Tier 2 general - change of employer

[pall]

Hello,

I have a question about the tier 2 general visa category when the the sponsored employer is changed.

Say I have tier 2 general visa sponsored by an employer for 5 years. I complete 4.5 years on the visa and then change the employer. This would mean that I would have to apply for new tier 2 general visa.

My questions are -

- What is the minimum length of visa I can get. Can I get a new visa for 6 months?

- If the minimum duration of visa is 2 years or 3 years, this would mean that my stay in UK in tier 2 visa category would exceed 6 years, which is not valid.

Thanks

[srsw]

Hello,

I have a question about the tier 2 general visa category when the the sponsored employer is changed.

Say I have tier 2 general visa sponsored by an employer for 5 years. I complete 4.5 years on the visa and then change the employer. This would mean that I would have to apply for new tier 2 general visa.

My questions are -

- What is the minimum length of visa I can get. Can I get a new visa for 6 months? Don't think you will get choice to ask for 6 month only visa and then apply for ILR (if that was your idea). Max would be 1.5 years, i.e. total 6 years on Tier 2 visa.

- If the minimum duration of visa is 2 years or 3 years, this would mean that my stay in UK in tier 2 visa category would exceed 6 years, which is not valid. You have to apply for visa less than 3 years and they will calculate fee / IHS accordingly and give you 1.5 yr visa. They won't give you visa, which goes against max 6 year rule.

Thanks

[pall]

Thanks for the information.

[moonlight55]

As I understand, you can apply for a visa of any duration - for 6 months / 1 yr / or any other duration. The sponsor need to ensure that the start and end date is mentioned accordingly in COS. The application fee will be same for all cases (i.e. same as for application less than 3 years).

The only thing that I'm not sure of is that how the IHS will be calculated. Logic says it should be based on your visa duration. But, not sure. Maybe someone with similar experience or mods can confirm.