UK Tier 2 (ICT Long Term) Extension - TUPE

[jtnelson]

Hello,

I am urgently seeking advise on the following issue.

My company that my Tier2 (ICT Long Term) visa was issued against was taken over on 01/01/2016. As per TUPE my visa did not need to be changed or applied for again as there was no Job change.

My current visa expires on 15/07/2016 but my CoS has not been transferred onto the new companies sponsorship licence and so does not appear on the online system where you can apply for a new CoS number that is necessary for a visa extension application.

1- Does the company have to transfer the CoS even though it is covered by TUPE?
2- Must a CoS based on an existing CoS be applied for or can a new CoS be applied for
3- Is there a way to apply for the CoS except online?
4- How long does a CoS take to be given as I would need to apply for a visa extension before 15/07/2016

If it turns out that the company is not able to apply since they have not transferred the number and as such I have to leave the county is there any recourse I could take as their lack of process may casue me to have to leave the company and the job?

Thanks

[bernard]

Hi, I am in the same boat. My Company was purchased in January 2016. I have been in T2 ICT Long Term Since Mar 2011 with the same employer. I was transferred under TUPE process. My current visa expires in Nov 2016...

This is where we are at with my process:

The new company that took us over had to apply for a ICT Sponsorship licence even though that already had an existing T2 general licence... That took a while as they have a branch in New York which caused a delay for additional paperwork to prove the branch exists etc etc...

As far as I understand it, your COS remains linked to the old companies Licence, this record is then is made dormant, along with their SMS system and then this "archived" info is linked to the new companies Sponsorship Management system (SMS)...

The delay for us is the fact that there is no more assigned officer on the old companies side to login to the SMS to make changes. So the new companies HR dept has had to wait for HMRC to do it or advise how to proceed. I thas been 4 months thus far... And I have not heard anything...

Anyone know what to do in this case? Because of the lack of information, I am currently too afraid to exit the country in fear of being stopped on re-entry due to an administrative error with my BRP...

Thanks in advance for any help/info offered...

[bernard]

Finally got confirmation of my new Sponsorship licence codes on the 11 th of August 2016! After waiting since end of Feb 2016!

This took much longer than anyone expected/predicted. Just glad it went through ok in the end.

So if you have this same issue, be prepared to have patience!

Also we did end up asking to get the case escalated due to the time it was taking... (Incase that helps anyone)