tier 4 (phd) to work visa

[askdash]

Hello everyone,

This board has been very kind to me in the past. Therefore I have come back to seek a little bit of an advice.

I have been offered a job which I must start by end of November as required by the employer. I have completed 3.5 years of my PhD and about to submit my thesis soon. However, my thesis examination will not happen until Dec/Jan. This means my course ends early next year.

Am I right to understand that I am eligible to switch to a work visa because I have completed 12 months of PhD studies? Is there any other catch to this?

The other thing I wanted to ask is, I also have the option of switching to a Tier 2 dependant. Which would be a preferable option in your opinion given the tight timelines I'm looking at. I'm happy to go down the postal priority route but have no idea if I need to go through a law firm for this.

Thank you for any advice you can give.