Tier 2 ICT Switching to Tier 2 General

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Fri Mar 23, 2012 4:49 pm

hi, I was intially granted Tier 2 VISA : Established staff in Oct 2010 valid till Nov 2011

My Visa Was renewed for further stay in UK in Nov 2011 as Tier 2 : Long Term and currently is valid upto Nov 2013

I want to change my Employeer and I undertand I have to switch to Tier 2 (General) for this.

With new rules announced on March 15 2012, is it Possible, if possible can it be done inside UK?

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:35 am

Guys..Can some one please reply on the post?

manci · Post by **manci** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:22 am

It seems that you cannot switch in-country.

From the Ministerial statement on 15/03/2012:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

7.18 A change is being made to enable Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Migrants to switch into other Tier 2 categories, providing their Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) leave was granted before 6 April 2010 and they are applying to change employer.

From the Tier 2 Policy guidance valid from 06/04/2012:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Please note that Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) Long Term Staff granted leave, under the rules in place after 6 April 2011 cannot switch into Tier 2 (General).

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:30 am

Thanks Manci, but my Actual VISA was granted before 6 April 2011.
So does it mean that I will be able to swtich my VISA either Being in UK or going back and then applying again

manci · Post by **manci** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:42 pm

Your first T2 ICT visa (Established Staff) was granted in October 2010, i.e. not before 6 April 2010, therefore the exemption at 7.18 in the Ministerial statement does not apply to you.

In April 2011 they changed the ICT categories, what was Established Staff is now Long Term Staff.

You renewed your visa in November 2011 and were therefore granted leave according to the rules in place after 6 April 2011 as T2 ICT Long Term Staff.

It seemed to me that the quote from the Tier 2 Policy guidance (valid from 06/04/2012) applies to you, that is why I said that you would not be able to switch in-country.

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:44 pm

Thanks Manci, So I have to go back and put a Application for new VISA?

And do you know how much time it will take to get new VISA under TIER2

manci · Post by **manci** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:27 pm

Reading the new Tier 2 rules (from 06/04/2012) it seems to me that if you left your present T2 ICT job and returned to your home country you would not be able to apply for a Tier 2(G) visa for 12 months:

64. Please note that successful Tier 2 (General) applications will be granted leave up to 3 years with the possibility of extending for a further 3 years. You will not be able to extend beyond 6 years. You will not be able to re-apply to return to the UK under Tier 2 until 12 months after your last leave under Tier 2 expired. This will be the case even if you have been in Tier 2 for less than 6 years. If you leave your job with your Tier 2 Sponsor early, you should ensure that your Sponsor notifies us that you have left so that we can curtail your leave. This is important as the 12 months is counted from the date that your leave ends.

Also remember that you cannot apply for a visa until your prospective new employer assigned a CoS to you.

Visa processing times are usually on the website of the British diplomatic post of the particular country where you woukd be applying from.

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:48 pm

Thanks Manci, this helped a lot

k Kund · Post by **k Kund** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 7:48 pm

I have a 'Inter-Company Transfer Established staff' visa valid up to Nov 2012, can I switch to Tier 2 General?

Also wanted to know If ABC pvt ltd india sponsored me ICT visa to work with ABC PLC uk, can ABC PLC UK sponsor me Tier 2 General ?
OR ABC PLC uk is not eligible to sponsor me tier 2 general and I have to take tier 2 visa from some other company.

Please advice.

Thanks

manci · Post by **manci** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:57 am

If you are in the Tier 2 ICT Established Staff category you can indeed switch to Tier 2 (General) while in the UK.

Your present sponsor can be your Tier 2 (General) sponsor but only if they have a Tier 2 (General) sponsor licence. Some companies only have a Tier 2 ICT sponsor licence, other have both. You check what sponsor licence your company has here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... ofsponsors

k Kund · Post by **k Kund** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:29 pm

Thank you its help I can see that company is both eligible sponsor for ICT and tier 2.

Thanks

manci · Post by **manci** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:13 pm

Hi
What was in my previous post was incorrect. The actual rule is:

You can switch into Tier 2 (General from Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer: Established Staff) if you are applying to change sponsor;

k Kund · Post by **k Kund** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:53 pm

Can you explain about changing the sponsor? I am referring the 35th point mentioned in below links:-

I think in my case ABC UK should able to sponsor tier 2 general, is this correct?

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... ance21.pdf

-----------------------------------------------

However, Company A may have a contract with Company B to provide a time bound
service or deliver a time bound project. If you will work on that contract, you can be
sponsored by Company A for the period of that contract under the Intra Company
Transfer: Short Term staff or Long Term Staff sub-categories. Company A must have full
responsibility for your duties, functions, and outputs while you are working in the UK.
Company A cannot sponsor you if:
• you are being contracted as ‘agency’ labour to Company B; or
• you are being sponsored to undertake a routine role for Company B which is not
related to the delivery of a time bound service by Company A; or
• Company B has responsibility for your duties, functions and outputs while you are
working in the UK.
In these circumstances you

manci · Post by **manci** » Sat Apr 07, 2012 10:39 pm

It depends who you are actually employed by.

