Switching from Tier 2 to Spouse visa: impact on ILR track

If she switches to a spouse visa and finds a job with salary above threshold (£38k), would that make her eligible to continue on the 5 year Tier 2 ILR track

or rather her clock would be reset?

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:08 am

If she switches to a spouse visa and finds a job with salary above threshold (£38k), would that make her eligible to continue on the 5 year Tier 2 ILR track

No. She needs to be employed by a tier 2 sponsoring employer to be qualify for ilr based on 5 years tier 2. She cannot combine tier 2 time and spouse visa time to make up 5 years for ilr.

or rather her clock would be reset?

Yes.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:08 am

If she switches to a spouse visa and finds a job with salary above threshold (£38k), would that make her eligible to continue on the 5 year Tier 2 ILR track

No. She needs to be employed by a tier 2 sponsoring employer to be qualify for ilr based on 5 years tier 2. She cannot combine tier 2 time and spouse visa time to make up 5 years for ilr.

or rather her clock would be reset?

Yes.

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:16 am

Hopefully she has not left her job already, because she will also need a letter from the employer stating that they intend to employ her for the foreseeable future, at the end of the five years of the Tier 2 General visa.

If she switches to a spousal visa, her clock is reset to zero.

The general rule for ILR is either five years of the same visa/leave to remain leading up to ILR OR 10 years of legal residence based on a mix of visas/leave to remain.

a follow-up question: once she switches to a spouse visa can she later go back to Tier 2 and "continue" her 5 years on Tier 2 to ILR path?

Or all those 4 years+ that she had spent on Tier 2 General is lost?

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 10:56 am

a follow-up question: once she switches to a spouse visa can she later go back to Tier 2 and "continue" her 5 years on Tier 2 to ILR path?

No. Her clock resets to zero each time she changes visa categories for ILR based on 5 years residence.

Or all those 4 years+ that she had spent on Tier 2 General is lost?

Yes. Note also that to go back to a tier 2 general, she would be subject to the 12 months cooling off period, meaning she has to wait 12 months on another visa before she can apply for tier 2 general again and has to apply for tier 2 general from her home country. She cannot switch from a spouse visa to tier 2 general within the UK.