Tier 2 General Permanent roles

Hi Guys,

Went through number of threads, everyone seems to be discussing regarding Contract jobs as against the Permanent jobs.

I am currently in UK under Tier 2 Long term ICT visa in an Indian company in a permanent role since past 2.5 years, but with the completion of project I may need to move back to India. I wish to continue staying in UK hence want to change over to Tier 2 General but I feel the risk factor is huge in contract jobs and hence I am primarily considering a permanent role. It seems it is very difficult to find a sponsor for a permanent role, why is it so that companies are not sponsoring a permanent job for Tier 2 General.

Also if I go for a sponsoring company who are ready to sponsor a contracting job initially, is it possible to get a permanent role later on with the same CoS or different Cos again needs to be prepared by the new employer and hence will be a change in sponsor.

Also if I plan for ILR after 5 years, will this period be counted together, although it is split under the different CoS or will the period of only the last CoS be counted?

Awaiting replies.

You are only eligible to switch to T2G in-country if your initial T2 ICT visa was issued under the rules before 6 April 2011 (which seems unlikely if you have only been in the UK for 2.5 years).

If you are not eligible to switch the options are either to extend your current T2 ICT visa or return to India in which case you will be subject to 12 months cooling-off before you could apply for T2G entry clearance

Time under T2 ICT would only count for the continuous 5 year qualifying period required for ILR if it included a period before 6 April 2010.

Thanks for your kind reply Manci.

I have come to UK on 27th March 2011 with my visa expiring in April 2014. Reading your comments in some other threads has led me to the conclusion that I can switch to Tier 2 General.

My specific question is regarding sponsors for permanent roles. Can you guide me how do I look out for sponsors for permanent role job as whenever I have tried to look out for job under Tier 2, I have only been approached for Contract jobs.

Any suggestions here would be appreciated.

JobServe allows searching for jobs that can provide sponsorship. I only looked in IT, but there're always quite a few.