Move from TIER II General (Dependent) to TIER II general Main

Hello

I am on TIER II general dependent visa since Aug (2017). I have been employed and working. Now, I have an option to move to my own TIER II general visa (sponsored by my employer). I wanted to understand how will it impact my ILR status.

- Will it re-set the counter and will have to start from scratch (the 2 years as TIER II dependent will not count)
- Or, Will the 2 years on TIER II dependent will count and I will have to do another 3 years on TIER II General as a main applicant and will qualify for ILR

Any / all help greatly appreciated.

Regards
-S

- Will it re-set the counter and will have to start from scratch (the 2 years as TIER II dependent will not count)

Yes, your ILR clock will reset to zero and a new 5 year route to ILR on Tier 2 General. You cannot combine Tier 2 dependent and Tier 2 General time to make up 5 years.

- Or, Will the 2 years on TIER II dependent will count and I will have to do another 3 years on TIER II General as a main applicant and will qualify for ILR

No. It doesn't work like that for ILR based on 5 years residence.

Thanks for the response.

I have been in the UK since 2013. I did 4.5 years on ICT and then moved to TIER II general dependent. so in total I have been in the country for 6.5 years. If I switch to TIER II General (main applicant) now, I will will have to do 5 years or less (as I believe there is a 10 year rule? i.e. you get ILR if you have been here for 10 years?).

Yes you can apply ILR on long residence basis after completing 10 years.

Are you aware that you can only apply for a Tier 2 visa from outside of the UK? Also your Tier 2 sponsor will have to complete the full RMLT process and prove that you haven't been pre-selected for the position.
This may be a challenge due to you previously having been employed by the company.