Tier 1 General early Extension

How much early can we apply for Tier 1 General visa extension via postal services before the end of current leave to remain?

Usually UKBA recommends 28 days before visa expiry. You need to justify why you are applying early.

Who said that?

We encourage you to make your application at least 1 month before your current permission to stay expires. However, if you apply significantly more than 1 month before your permission to stay expires, and you want to apply for settlement later, you may not have accumulated enough total permission to stay. This is because your new permission to stay will begin on the date when we make the decision, not the date when your current permission expires.

How the above paragraph does mean that you have to apply in the last 28 days?

samira_uk wrote: How the above paragraph does mean that you have to apply in the last 28 days?

Please do not send us your application more than 28 days before you become eligible to apply. If you do, we may refuse your application with no refund of the application fee (if a fee is charged for your application type). However, you must make your application before your current permission to stay in the UK expires.

If you are already in the UK but you have not been here long enough to apply for settlement, you can apply to extend your temporary permission to stay.
Source: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ettlement/

samira_uk wrote: How the above paragraph does mean that you have to apply in the last 28 days?

Please do not send us your application more than 28 days before you become eligible to apply. If you do, we may refuse your application with no refund of the application fee (if a fee is charged for your application type). However, you must make your application before your current permission to stay in the UK expires.

If you are already in the UK but you have not been here long enough to apply for settlement, you can apply to extend your temporary permission to stay.
Source: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ettlement/

Hi

Tier 1 extension can be applied early (before 28 days) if you are sure that it wont affect the ILR requirement. Correct me if I am wrong.

ta

The 28 days rule is only for ILR. For Tier 1 Extension, you can apply early but the validity of your visa would be from the date of approval. I had applied for my Tier 1 General Visa Extension 7 months in advance and had got the visa from the day it was approved.

Regards,

gprao2010 wrote:The 28 days rule is only for ILR. For Tier 1 Extension, you can apply early but the validity of your visa would be from the date of approval. I had applied for my Tier 1 General Visa Extension 7 months in advance and had got the visa from the day it was approved.

Regards,

But ofcourse the 28-day rule is for ILR. Sorry, I misread initial post and thought OP was applying for settlement.

ScopeD wrote:

gprao2010 wrote:The 28 days rule is only for ILR. For Tier 1 Extension, you can apply early but the validity of your visa would be from the date of approval. I had applied for my Tier 1 General Visa Extension 7 months in advance and had got the visa from the day it was approved.

Regards,

But ofcourse the 28-day rule is for ILR. Sorry, I misread initial post and thought OP was applying for settlement.

If the 28 day rules is applicable for ILR, then what about a person, who entered the UK, much after the 90 day period, lets say 1 year later than his initial visa validity date and hence had to go for a 2nd extension and still has 2 years left on his visa? in-spite of already completing the necessary 5 year period? does he still have to wait until the last 28 days of his visa to apply for settlement ?

For eg.,
Original visa valid from June 2008 (3 yrs)
Entered UK in June 2009
1st extn: June 2011 valid till June 2013 (2 yrs)
2nd extn: June 2013 valid till June 2016 (3 yrs)
Eligible for settlement: June 2014 (2 years earlier than his visa expiry date)

However it appears the applicant will have to wait until June 2016 and apply within 28 days of expiry?

That somehow doesn't seem correct! There are so many folks out there who entered late, who will then get held up.

Also, this is not applicable for PEO appointments? I recently had a friend who was in a similar situation, go for a PEO, while he still had 2 years left in his 2nd extenstion, and had his ILR granted, with no issues.

An applicant need not wait to apply for ILR if he has already reached 5 years continuous residence period whatever be the validity remaining on his current visa. As per the 28 days rule, you are eligible to apply for ILR on completing 4 year 11 months and 2 days of continuous residence period in UK as long as
(i) Initial Entry is within 90 days of Entry Clearance
(ii) Absence is less than 180 days during the continuous residence period

1) Can I apply as early as 1 year in advance for my next extension as my current leave to remain is valid till March 2015. If I apply earlier will it impact my application ?

2) My first initial visa were issued on March 2010 in India for 3 years after which I came to UK on Jan2011. I applied for last extension in Jan 2013 and got extension for 2 years.So if I apply now for extension will I get extension for 2 years or 3 years?

