Tier 5 visa during tier 2 cooling off period

[raul_arora]

Hi,

My name is Rahul and I was working in London on a tier 2 visa which I switched from tier 4 after my studies. My current leave was curtailed as I finished my employment earlier and the leave ends on January 5, 2018. But I'm flying back next week. Since the visa was curtailed, the cooling off period starts the moment I leave the country.
Now, I was wondering that if I would be able to get another job after I fly back (results are due for a couple of interviews) then in that case can I apply for a tier 5 sponsored researcher visa for a stay of 18 months and can switch to tier 2 visa afterwards?

Thanks!

[CR001]

tier 5 sponsored researcher visa

Do you mean the Tier 5 Government Exchange Programme??

https://www.gov.uk/tier-5-government-au ... d-exchange

[raul_arora]

Yes, the link you have provided states that a sponsor can be a higher education institute and can sponsor a tier 5 visa. Therefore, I was wondering is there any other requirement for that visa ? As in my understanding suggests that in the cooling off period one cannot apply for the tier 2 visa but can apply for any other visa type. So, if I can get a tier 5 visa for the next 12 months if I accept the job then can I switch to tier 2 after that ?

Or in such a case where in my cooling off period, I get a job which is on a shortage occupation list, does the cooling off period will apply or is there any exceptions to this rule for the shortage occupation category of jobs ?

Thanks!