UK Tier 2 General license issue - Complicated.

My husband works at UK on Tier 2 ICT. I recently received an offer from a UK firm and they are ready to offer a CoS. They are waiting for almost around 4 months now to get the license renewed. I was informed that they lost the license is December 2017. I could see employer name in the Tier 2 list as A rated employer. They are not receiving any response from Home Office regarding renewal. Is there something missing here. How long they keep the employer in the list once the license is expired?

I have two options now, either wait for CoS and work offline, or come to UK as dependant and upgrade visa once I get CoS. I understand I have to travel back and reapply to make it Tier 2 general.

Any help or suggestions on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jp