Staying in/leaving the country legally

[mangomm]

Hello everyone,

I am currently on a Tier 1 Post-Study Work visa expiring in mid-September. My employers would like to sponsor a Tier 2 visa for me, so we have applied for a sponsorship licence. We have followed advice I've read on here and sent in photos of my soon-to-expire visa. I am fine to stay in the country as long as I submit my Tier 2 application before my old visa expires; however, I cannot apply for the Tier 2 until we hear back on the sponsor licence and can issue a CoS.

Does anyone know what I should do to ensure I stay in or leave the country legally when my visa will expire soon? On the day it expires should I exit the UK as a tourist and come back, and then go back to my home country to apply for the work visa from there after we have heard back about the licence? My visa expires in one week and I have no made arrangements to leave for a longer period of time, but it would be easy for me to do a quick jaunt elsewhere in Europe for a night or two if need be.

Any help/advice would be most appreciated!

[physicskate]

Hello everyone,

I am currently on a Tier 1 Post-Study Work visa expiring in mid-September. My employers would like to sponsor a Tier 2 visa for me, so we have applied for a sponsorship licence. We have followed advice I've read on here and sent in photos of my soon-to-expire visa. I am fine to stay in the country as long as I submit my Tier 2 application before my old visa expires; however, I cannot apply for the Tier 2 until we hear back on the sponsor licence and can issue a CoS.

Does anyone know what I should do to ensure I stay in or leave the country legally when my visa will expire soon? On the day it expires should I exit the UK as a tourist and come back, and then go back to my home country to apply for the work visa from there after we have heard back about the licence? My visa expires in one week and I have no made arrangements to leave for a longer period of time, but it would be easy for me to do a quick jaunt elsewhere in Europe for a night or two if need be.

Any help/advice would be most appreciated!

Do NOT leave the UK until you really have to - ie expiration of your visa. If you leave, it will probably be months before you get your Tier 2...

Some people have applied without the CoS information and supplied this once the company was supplied with the license and issued a CoS. Gameover's case last year is a case in point (where sponsorship applications were taking more than 6 months). Basically, you need to submit your application BEFORE your visa expires. If you wait until your visa expires, your company will have to conduct an RLMT and you will need to wait for them to be issued a restricted CoS.

Why did the company wait so long to get this sorted and apply? That was dumb... I am sceptical that the UKBA will expedite their application urgent as they waited so long to apply.

[mangomm]

Thank you very much for the information... My boss was away for the whole summer, that's why it has all taken so long! Sort of a nightmare!

In your honest opinion, do you think it will take too long (if we have to do the restricted CoS and RLMT) and I will have to return to my home country and look for work there? It might happen that my boss won't will want to hire someone who can stay in the country rather than waiting for months for me to be allowed to work again!