Employment gap/ cool off period

[itchyfeet123]

Hello,
I am on a tier 2 general visa. My contract, and thus visa, expires in the first week of June 2017. Jobs in my field are often seasonal, and several that I have applied for have start dates of 1 September. I've been reading about gaps between visas and curtailment of leave, and I understand the magic number is 60 days, but it's not clear to me what that applies to.

Is it that I have to apply for my next visa within 60 days of my current visa expiring?
Or is it that my next job has to start within 60 days?

In other words, am I wasting my time applying for jobs with Sept 1 start dates because I won't be able to take them if offered?

[CR001]

Hello,
I am on a tier 2 general visa. My contract, and thus visa, expires in the first week of June 2017. Jobs in my field are often seasonal, and several that I have applied for have start dates of 1 September. I've been reading about gaps between visas and curtailment of leave, and I understand the magic number is 60 days, but it's not clear to me what that applies to.

Is it that I have to apply for my next visa within 60 days of my current visa expiring? No

Or is it that my next job has to start within 60 days? Yes

In other words, am I wasting my time applying for jobs with Sept 1 start dates because I won't be able to take them if offered?

What exactly do you mean by 'seasonal'? What is your job title acutally?

Are you contracting through an umbrella company?

[itchyfeet123]

What exactly do you mean by 'seasonal'? What is your job title acutally?

Are you contracting through an umbrella company?

I'm an academic. My current job title is Research Fellow. I'm looking at other research fellow jobs, which aren't seasonal and come up whenever someone gets a grant, but also Lecturer and [University X] Fellow jobs, which have teaching responsibilities in addition to research and are generally timed so that start dates align with the start of the new academic year.

No, not contracting through any company.

[rubyracer2]

Hello,
I am on a tier 2 general visa. My contract, and thus visa, expires in the first week of June 2017. Jobs in my field are often seasonal, and several that I have applied for have start dates of 1 September. I've been reading about gaps between visas and curtailment of leave, and I understand the magic number is 60 days, but it's not clear to me what that applies to.

Is it that I have to apply for my next visa within 60 days of my current visa expiring?
Or is it that my next job has to start within 60 days?

In other words, am I wasting my time applying for jobs with Sept 1 start dates because I won't be able to take them if offered?

The gap is between end date of current employment and date of new leave application that is ultimately approved. You can start the job later than 60 days but the application has to be made before the deadline.

[itchyfeet123]

Thanks for the replies, rubyracer and cs001. I may be misunderstanding, but you seem to be disagreeing with each other.

Is it that I have to apply for my next visa within 60 days of my current visa expiring? No

Or is it that my next job has to start within 60 days? Yes

The gap is between end date of current employment and date of new leave application that is ultimately approved. You can start the job later than 60 days but the application has to be made before the deadline.

Could you clarify? Or maybe provide a definitive link?

[rubyracer2]

Thanks for the replies, rubyracer and cs001. I may be misunderstanding, but you seem to be disagreeing with each other.

Could you clarify? Or maybe provide a definitive link?

Immigration Rules Paragraph 245AAA Section b

Except for periods when the applicant had leave as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Investor) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Migrant or a highly skilled migrant, the applicant must have been employed in the UK continuously throughout the five years, under the terms of their Certificate of Sponsorship, work permit or in the employment for which they were given leave to enter or remain, except that any breaks in employment in which they applied for leave as a Tier 2 Migrant, or, under Tier 5 Temporary Worker (International Agreement) Migrant as a private servant in a diplomatic household, where in the latter case they applied to enter the UK before 6 April 2012, to work for a new employer shall be disregarded, provided this is within 60 days of the end of their employment with their previous employer or Sponsor.

[itchyfeet123]

Thanks for the replies, rubyracer and cs001. I may be misunderstanding, but you seem to be disagreeing with each other.

Could you clarify? Or maybe provide a definitive link?

Immigration Rules Paragraph 245AAA Section b

Except for periods when the applicant had leave as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Investor) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrant, a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Migrant or a highly skilled migrant, the applicant must have been employed in the UK continuously throughout the five years, under the terms of their Certificate of Sponsorship, work permit or in the employment for which they were given leave to enter or remain, except that any breaks in employment in which they applied for leave as a Tier 2 Migrant, or, under Tier 5 Temporary Worker (International Agreement) Migrant as a private servant in a diplomatic household, where in the latter case they applied to enter the UK before 6 April 2012, to work for a new employer shall be disregarded, provided this is within 60 days of the end of their employment with their previous employer or Sponsor.

Thanks for that. But the title of that paragraph is General Requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain. I guess it can be inferred that if the scenario is described and acceptable in the rules for applying for ILR, it must be acceptable in general.