Tier 2 intra company transfer extension limit

[Curiosity]

Hi,

I arrived in June 2007 with 3 year work permit and it was extended once in 2010 as tier 2 ICT for another 2 years (until Jun 2012) and then once more in 2012 for another 3 years until Jul 2015.

I was told earlier this year that even though the current rule says that tier 2 ICT can only extend up to 5 years, because I arrived before that rule came into effect, I can (theoretically) extend my tier 2 as many times as possible. That must have been true then because I got to extend my tier 2 until 2015, which would mean I will have stayed total of 8 years by then.

Do you know if this is still the case? Can I extend my tier 2 ICT in 2015 for further years in the UK?

[manci]

Hi,

I arrived in June 2007 with 3 year work permit and it was extended once in 2010 as tier 2 ICT for another 2 years (until Jun 2012) and then once more in 2012 for another 3 years until Jul 2015.

I was told earlier this year that even though the current rule says that tier 2 ICT can only extend up to 5 years, because I arrived before that rule came into effect, I can (theoretically) extend my tier 2 as many times as possible. That must have been true then because I got to extend my tier 2 until 2015, which would mean I will have stayed total of 8 years by then.

Do you know if this is still the case? Can I extend my tier 2 ICT in 2015 for further years in the UK? yes, you can. See the T2 policy guidance, para 186, page 39 (second box from top)

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... idance.pdf

[Curiosity]

Hi,

I arrived in June 2007 with 3 year work permit and it was extended once in 2010 as tier 2 ICT for another 2 years (until Jun 2012) and then once more in 2012 for another 3 years until Jul 2015.

I was told earlier this year that even though the current rule says that tier 2 ICT can only extend up to 5 years, because I arrived before that rule came into effect, I can (theoretically) extend my tier 2 as many times as possible. That must have been true then because I got to extend my tier 2 until 2015, which would mean I will have stayed total of 8 years by then.

Do you know if this is still the case? Can I extend my tier 2 ICT in 2015 for further years in the UK? yes, you can. See the T2 policy guidance, para 186, page 39 (second box from top)

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... idance.pdf[/b]

Thank you for your answer. Yes that document does make it clearer.

In the doc, it says "you previously had leave as an ICT Work Permit Holder and your last grant was to extend that leave with the same employer, under Tier 2 (ICT)."

I suppose this applies to me, as I was initially a Work Permit holder in 2007 and it was extended twice as tier 2 ICT (once in 2010 and again in 2012). And there is no mention of 5 year limit in this case so I can keep on extending it for further 3 years, as long as I work for the same employer.

Normally I would have applied for ILR but the new rule (13th Dec 2012) actually made me not eligible to qualify, as far as I can tell.

I had to travel a lot for my work in past 5 years, and I had about 500 days out of the UK, 370 days for work, and 130 days for paid leave.

Unfortunately most of the travel was in 2010 and 2011. I was away for about 147 days in 2010 and 195 days in 2011, and this makes me being away for over 180 days in any consecutive 12 months period, no matter how I look at it.

Fortunately I don't travel much these days (I only had about 30 days away from the UK this year) so I guess I will have to extend my tier 2 ICT once more in 2015 and apply for ILR in 2016, when most of my trips would be gone from the 5 year period.

[manci]

Unfortunately most of the travel was in 2010 and 2011. I was away for about 147 days in 2010 and 195 days in 2011, and this makes me being away for over 180 days in any consecutive 12 months period, no matter how I look at it.

This depends on the actual dates. The five 12 months consecuitive periods are counted backwards from the time you apply for ILR so that may be by the judicious timing of your application you can break up the absences so that none of the consecutive periods have more than 180 days.

[Curiosity]

Unfortunately most of the travel was in 2010 and 2011. I was away for about 147 days in 2010 and 195 days in 2011, and this makes me being away for over 180 days in any consecutive 12 months period, no matter how I look at it.

This depends on the actual dates. The five 12 months consecuitive periods are counted backwards from the time you apply for ILR so that may be by the judicious timing of your application you can break up the absences so that none of the consecutive periods have more than 180 days.

Thank you for your suggestion. However I already tried that (I spend 30 mins playing with dates in Excel) and found that no matter what I do, I always end up with about 10-15 days over 180 days. So close...

Obviously I had no idea they were going to change the rule, so I was going to wait until next year to reduce some days away from the UK (from the 500 days I mentioned) before applying for ILR, because in the previous rule it just said the days away for business trips would not be counted in 180 days over 5 year rule. I was thinking of waiting until mid next year by which the days would have came down to about 450 days.

Then this new rule suddenly came in and although it would benefit most people, it worked against me because my trips were concentrated mostly towards the end of my 5 year period.

At least I arrived in 2007 so I can extend my Tier 2 ICT one more time to apply ILR in 2016. I suppose otherwise I would been completely out of luck.

Thank you for your clarification.

[Curiosity]

Actually I enhanced Excel and did re-calculation and found that actually there is a date when I can apply and it would split the away dates in 2010 and 2011 in such a way that one year would be 173 days away and next year would be 174 days away. Just scraping under 180 days per year limit!!

I am assuming that when counting away days, you consider the departure and arrival dates to be in the UK. For example if I left the UK on 1 Jun and returned on 3 Jun, it's only 1 day away, not three days. Right?

Next question is, can I choose the ILR interview date? It's because the date is so specific that it has to be within specific 2 weeks range to split the away dates correctly.

[manci]

Have a look at the new (13 Dec) guidance on how to calculate the continuous period:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Regarding days of travel, only whole day absences are counted as absence (page 12), so you are right, days of departure and arrival are days in the UK.

If you apply by post there is no problem, the date of application is the date you post it, so you can choose the date precisely. The drawback is that you have to surrender your passport for the time of processing, which may be quite long.

Application in person at a PEO is more dificult to time because the slots are only released 6 weeks in advance and there is great demand for them. However, if you have a 2 week window it is probably feasible. If you don't succeed there is always the postal route to fall back on.

[pragn]

Hi,

I have got a similar query. I have come to UK in Aug 2010 and got the visa for 3 years (Tier 2 ICT Established Staff). Now, I have to go for extension in Aug and I got to know that I can extend for another 3 years (from 2013 to 2016).

Does that mean I can again apply for extension for another 3 years even after 2016. Please confirm...

Regards,

[manci]

Hi,

I have got a similar query. I have come to UK in Aug 2010 and got the visa for 3 years (Tier 2 ICT Established Staff). Now, I have to go for extension in Aug and I got to know that I can extend for another 3 years (from 2013 to 2016). the extension will be 2 years or the work end date in the CoS, whichever is the shorter period. See the T2 poicy guidance para 188

Does that mean I can again apply for extension for another 3 years even after 2016. Please confirm.
Regards,