What happens to my Tier4 Visa when I apply for a new Tier-2

[krisgoks]

Dear All,

I am a new international PhD student (started on May 1st week 2016) here in the UK, and I am lucky to have got a job offer here in the same university and same department where I am currently studying (I had applied for this job earlier in April this year and was interviewed recently and I have been successful). I have accepted my offer today and I have a lot of questions which I could not get clear answers from anybody here in the university.

Main reasons I want to take this job is because :-
1. It pays me well.
2. I can still continue my PhD (the University and Dept is happy to allow this).
3. Reduces my PhD fee greatly.

One thing I am sure is that I cannot "switch to Tier 2 VISA" as I have not completed a minimum of 12 months of my PhD.

So the way forward for me is to make a fresh Tier-2 application. However I would like to know what would happen to my current Tier 4 student visa, if I made an application for a Tier 2 visa and it was refused ? Will I be able to come back to the UK and continue my PhD in case my Work Visa got refused ? Will home office cancel my Tier-4 and then process my Tier-2 application or will they process my Tier-2 first and if I am successful then cancel my Tier-4 ?

I am sure this is a pretty unique case and I would be very very thankful if some one can let me know how my scenario will work out and answer the above questions.

Thanks in advance,
KG

[srsw]

Why don't you consider working while on Tier 4 visa. I believe you can work upto 20 hrs a week as long as you can prove that it does not impact your studies.

This way, you get to do your PhD and accept the job and then it's much more easy to covert to Tier 2 once you finish your PhD.

There are a number of other rules you need to consider, such as, your must not be taking up a permanent job or displace a UK citizen's job, etc. (ref. Tier 4 guidance to see accurate details)

[iworker]

you can change from tier 4 to tier 2 after being on tier 4 for phd course for 1 year. ( please check with other members too).
alternatively, u can apply a tier 2 from home country and start work full time. Tier 2 is a point based visa, if u have all things correctly done, you can be sure to get the visa. namely, rlmt, cos, applications, funds, english language etc.
you can start your job on part time basis for few months before you complete 1 year on phd visa.

if your tier 2 is rejected, your tier 4 will stay valid and u can come back to uk.

[krisgoks]

Dear srsw, iworker,

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. your suggestions are very helpful, may be I can get to make a deal where I work part time for an year while doing my PhD and then then after an year I switch to Tier 2.

iworker - are you sure when you said "if your tier 2 is rejected, your tier 4 will stay valid and u can come back to uk." , is there any webpage or article some where in the Home-Office website that will validate this ? If yes, I would not be worried at all and just apply for my Tier 2 going back to my home country, if the application gets rejected I will just come back and continue my PhD.

[iworker]

i think it maybe written somewhere, although i dont know where to find. However i am sure that i am correct in this instance, u can apply without worrying.
Between applying right now and after a year, there is one big difference. You need to read more yourself about below:
If you apply now, u need rlmt, restricted cos and apply from home country.
if u apply after a year, you dont need rlmt, un-restricted cos is needed, and can apply within uk.

the difference is types of cos.. rlmt is not a problem usually as they would have done one by now.
If i were u, and if i was able to get the things mentioned in first option, i would change to tier 2 now. The reason is, if in long run you want to settle, you should change sooner rather than later.

[krisgoks]

RLMT is done, and I guess I do not have to worry about CoS as University would know what to do about it.

I did get some positive feedback when I interacted with other people who know about these kinda stuff.

I will be applying for the work VISA soon I will type-in my outcome here in the future.

Thanks for all the support.
KG

[krisgoks]

Dear All,

Do I need to mention about my current VISA (Student VISA) in my new VISA(Tier-2) application ?