I am an in-country applicant. I got HSMP within a little more than a month as I had a job offer - for details search posts for Novice. I got the decision on 31st of September, so I had no time left to apply before the new switching rule comes into effect.
Small clarification - I am working for an international organisation (well, I handed in my resignation a week ago). When you work for one, you get a semi-diplomatic status and a stamp in running ink in your passport which no immigration officer can recognise. Also, you are never ever mentioned in any general home office info, so I wasn't sure how the change was going to affect me.
What I did is I sent all the documents asked for plus a cover letter, where I stated that 1) originally I came to the UK on a work permit (I have been in the UK for 5.5 years now) 2) my wife is finishing her PhD and her presence in the UK is necessary to complete her studies, 3) I applied for and got HSMP before the switching day, 4) I informed Cannock team of my intention to apply before Oct 1 (yes, I sent them an email saying that I am unable to apply now, but would like to inform them of my intention - a colleague at work said this might work, who knows), 5) going abroad to get EC would cause me financial hardship as I would have to quit my current job. Based on all of this I asked Home Office to excersise discretion and grant me a visa without sending me out.
A small note - I sent payslips, I DID NOT send a bank statement. Their guidance says payslips OR statement, and the money you get is somewhat always more than the money you end up with.
I sent the documents on October 14. On October 19 I sent them an urgent treatment form which you can download on their website, fill in and e-mail them back. I put down `urgent business need to start new employment` as the reason. On October 20 they replied saying that my request for urgent treatment is "receiving attention". And today, October 29, I got our passports in the post!
So it took Cannock team two weeks all in all, I guess this was urgent consideration. Especially because my case is not that straightforward.
Many thanks to everyone who posted on this forum, you are doing a great job in helping the right people to come to the UK
Novice
