Tier 2 ICT to General

[mj8118]

Hi All,

My current ICT visa expires on 27-Oct-2015, I got it originally stamped in May'10, so not eligible for ILR, but I think as it is an 'Established Staff' visa, I can still get Tier 2 general sponsorship within UK, not having to go back offshore to serve cooling off.
I am expecting a job offer next week, the new employer will give me sponsorship if I get the offer. As sugested in the forum, I must wait for the sponsorship visa to be issued before I resign from my current job. My questions are:

1) There is a good chance that my current employer will try to send me offshore as soon as I resign, in that case once my new sponsorship tier 2 general visa is issued, would I still need to serve any cooling off at offshore incase ICT expires? Or I can easily go offshore and come back on Tier 2 general visa.

2) As my current ICT COS runs out on 27-Oct-2015, can I apply tier 2 general visa now, and keep the start date of new COS as say 01-Sep-2015? And still serve the notice period with my old employer? I mean as the forum recommends resigning only on getting sponsorship, this situation would arise quite often?

3) My current employer might extend my ICT anyways, so I want to keep that option open if my sponsorship visa is rejected due to any reason. Considering my current CoS expires on 27-Oct-2015,do you think I have enough time to get my original documents back after sponsorship decision is made, and still get my Tier 2 ICT extension?

I would really appreciate reponses on the above from the experts here, and any general advise you might have on how to handle my case.

Thank you.