Help! What options are open to me?

[ConfusedAgain]

Hi,

I have been in the UK for over seven years, firstly on a holiday visa, then sponsored by my employer, then Highly Skilled and now on Tier 2 migrant. My partner is British and we have a child together. I am currently on maternity leave. My Tier 2 visa expires in October this year and my partner and I are unsure of our plans in 2012. However we don't want to leave in October!

We thought that I would be able to swap from my Tier 2 general visa to an unmarried partner visa, but looking at the government site it seems like I would have to go back to Australia in order to apply for this? And wait for several months?

Alternatively we considered me applying for residency but I have a gap in my visa history as I had to return home in 2009 for a period of 3 months while I waited for my new visa. (Employer missed submission deadline and my visa expired before the application went in.) Does anyone know if this means I would not be eligible for residency because of this?

I could extend my Tier 2 visa but don't want my current employer to have do anything as I'm not sure how long I will stay with them. Does anyone know if I can process the extension form myself or would he need to do a new market labour test etc?

Lastly, ideally I would just want to extend my current visa to allow me to stay as a visitor in the UK for 3 to 6 months once my current visa runs out - but it looks to me like this isn't possible. (I'd need to leave the country for at least 6 months once my current visa expired.) Is this right?

Basically I have no idea what our best option is to be able to stay in the UK for an extra 3 - 6 months or so. Can anyone give me advice?

Cheers,

Confused Again

[vinny]

If you have been living with your partner for at least two years, then see also If you are already in the UK.

If you marry, then you may also switch.

[ConfusedAgain]

Hi Vinny,

Thanks for your reply. I had looked at that form, but was put off by the fact that there was no place for me to enter my current visa details. Having been through it though, it seems good - but there is one section which still makes no sense:

Question 5:
The form asks for information regarding the date of our marriage or
civil partnership. Which we don't have as we're not married/ civil partners. It requires me to answer this as I answered no to a previous question where it asked whether I'd entered the UK on a partner visa. However there seems to be no way to leave this date blank without the form giving errors. Any ideas?

Also I have a query about Question 7, where it asks me to enter my monthly pay. Should I enter here my current SMP amount, or my usual monthly pay?

Cheers