Hi

I got my visa in August 2010 but I came to UK in May 2011. I got my first visa for 2 years then i got further extension of 3 years. My current visa is valid till Oct 2015. As i will be short of few months for ILR on current visa, i need to apply further extension. My question is, can i apply my extension in Sep 2014 because i dont want to wait for April 2015 due to some travelling requirments. Is it too early? It does not matter whether i get visa for 2 years or 3 years, i will be able to meet requirment for ILR.

Also do my spouse need to apply before April 2015 or she can wait till October 2015?

Hi Rash123,

Yes, you can apply as early as possible but as you probably know already the Visa will be granted from the date of application rather the date of expiry. There is nothing in Tier 1 visa rules stopping you from applying early and if you search the forum you will find a lot of people who have applied quite early from their Visa expiry.

Your wife can apply now or later as this rule does not impact Tier 1 dependents.

I am also in the same boat where my visa is valid until October 2015 and I am planning to go for extension in December this year.

Regards.

Thanks Sharmao

Hi all,

Just wanted to share my experience on early extension - before I go into detail, I am glad to inform you all I got my VISA extended successfully.
I got my initial leave granted on 01 Dec 2010 under Tier-1 (General) valid till 01 Dec 2012. And entered into UK after 100 days, without knowing that it is going to have a massive impact on my ILR eligibility by the end of my first extension. I did my first extension on Oct 2012, and issued a visa for 3 years (expiring on 01 Dec 2015). However, this will not help me to apply for ILR since there is a shortage of 100 days. So I had to go for a second extension, which I applied on 16th Jul 2014 when I am still having my visa valid for 17 months.
There is no rule/clause which can stop you doing this, but the only fact is you will be issued a visa from the date of application not from the date of your current visa expiry. In my case I have been issued visa for 3 years from the date of my application (valid till Jul 2017).

I have mentioned the following reasons in my cover letter to be on safer side.

• I will not be eligible for applying ILR with my current leave expiring on 01st Dec 2015, and I have to apply for a second extension for covering a short period (say 3 months). Since I entered UK after 100 days from the date of my initial leave granted.
• I may work on a new assignment, which requires long term visa.
• There is a bit of uncertainty around Tier 1 (General) Visa extension from next year.

-Thanks..

Sarosam, can you please post timeline on sticky

http://www.immigrationboards.com/uk-tie ... 7-760.html

Hi to all the concerned valuable members
Really need some guidance.
I have to take 2 nd extension to cover up the shortfall in the days of my EC, going to take 2 nd extension in October.
Just after 4 months of extension in February 2015 I would complete the 5 year rule towards ILR.
Do I have to wait for the second extension expiry date till October 2016 or am I going to be alright to apply for ILR after completing the shortfall of 4 months in February 2015.
Kindly reply to my much concerned query.
Especially waiting for a reply from O_relly who said one of his friends was granted ILR although he had two years left on his 2nd extension visa.
Waiting for the much valuable and strong replies.
Thanks

Hi PCA5,

You will be fine for ILR after completion of your shortfall ie., 5 years continous residency, and need not wait until the time on your visa runs out.

Yes that is correct, my friend did apply for ILR while he still had 2 years left on his visa and was granted ILR with no issues.

Cheers,
OR.

Thank you so much O-Relly for your much appreciated and quick reply.
I am sure the example you gave of your friend is in the recent past.
Hopefully I would also have the same luck like your friend the next year. Fingers crossed....rules won't change.
Thanks a lot!!!!!

Hi All
I was going through this thread for early submission and got clear answer that its possible. I have one query though based on my specific case.

I have Tier 1 expiring in Jan 2016 but never used it till now in UK as I am currently working in Australia. I plan to come early to extend it based on this thread and after O'Relly's advise in other thread that final extension date is closing in April 2015.

My query - will they check that I have not been living in UK and believe in no point of extending it as I wont be eligible for ILR after this extension anyway.

I do want to extend, settle in UK and look for other options after 2018.

Cheers

Hi

I was granted 1st Tier 1 extension from the date of application rather than from date of visa expiry ( although I applied just 1 month before visa expiry). My extension will expire in May 2016 but I will be short of 23 days to complete full 5 year period with a valid visa.

As the rule suggests that we apply 28 days before completing 5 years, so I still get 5 days overlap period. Could anyone suggest whether I will be ok to apply for ILR in these 5 days or I need to apply for an extension now as I would not have full 5 years of visa?

Thanks very much