Urgent Clarification: Eligibility to Switch to Skilled Worker from Immigration Bail (Refused Asylum Dependant)

[Medo4444]

I am seeking urgent advice regarding an applicant currently in the UK who holds a valid job offer for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position. I need clarification on her eligibility to apply for "Permission to Stay" (switching) given the following complex immigration history:

1. The applicant entered the UK as a Student Dependant. Her physical Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) displays an expiry date of March 2026. However, she was a dependant on a family asylum claim which was refused in July 2025.

The Home Office Decision Letter explicitly states: "You are granted immigration bail... Immigration bail is not permission to enter or stay in the UK",.

2. The applicant has been advised by external counsel to submit a Skilled Worker application from inside the UK using her BRP, arguing that her student leave continues until March 2026. However, the Home Office Skilled Worker Caseworker Guidance (Version 17.0) states regarding Suitability: "Any applicant who is in the UK on immigration bail is not suitable for the Skilled Worker route. These individuals do not hold permission to be in the UK".

Question: Does the refusal of the asylum claim and the grant of Immigration Bail extinguish her Section 3C leave/Student Dependant status immediately, rendering an in-country "Switching" application invalid?

3. The applicant has been advised to submit a cover letter stating she intends to "formally withdraw from the asylum case if my Skilled Worker visa is granted".

Question: Can a "conditional withdrawal" cure the mandatory refusal ground regarding Immigration Bail? If she withdraws the asylum appeal now, does she become immediately liable for enforced removal as per the "Withdrawing Asylum Claims" guidance,?

[secret.simon]

Without answering your other questions, Appendix Skilled Worker of the Immigration Rules explicitly states who cannot apply for a Skilled Worker visa from within the UK.

SW 2.2. If applying for permission to stay the applicant must not be:
(a) in breach of immigration laws, except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded; or
(b)on immigration bail.

SW 1.5ZA. If applying for permission to stay, the applicant must not have, or have last been granted, permission:

(a) as a Visitor; or
(b) as a Short-term student; or
(c) as a Parent of a Child Student; or
(d) as a Seasonal Worker; or
(e) as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household; or
(f) outside the Immigration Rules.

While these restrictions do not impact any Section 3C leave, they do restrict the ability of the person from applying specifically for a Skilled Worker visa.

Note that it only applies for applications for permission to stay (i.e. for applications made within the UK). The person can make the Skilled Worker visa application from outside the UK.