If ABC India has a UK subsidiary called ABC1 UK which is a UK registered company and a Tier 2 registered sponsor and you are actually employed by ABC1 UK as a Tier 2 ICT migrant Established Staff then ABC1 UK cannot sponsor you as a Tier 2 (General) migrant.

However, if ABC India have two subsidiaries in the UK, ABC1 UK and ABC2 UK, and the two are separate companies with separate sponsor licences, then you can switch to Tier 2 (General) provided ABC2 UK is prepared to sponsor you. You will then change employment from ABC1 UK to ABC2 UK.

Point 35 deals with the situation where a migrant in the course of his work is involved with two UK companies but I don't know if this situation applies to you.

k Kund · Post by **k Kund** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:23 am

Thanks for such a good explanation.

In my case then ABC UK can't sposor tier 2 since it has earlier sposnsored ICT.

Though I think this does not make sense since the reason of sponsoring ICT candidate and tier 2 candidate is same - company can't find resource locally. so why this restriction and why that 12 month restriction for short term and long term ICT. Candidate is applying job for a new requirement for a new company, how that related to earlier taken ICT

In this case for tier 2, I have to look out for some other job and some other sponsorer.

Thank you.

nikhil bajaj · Post by **nikhil bajaj** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:45 pm

Oops !
SytemError

MissionPossible · Post by **MissionPossible** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:00 pm

Thanks Manci for your immensely useful guidance.

I have doubt about a situation that I will mention after 2 of your replies in this thread around which it revolves.

64. Please note that successful Tier 2 (General) applications will be granted leave up to 3 years with the possibility of extending for a further 3 years. You will not be able to extend beyond 6 years. You will not be able to re-apply to return to the UK under Tier 2 until 12 months after your last leave under Tier 2 expired. This will be the case even if you have been in Tier 2 for less than 6 years

If you are in the Tier 2 ICT Established Staff category you can indeed switch to Tier 2 (General) while in the UK.

Situation
Can I apply for a switch from TIER 2 ICT Established Staff ( valid from Sep-2010 untill Sep-2013) to TIER 2 General with a different sponsor before Sep 2013 while in UK ,and with 1 year cooling-off not been applied to me ?
In a nutshell, can an overlapping of TIER 2 General and TIER 2 ICT Established possible. Because you also mentioned that:

If you leave your job with your Tier 2 Sponsor early, you should ensure that your Sponsor notifies us that you have left so that we can curtail your leave. This is important as the 12 months is counted from the date that your leave ends

Thus as per my understanding the cooling-off will only not apply I get a Stamp of TIER 2 General before my TIER 2 ICT Sponsor notifies the UKBA about curtailing my my leave.

Correct me if I'm wrong in my interpretation.

Thanks in advance.

manci · Post by **manci** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:45 am

Hi MissionPossible

You can indeed switch from Tier2 ICT Established Staff to Tier2 General while you are in the UK provided you change sponsors.

There is no questions of visas overlapping because when you get your Tier 2 General leave the Tier 2 ICT leave will be cancelled or curtailed.

The 12 months cooling-off would only apply if you left the UK. If you stay in the UK it does not apply.

I expect the procedure will be:

1. You accept the job offer from the new sponsor and agree the starting date
2. assuming that the new sponsor has a suitable CoS allocation for the current year (you should ask them to confirm this) the new sponsor assigns a CoS to you which will include the work start date.
3. You submit your grant of leave application (in good time because you can only start your new job once leave in T2G has been granted and UKBA will take some time processing the application)

Quotes 1 and 3 above don't apply to your case - it is for people to whom the cooling-off period applies.

MissionPossible · Post by **MissionPossible** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:03 am

Thanks Manci for good explaination.
I must again appreciate your prompt responses on various threads which are really helpful for people like me.

Though swaying away from main topic of this thread,I have few more doubts:
[1] I've been looking for some sponsors who can file a TIER2 General for me. Now, is there any other way than to look for Umbrealla Companies who charge us on basis on our Billing for providing a TIER2 General Cos Certificate. If this is the only way, can you please provide info about some good companies that are in this business ?
I refered below mentioned link on this forum
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=11586
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... sc&start=0
But, also there are lot of such companies if I browse but can't really decide who's authentic and who's not. Can you show some pointers in this regard ?

[2] Also, I read on some other thread mentioned by you that if I apply for TIER2 General Dependant VISA for my wife (who's currently working on TIER2 ICT Dependant) while I apply for the switch it should not be a problem (problem as with her job i.e. she can continue working as a legal employee).

