Switching from Tier 2 ICT long term staff to Tier 2 general.

Hi,

I understand that there is a cool off period of 12 months for Tier 2 ICT Long term visa holders granted after April 2014, but is this cool of period applicable if the the main applicant tries to switch to Tier 2 General dependent ? I am asking this question since i am here on a ICT long term dependent visa, an employer is willing to sponsor tier 2 general visa for me, so i am wondering can i do that and if yes then can my husband who's on Tier 2 ICT long term visa can switch to tier 2 dependent visa within the country? or he still has to take care of the cool off period.

just a follow up question incase if the main applicant is allowed to become a tier 2 dependent, can he change his status back to tier 2 general if his existing employer who sponsored him on tier 2 ICT agrees to hire him on tier 2 general ? if yes is there any guideline that he has to wait for some x amount of time in tier 2 dependent before applying as a tier 2 general with the same employer again.

would be great someone could point me to the official guidance clarifying this point i tired finding it myself but i couldn't find it.

Thanks

Yes, your spouse can apply to be your dependent from within UK.

Yes, he can move back to another Tier 2 visa but only after staying on dependent visa for 12 months. This 12 months will serve as cool-off.

All these are in the T2 Guidance document. You can read it for yourself.

Thanks for replying,

I had a look at the guidance [tier 2 guidance][/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 4_2015.pdf]again, but i couldn't find the condition that dependent have to serve the cool off period.

does someone has real experience of going through this situation ?

I guess you misunderstood. There is no clause which says dependent has to serve cool-off. The document says that anyone applying for a Tier 2 visa, has to serve a cool-off of 12 months if you previously held a tier 2 visa. The cool-off will start from the date of visa expiry or from the date of leaving UK, whichever is earlier.

In your case, the dependent was holding a Tier 2 visa earlier, hence the cool-off will apply from the last date of the previous Tier 2 visa.