Dependent visa to Tier-2

[Abhishek_P]

Hi,

Greetings!
This is regarding my wife who is Indian and is in UK for last 3 years on spouse visa. I am British citizen. She is employed and looking to get sponsorship for visa extension. Her employer is not willing to sponsor spouse visa extension. She is thinking whether she can switch to tier-2 visa. We have following questions:
1) Is it possible to switch to tier-2 from within UK?
2) Can she still apply for ILR after 2 years (3 years spouse visa + 2 years on tier-2)?
3) are there any other things to consider here?

Many Thanks,
Abhi

[AmazonianX]

Hi,

Greetings!
This is regarding my wife who is Indian and is in UK for last 3 years on spouse visa. I am British citizen. She is employed and looking to get sponsorship for visa extension. Her employer is not willing to sponsor spouse visa extension. She is thinking whether she can switch to tier-2 visa. We have following questions:
1) Is it possible to switch to tier-2 from within UK?
2) Can she still apply for ILR after 2 years (3 years spouse visa + 2 years on tier-2)?
3) are there any other things to consider here?

Many Thanks,
Abhi

Can you clarify below questions:
Sleigh actually route she entered UK with because
the initial spouse visa is for 30-33 months, how come she is in UK for 3years already? Has her spouse visa expired now?
Why switch from spouse visa to Tier-2. You stated she works, does her income or income for you and her meet up financial requirement for spouse visa extension FLR(M)?

[CR001]

Her employer is not willing to sponsor spouse visa extension. She is thinking whether she can switch to tier-2 visa

Why would it be her employers responsibility to sponsor her spouse visa extension. It is your and her responsibility, nothing to do with her employer!!! Seems absolutely bizarre that she wants to change visa categories to the much more restrictive tier 2 category.

1) Is it possible to switch to tier-2 from within UK?

No she cannot.

2) Can she still apply for ILR after 2 years (3 years spouse visa + 2 years on tier-2)?

No she cannot. She can't combine time on different visa categories to make up 5 years for ilr. Applying for tier 2 fr home country resets her ilr clock to zero.

3) are there any other things to consider here?

What job does she do? Is her employer and HO approved sponsor on the sponsor list?

[Abhishek_P]

Thanks AmazonianX and CR0001 for your quick response

Sleigh actually route she entered UK with because
the initial spouse visa is for 30-33 months, how come she is in UK for 3years already? Has her spouse visa expired now?

You are absolutely right. I just checked and her visa is for ~33 months. She entered UK on spouse visa so strictly speaking she did not complete 3 years but ~31 months (visa expiring soon). Now is it fair to assume that the next visa extension would be for ~24 months? Therefore, she would require another extension for a few months before we will be eligible for ILR application. If so, then this is a rip-off to pay £1500+ (visa + surcharge) again for few months extension.

Why switch from spouse visa to Tier-2.

Why would it be her employers responsibility to sponsor her spouse visa extension. It is your and her responsibility, nothing to do with her employer!!! Seems absolutely bizarre that she wants to change visa categories to the much more restrictive tier 2 category.

It is insanely expensive for normal person to pay for these visa fees and extensions from your own pocket. It just derails your budget. Further, her employer already sponsors visa and ILRs for many people who are on tier-2 visa. Given she is on spouse visa which implies that employer will not only not sponsor her spouse visa extension fees but will subsequently not sponsor ILR; I believe ILR fees is £3,250. Again these costs are after tax so one is effectively paying up much higher portion of their income (considering tax bracket).
We are trying to see if there is a way that we get help from her employer to share the burden of these visa + surcharge costs.

You stated she works, does her income or income for you and her meet up financial requirement for spouse visa extension FLR(M)?

Yes she works and for now her income meets up.

What job does she do? Is her employer and HO approved sponsor on the sponsor list?

Yes I believe so. Because as I mentioned above her company sponsors visa for her colleagues from India and all over the world.

Abhi

[CR001]

You are absolutely right. I just checked and her visa is for ~33 months. She entered UK on spouse visa so strictly speaking she did not complete 3 years but ~31 months (visa expiring soon). Now is it fair to assume that the next visa extension would be for ~24 months? Therefore, she would require another extension for a few months before we will be eligible for ILR application. If so, then this is a rip-off to pay £1500+ (visa + surcharge) again for few months extension.

Her visa extension on FLR M is for 2.5 years. There is no 24 month visa.

It is insanely expensive for normal person to pay for these visa fees and extensions from your own pocket. It just derails your budget. Further, her employer already sponsors visa and ILRs for many people who are on tier-2 visa. Given she is on spouse visa which implies that employer will not only not sponsor her spouse visa extension fees but will subsequently not sponsor ILR; I believe ILR fees is £3,250. Again these costs are after tax so one is effectively paying up much higher portion of their income (considering tax bracket).
We are trying to see if there is a way that we get help from her employer to share the burden of these visa + surcharge costs.

