How Many Tier-2 Visas Have Been Granted

[matwalaboy]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me if there is any way to find out how many Tier-2 General Category Visas have been granted this year? I believe there are a total of 20,500 such Visas in a given year, it would be really helpful to know if that quota has already been used up or still available?

Regards

[physicskate]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me if there is any way to find out how many Tier-2 General Category Visas have been granted this year? I believe there are a total of 20,500 such Visas in a given year, it would be really helpful to know if that quota has already been used up or still available?

Regards

No, there are not 20,500 Tier 2 General visas given every year. That is how many are available to be issued to people OUTSIDE the UK. Many people can apply from within the UK (switching from Tier 4, post-study work visas or other categories...) and they are exempt from this quota.

[matwalaboy]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me if there is any way to find out how many Tier-2 General Category Visas have been granted this year? I believe there are a total of 20,500 such Visas in a given year, it would be really helpful to know if that quota has already been used up or still available?

Regards

No, there are not 20,500 Tier 2 General visas given every year. That is how many are available to be issued to people OUTSIDE the UK. Many people can apply from within the UK (switching from Tier 4, post-study work visas or other categories...) and they are exempt from this quota.

So are you saying that switch in-country from one visa category to other in Tier-2 is not part of this quota? My case is a switch from Tier-2 ICT(Established Long Term Staff) to Tier-2 General, so is that exempt from the quota limits as well?

[physicskate]

So are you saying that switch in-country from one visa category to other in Tier-2 is not part of this quota? My case is a switch from Tier-2 ICT(Established Long Term Staff) to Tier-2 General, so is that exempt from the quota limits as well?

Woah woah woah. Hold the phone.

In theory, you are exempt from the quota.

The thing you need to worry about is when your initial Tier 2 ICT was issued. If it was issued before April 2011, you cannot switch to another category without being subject to a 12 month cooling down period. This would mean you would need to leave the UK for 12 months. At the end of this period you WOULD be subject to the quota (which has never been met).

[matwalaboy]

So are you saying that switch in-country from one visa category to other in Tier-2 is not part of this quota? My case is a switch from Tier-2 ICT(Established Long Term Staff) to Tier-2 General, so is that exempt from the quota limits as well?

Woah woah woah. Hold the phone.

In theory, you are exempt from the quota.

The thing you need to worry about is when your initial Tier 2 ICT was issued. If it was issued before April 2011, you cannot switch to another category without being subject to a 12 month cooling down period. This would mean you would need to leave the UK for 12 months. At the end of this period you WOULD be subject to the quota (which has never been met).

The initial visa was issued in November 2010 under the Establised Staff Category and checking the UKBA guidance I think it should be fine to do an in-country switch, read a number of posts on the forum here too which confirm the same.

In theory - I am exempt - how about in practical terms though - is there a catch I need to be wary of?

[physicskate]

In theory - I am exempt - how about in practical terms though - is there a catch I need to be wary of?

Just meet all of the requirements of the Tier 2 General, and you should be fine!

[trueblue19]

Hi,

Can someone please tell me if there is any way to find out how many Tier-2 General Category Visas have been granted this year? I believe there are a total of 20,500 such Visas in a given year, it would be really helpful to know if that quota has already been used up or still available?

Regards

Just to answer your question, monthly quota has never been exceeded.

1725 CoS allocations are available each month starting from April of every year. For example, for March 2013, Counter started with 1725 certificates of sponsorship. Any unallocated CoS are rolled-over to the next month and are available for allocation. The counter is set to Zero again in March of the following year. For more details, see this link - http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/busin ... locations/

It is worth noting that the cap of 1725 per month is on CoS (not on Visa). For example, I could be the Tier 2 General Migrant with a wife + 2 kids. And hence, 4 separate visas will be issued to my family. However this still counts as 1 CoS (and not 4 visas). Hope this makes it clear.