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I am USA Citizen and a guy from Texas. Simple minded in all my days in a complex profession. would have preferred to be a Farmer! I have traveled to many Countries over the years but primarily on vacation. I worked in UK years back but all pay was handled within USA, my assignment was temp in England.

I have alleged job offer from older company in UK. I cannot find much on Maple Energy UK via Google as they are shown to have gone broke about 2015. Now bankruptcy is common place in oil business these days. The biggest companies are struggling many ways even.
Of course this company may be on the re-bound and I could be part of the come back along with other efforts of course.

This company has referred a Solicitor/Attorney to me to prepare Work VISA in UK. This Solicitor has sent me some Immigration forms to fill out that has some info required typically one doesn't let out so easy such as my birth-date and info regarding my Parents. They also want me to send them a Passport Pic for an ID accompanying the VISA request.

This whole deal seems a bit shady so what to worry about?

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    Have you looked up the solicitor? If they are real, you should be able to find out about them, and they are subject to significant ethics rules.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 19:54
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    You could try looking up the solicitor with the Law Society to see if the contact information they provide is legitimate, but this is almost certainly a scam intended to steal your personal information for identity theft. No company makes unsolicited job offers to random people; this should be common sense.
    – choster
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 19:55
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    Chooster---Well, it is not an un-solicited job offer. It is a job I applied for via reputable internet job board. I am not a dumb teenage hick really. Thanks.
    – Chris Tolbert
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:16
  • Patricia- Thank you very much. Looking into this via Link you provided.
    – Chris Tolbert
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:17
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    Also all the signs seem to be that Maple Energy went bankrupt in 2015. Bankruptcy in the UK is not usually like US 'chapter 11' bankruptcy, which is a temporary thing - it usually means the company is toast. You should ask the solicitor for details of how the company came back, and for links to the company website and the company's registered address.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 20:57

2 Answers 2

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Assuming the job qualifies as a Tier 2 general work visa, the first step is you must obtain a Certificate of Sponsorship. The UK keeps a list of legal sponsors. It doesn't look like Maple Energy is a licensed sponsor. If the company is not a licensed sponsor, this should raise red flags about what visa they are applying for on your behalf. You should ask then what name they are listed as a licensed sponsor under.

Assuming they are a licensed sponsor, they need some information from you to issue the COS. The COS must be clearly yours and bear your name, age and other details as they appear on your passport. As far as I can tell, that is all the information they need from you. A passport picture and information about your parents is definitely not needed for the COS.

Once the COS is issued, the visa application includes a lot more personal information. I would not provide anyone with this information until a COS is issued. If you are still feeling concerned, you can apply for a Tier 2 visa without their solicitor. You could either negotiate that they pay or simply pay for yourself.

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There are two currently trading companies which might be the one you applied to. Take a look at the UK government website https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/search?q=Maple+energy

Be aware it could still be a scam: don't drop your guard too soon.

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    One of them is a one-person company, one a husband-and-wife company, neither has ever filed any income. I would bet that neither of them is trying to hire someone from the USA
    – gnasher729
    Commented Jul 10, 2017 at 17:20
  • @gnasher729 searching the web suggests that there is a more substantial company by that name in Dublin.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 11, 2017 at 18:03

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