But, if I apply for the TIER2 General Dependant VISA for my wife after I recieve my TIER2 General Visa, will that be O.K. (as in the context of her job i.e. she can continue working as a legal employee on TIER 2 ICT Dependant)

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ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:02 pm

Hi Manci,
I have 2 Questions:

1. >>
As per new Rules from UKBA Now Computer associates cannot apply for Tier2(General) is it correct?

"The skill level required by migrants who wish to work in the UK will increase. This means the number of middle-management jobs such as IT technicians and security managers will no longer be open to migrant workers. However, highly-skilled occupations such as architect, teacher or chemical engineer will still be available"..

2. >>
I have ICT Long term VISA Expiring in 2013, Can I go Back to my Home Country and get this VISA Cancelled and Apply/get Tier 2 (General )immediately with a new Sponser and new COS.

manci · Post by **manci** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:28 am

MissionPossible wrote:Thanks Manci for good explaination.
IThough swaying away from main topic of this thread,I have few more doubts:
[1] I've been looking for some sponsors who can file a TIER2 General for me. Now, is there any other way than to look for Umbrealla Companies who charge us on basis on our Billing for providing a TIER2 General Cos Certificate. If this is the only way, can you please provide info about some good companies that are in this business ?
I refered below mentioned link on this forum
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=11586
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... sc&start=0
But, also there are lot of such companies if I browse but can't really decide who's authentic and who's not. Can you show some pointers in this regard ?

[2] Also, I read on some other thread mentioned by you that if I apply for TIER2 General Dependant VISA for my wife (who's currently working on TIER2 ICT Dependant) while I apply for the switch it should not be a problem (problem as with her job i.e. she can continue working as a legal employee).

But, if I apply for the TIER2 General Dependant VISA for my wife after I recieve my TIER2 General Visa, will that be O.K. (as in the context of her job i.e. she can continue working as a legal employee on TIER 2 ICT Dependant)

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Hi MissionPossible
1. I have no knowledge or experience relating to "umbrella companies" but think that they are operating on the fringes of legality.

2. There will certainly be no problem with your wife continuing to work when you switch from T2 ICT to T2 General if she applies at the same time as you. However, in my opinion if she doesn't apply at the same time she cannot continue working because your leave under T2 ICT will be cancelled or curtailed and her leave is tied to yours. However, I'm not 100% sure of this, perhaps others can comment.

manci · Post by **manci** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:00 am

ping2ashish wrote:Hi Manci,
I have 2 Questions:

1. >>
As per new Rules from UKBA Now Computer associates cannot apply for Tier2(General) is it correct?

"The skill level required by migrants who wish to work in the UK will increase. This means the number of middle-management jobs such as IT technicians and security managers will no longer be open to migrant workers. However, highly-skilled occupations such as architect, teacher or chemical engineer will still be available"..

2. >>
I have ICT Long term VISA Expiring in 2013, Can I go Back to my Home Country and get this VISA Cancelled and Apply/get Tier 2 (General )immediately with a new Sponser and new COS.

Hi ping2ashish

I have reviewed what was said further up this thread relating to your position and some it was incorrect:

If you have previously been granted leave in the Tier 2 ICT Established Staff category then you can switch from T2 ICT to T2 General in-country, i.e. while you are in the UK, provided you change sponsors.

As to your first question, I don't think there is an occupation called "computer associate" listed among the standard occupations. Have a look in SOC. The nearest SOC codes seem to be 2131 or 3131. If the job your new sponsor offers you has a SOC code which UKBA accept for Tier 2 General, with the appropriate salary, then there shouldn't be any problem.

ping2ashish · Post by **ping2ashish** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 9:48 am

Thanks Manci for your reply, But unfortunately I'm still in confusion.

Let me repost my Case here :
I initially had ICT Estab Staff Visa granted in Oct 2010 which expired in Nov 2011 and was Renewed as Tier2 ICT Long term now valid till Nov 2013.

So, I can get a Tier 2 General With in Country with a new COS and Sponser?

Apologies for posting this again but I have doubts still left in my mind and I need to clear them first before I take a step forward to change my Sponser.

MissionPossible · Post by **MissionPossible** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 10:16 am

Thanks Manci.

One more clarification needed though this should have been my first query

Nevertheless, below mentioned is written on my TIER2 Visa which was granted on 26/08/2010:

VISA TIER2(ICT) Established Staff

There is no word such as "Long Term" . Does this mean I have been granted TIER2(ICT) under the Immigration Rules in place before 6 April 2010 thus making me eligible for in-country switch to TIER2 General with a different sponsor ?

manci · Post by **manci** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:08 pm

ping2ashish wrote:Let me repost my Case here :
I initially had ICT Estab Staff Visa granted in Oct 2010 which expired in Nov 2011 and was Renewed as Tier2 ICT Long term now valid till Nov 2013.

So, I can get a Tier 2 General With in Country with a new COS and Sponser?

yes

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