement before.

Wow, that sucks. I guess some jobs involve security clearance for documents labelled "UK eyes only" or there is something that they just don't want foreign nationals or people without a strong association with the UK working with. That's something that we just have to accept and move on, you can't argue the point about it.

They waited for three weeks. In that time my friend has turned down around 5 interview opportunities.

Hey, 5 interview opportunities in 3 weeks - that's pretty damned good. My advice to your friend is to get back into the job boards, chase up the 5 interviews that were turned down to see if any of them are still "live" and get back into it. You can't dwell on failed opportunities in this business or it will eat you up.

[stek]

I thought it was common knowledge that for a non-UK citizen at least ILR was required for SC, am I wrong? I certainly wouldn't be job hoping unless I was sure.

[JoJoGabor]

I recently had SC clearance denied due to residency issues. I am a UK national born and bred, but had lived in Australia for a couple of years out of the last 5 years. Amazingly it took 5 months for the result of the SC clearance to be decided!!! Amazing!

[Mister Clark]

I got my SC clearance 3 years ago; from memory I'm fairly sure it said you had to have residency in the UK and lived here for at least 7 years, could be wrong on that but I know a kiwi guy who had lived here for 6 years couldn’t get it either.

Not surprised your mate got rejected.

[northernladuk]

A friend of mine got a contract through SpringIT with the Home Office. He obviously needed security clearance but he still had his clearance from his previous job. This helped him to win the contract.
After the home office had said "yes", my friend had to supply some ID documents to them (such as passport).

However about 3 weeks later the agent forwarded my friend an email stating that the home office had rejected his application for security clearance since he was not a permanent resident of the UK (i.e. he did not have his indefinite leave to remain but he is currently residing in the UK on a "highly skilled migrant professional visa"). In their response, the home office said that they would add the permanent residency requirement to the list for security clearance in the future (basically admitting to their mistake)

Sorry to be pedantic but some things don't add up here. You say your friend has SC from his previous job. Do you mean he had it in the role he resigned from or one before that? Wen you say clearance, was it SC clearance or another type that isn't transferrable?

Also you say his 'application' was rejected? He shouldn't need to apply if he already has SC. He needs to have it transferred.

The story doesn't add up, could just be the way you are telling it but it looks like if we had some more detail the answer maybe a little clearer?

[knight007]

He had security clearance from one of his previous jobs (ministry of justice) and was due to expire in Sep 2011. The home office told him that they could simply transfer it since it was the same "level/type" of clearance required.
However they still had to request his passport and other id documents.

[northernladuk]

He had security clearance from one of his previous jobs (ministry of justice) and was due to expire in Sep 2011. The home office told him that they could simply transfer it since it was the same "level/type" of clearance required.
However they still had to request his passport and other id documents.

Expire as in the 1 year since use? SC is valid for 10 years but if you don't use it within one year of your last gig it lapses. If MoJ job was over 12 months ago it isn't valid anyway.