Cool off period

[sk2013]

Hi,

I am from India and working in UK on short term ICT visa(expires in june 2014) for a year.
If I want to continue to work without the "cool off" period, I need to switch to ICT long term visa. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

1. If i want to do a visa switch from ICT short term to ICT long term, is there any requirement other than a sponsorship with a minimum salary of 41000 per annum?

2. Was there any change in rules for this switch from ICT short term to ICT long term with the new requirements released by UK government in April 2014?

3. What is the maximum duration they give the ICT long term visa initially ?

4. Is there any other visa option available for me without cool off?

Thanks,
Sandi

[rajsin]

1. If i want to do a visa switch from ICT short term to ICT long term, is there any requirement other than a sponsorship with a minimum salary of 41000 per annum? Yes salary must be 41000 or above, you must work for the same sponsor and you must apply entry clearance that means you must goto your home country and apply for ICT long term visa.

2. Was there any change in rules for this switch from ICT short term to ICT long term with the new requirements released by UK government in April 2014? AFAIK there are no changes other than the fact that they give ICT long term visa for 5 years now.

3. What is the maximum duration they give the ICT long term visa initially ? 5 years 1 month, after that you have to go to your home country and serve cooling off for 1 year if you wish to come back to UK to work again. However you can become a student and this does not have cooling off.

4. Is there any other visa option available for me without cool off? Cooling off is compulsory and you can't escape it however you can switch to Student visa. Also note that with ICT you cannot apply 5 year ILR . However if you manage to live in UK legally for a period of 10 years by switching relevant visas you can apply ILR in the 10 year route.

All answered based on the fact that you entered UK after 6th April 2011.