You are confusing things completely here. An employer who sponsors someone on tier 2 has a vested interest in the migrant and has strict requirements that must be met. Employers who sponsor tier 2 migrants mostly do NOT pay the visa and ihs fees and certainly not the ilr fees, it is the migrants responsibility. Sponsoring someone doesn't mean all visa costs are paid for. It is sponsoring for a job only and a certificate of sponsorship, migrants still pay their own fees.

It is her responsibility to pay for her visa route. It has absolutely nothing to do with her employer.

[AmazonianX]

Thanks AmazonianX and CR0001 for your quick response

Sleigh actually route she entered UK with because
the initial spouse visa is for 30-33 months, how come she is in UK for 3years already? Has her spouse visa expired now?

You are absolutely right. I just checked and her visa is for ~33 months. She entered UK on spouse visa so strictly speaking she did not complete 3 years but ~31 months (visa expiring soon). Now is it fair to assume that the next visa extension would be for ~24 months? Therefore, she would require another extension for a few months before we will be eligible for ILR application. If so, then this is a rip-off to pay £1500+ (visa + surcharge) again for few months extension.

Why switch from spouse visa to Tier-2.

Why would it be her employers responsibility to sponsor her spouse visa extension. It is your and her responsibility, nothing to do with her employer!!! Seems absolutely bizarre that she wants to change visa categories to the much more restrictive tier 2 category.

It is insanely expensive for normal person to pay for these visa fees and extensions from your own pocket. It just derails your budget. Further, her employer already sponsors visa and ILRs for many people who are on tier-2 visa. Given she is on spouse visa which implies that employer will not only not sponsor her spouse visa extension fees but will subsequently not sponsor ILR; I believe ILR fees is £3,250. Again these costs are after tax so one is effectively paying up much higher portion of their income (considering tax bracket).
We are trying to see if there is a way that we get help from her employer to share the burden of these visa + surcharge costs.

You stated she works, does her income or income for you and her meet up financial requirement for spouse visa extension FLR(M)?

Yes she works and for now her income meets up.

What job does she do? Is her employer and HO approved sponsor on the sponsor list?

Yes I believe so. Because as I mentioned above her company sponsors visa for her colleagues from India and all over the world.

Abhi

You and or spouse started the process and expects the bills for remaining steps to be footed by someone else? Important that before starting a journey you know what it entails to get to intended destination.
Your rants above on this forum won't change a thing. It could be more effective if you channel grievances to your MP who if acting on it can lead to changes.
Till then, time is ticking, please gather the required documents and evidence to ensure the success of the FLR(M) you will be submitting.

[Abhishek_P]

Thanks again for your response.

Employers who sponsor tier 2 migrants mostly do NOT pay the visa and ihs fees and certainly not the ilr fees, it is the migrants responsibility. Sponsoring someone doesn't mean all visa costs are paid for. It is sponsoring for a job only and a certificate of sponsorship, migrants still pay their own fees.

I am absolutely certain and confident on this point that many employers not only sponsored tier 2 visa and ilr but paid for visa/ilr fees + ihs. I am myself an example where employer paid for my tier-2 visa fees and then I decided to switch to tier 1 (when it was about to be closed to have the option of switching job). I did not ask my employer to pay assuming that its my decision to switch. Only a few months later I realized that a lot of people in my company as well as some other companies got reimbursed for Tier-1 visa fees by their employers. When I checked with my employer they said had you asked we would have happily put you in the list of switch from tier-2 to tier-1. Not only that there were many employers who encouraged to shift some of their employees from Tier-2 to Tier-1. The argument behind this was that those employers found changes in immigration policy a risk to their business continuity plan and so decided to move some of their employees to tier-1. In fact I also got my tier-1 (extension) + ILR paid by my employer a few years back.
However, it is interesting to hear your viewpoint. It tells me that there are many other employers who do take/took different path.

You and or spouse started the process and expects the bills for remaining steps to be footed by someone else? Important that before starting a journey you know what it entails to get to intended destination.
Your rants above on this forum won't change a thing. It could be more effective if you channel grievances to your MP who if acting on it can lead to changes.

Not sure what I said to upset you, but I will still try to write a response. I think you are mixing several things here.
(1) Most people don't decide to marry thinking/planning what would visa/ILR cost be in next few years time. In our case we are trying to see if there is a way we can share this burden with the employer who also has interest in keeping her employed.

(2) Not sure why don't you subscribe to the fact that these increase in visa fees are outrageous; and if you think they are legitimate then that is a different point of view all together. Overall these forums are meant to express views and opinions and discuss immigration related matters. And increase in visa fees is one such matter. We have already written to Home Office and our local MP on this matter but haven't got much traction. They sort of reverted saying it is what it is. Probably a more concerted effort is needed to shed some light on this entire process and that is why I decided to write on an immigration forum. I am well aware that these things do not change overnight and my writing here won't affect anything for my wife (or me). I wrote it because it just doesn't seem right to me.