Query on ILR eligibility

[lawabidingimmigrant]

Hi,

I am new in this forum & this is my first post.

I entered the UK on 27th March 2010 along with my spouse on a Tier 2 (General) visa sponsored by my employer valid for one year until 30th April 2011.

Later I applied for an in country Tier 2 extension for 2 years & got visa extended until 30th April 2013.

I traveled to home country on a four week holiday between 20th June 2011 - 15th July 2011 & returned to the UK after that.

I got a new job offer in the UK so I decided to quit my job with existing employer and change my employment. My last day of employment with existing Tier 2 sponsor was 26th Oct 2011.

My new employer & Tier 2 visa sponsor gave me 2 options for visa sponsorship
i) Apply for visa with in UK
ii) Apply from home country

Since the Christmas & New Year holidays were coming soon and I was expected to join my new employer only after the first week of Jan, I decided to apply for my Tier 2 (General) sponsored by new employer from my home country to spend time with family back home while the visa gets processed. So I traveled to my home country on 1st Nov 2011.

Few weeks later, I got a letter from the UKBA notifying me that my ex employer had requested for cancellation of my Tier 2 (General) visa on 1st Nov 2011 & I had time till 28th Feb 2012 to leave the country.

I came back to the UK again on Feb 11th 2012 on a three year visa valid until March 2015.

Query - Am I eligible for ILR after completing 5 years in the UK even if I have switched my job (Change of Employment from Tier 2 (General) to Tier 2 (General) ) as I have been on Tier 2 (General) since I first entered the UK? Also how much time in total can we spend outside the UK with in the period of 5 years to be eligible for ILR?

Please reply. Thanks.

[geriatrix]

The issue you have is the single absence of 102 days (01-Nov-11 to 11-Feb-12) during which you had no job in the UK and therefore no economic ties with the UK.

180 days in total, with no single absence of more than 90 days. Any discretion on the limits is subject to documentary evidences from the employer certifying absences due to work assignments overseas and absences on account of paid leaves.

[lawabidingimmigrant]

Thanks for the reply.

How is the continuous period of employment calculated for Tier 2 (General) change of employment?

In my case:

Entry in the UK: March 2010 (Visa valid till April 2013)

End of first job: Oct 2011

I switched to a new company but during the course of change of employment, I had to apply for a new visa through new sponsor.

So I quit my job first & then made an out of country Tier 2 visa application (only reason for out of country application was because of Christmas, New Year holidays coming in & to spend time with family back home during the holidays).

New job: Feb 2012 onwards till date on Tier 2 (General) valid till Mar 2015


Am I eligible for ILR if I go for another 1 or possibly 2 year extension after Mar 2015?

[cs95tdg]

I quit my job first & then made an out of country Tier 2 visa application (only reason for out of country application was because of Christmas, New Year holidays coming in & to spend time with family back home during the holidays).

New job: Feb 2012 onwards till date on Tier 2 (General) valid till Mar 2015


Am I eligible for ILR if I go for another 1 or possibly 2 year extension after Mar 2015?

If the single absence of 102 days resulted in your ILR clock being reset (i.e. due to you having no economic ties with the UK, which appears to be the case based on the information provided, as the time away was for personal holidays) then your 5 year residency period for ILR will start again from the date of entry (Feb 2012) on your new Tier 2 (General) visa. So yes, you will be eligbile to apply for ILR after the necessary number of extensions to cover this residency period.