Tier 4 to tier 2 visa help

[Melirrr]

Hi,

My tier 4 visa expires on jan 20, 2017.
I just need someone to give me advice on deadlines for applying for tier 2 please.
I am currently interviewing with an employer and if they let's say apply for a COS for me at the beginning of December would it give me enough time to switch my visa before the expiry date ?

How long would it take the company to get a COS for me ?
Let say if we receive a COS at the beginning of January would it give me enough time to submit my application ? I have spoken to government'svisa experts and they say I should submit my application with the appointment before 20th of January but I am worried that maube the available appointment time slot will be after my expiry date ? I don't know how quickly you can get an appointment basically.

Please let me know if these timelines would work for me

[iworker]

you can apply by post.
as long as you apply by post before 5 pm on 20 jan u should be fine.
If you get the cos on 20 jan, i am pretty sure, it would take u around 1 hour to put everything together to apply on that date.
if while being on tier 4, u did complete the degree that u came here for, u can convert to tier 2 on unrestricted cos.
The employer may already have a unrestricted allocation, in which case, they can assign that to you in 20 min.
if they dont have an allocation, they can request one.. It should take between 2 days to 2 weeks to get the reply back.. however currently taking a bit longer. at the same time, if the employer send them a copy of your visa saying it is expiring soon, the process is usually expedited.

[Melirrr]

Hi, thanks a lot for your response.

My last question is do the unrestricted cos also need to be applied within the first 5 days of the month ? Or if they already have the allocation already can they do it anytime in the month rather than the first 5 days ?

Many thanks

[iworker]

if they dont have a current allocation, then they can apply at anytime of the month.