Tier 2 (General) - Visa Extension

[zatmian]

Hi,

My current Tier 2 (General) visa will get expired by 11/07/2018. As the existing entire visa (for 3 years and one month) is pasted on the passport itself as Visa Vignette, its having the Visa Valid From Date is 12/06/2015.

I understood that I can apply for existing Visa extension anytime and I'm going to submit my online extension application by 13/03/2018 and the earliest available Premium Service (Same Day Route) slot will be booked. Let's assume I'm going to attend it by 23/03/2018.

My employee will put the start date as 12/06/2018 on my new Certificate Of Sponsorship (COS) as a COS has to be utilized within 3 months after issuing to an applications.

My question is ........

What will be start and end date of my new VISA?
Will it be starting from the day I'm going to attend the Premium Service Centre i.e 23/03/2018 and the expiry date will be 22/03/2021?

or

The Visa start date will follow the date that's specified on my new COS that is 12/06/2018 and this will expire by 11/06/2021?

I can understand that I can remain maximum 6 years on Tier 2 VISA and my worry is ... I should not be loosing any time due to the earlier extension application.

I read on a forum that it always follow the start date on COS but I am not very sure. It will be really great if anyone of you can clarify this.

Thanks in advance.

[CR001]

Your new visa will start from date of approval. It is NOT tagged on to start at the end of your existing visa.

I can understand that I can remain maximum 6 years on Tier 2 VISA and my worry is ... I should not be loosing any time due to the earlier extension application.

Then you shouldn't apply early. It your choice if you apply early not HO's.

[zatmian]

Thanks for your reply.

Will it not follow the Start and End dates specified on the new COS?

As I explained above the entire scenario, the new COS will have start date 3 months after the extension application submission.

Thanks

[zatmian]

My primary question is


What will be start and end date of my new VISA?
Will it be starting from the day I'm going to attend the Premium Service Centre i.e 23/03/2018 and the expiry date will be 22/03/2021?

OR

The Visa start date will follow the date that's specified on my new COS that is 12/06/2018 and this will expire by 11/06/2021?

[saliame]

Will it be starting from the day I'm going to attend the Premium Service Centre i.e 23/03/2018 and the expiry date will be 22/03/2021?

Yes, the above quoted option, you'll lose the time towards end of your visa.

The second point will only be relevant when you actually do a change of employment application(in your case you are not), as you cannot work start working with new employer until the start date, even in that case if you have paid 3 years fees, you will be topped up with extra 14 days only after end date on COS.

[zatmian]

Thanks Saliame for your kind reply.

But I'm having a different understanding based on below. Could be able to confirm it further. Thanks

social media weblink removed by moderator

"you can extend your Tier 2 visa within 3 months before it expires. On your Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) your employer has to put some dates for ‘Work start date’ and ‘End date’. These dates relate to your future visa, rather than the job, because you are already doing the job, not starting it. The ‘start date’ has to be within 3 months from the date of application for a visa (no later) and you must use your COS within 3 months from when it was assigned. Therefore, your Tier 2 Sponsor can put ‘Start date’ as the date when your visa expires, so you could apply as early as within 3 months before your visa expires.

At the same time, you won’t be ‘losing’ any period of your current visa because it will last for as long as the date on the COS and won’t be a problem when it comes to ILR.

For example, your current Tier 2 (General) visa expires on 1 December 2015. Your Sponsor puts ‘Start date’ on your new COS as 1 December 2015 (date when your current visa expires) and ‘End date’ as 1 December 2018, ie 3 years later (assuming you’re extending for 3 years, which is often the case if your initial visa was for 3 years). In this scenario you can apply from 1 September 2015 onwards and your visa will have an expiry date on 1 December 2018 and will be enough for ILR! Even if you're using same-date."

[CR001]

Thanks Saliame for your kind reply.

But I'm having a different understanding based on below. Could be able to confirm it further. Thanks

social media weblink removed by moderator

"you can extend your Tier 2 visa within 3 months before it expires. On your Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) your employer has to put some dates for ‘Work start date’ and ‘End date’. These dates relate to your future visa, rather than the job, because you are already doing the job, not starting it. The ‘start date’ has to be within 3 months from the date of application for a visa (no later) and you must use your COS within 3 months from when it was assigned. Therefore, your Tier 2 Sponsor can put ‘Start date’ as the date when your visa expires, so you could apply as early as within 3 months before your visa expires.

At the same time, you won’t be ‘losing’ any period of your current visa because it will last for as long as the date on the COS and won’t be a problem when it comes to ILR.

For example, your current Tier 2 (General) visa expires on 1 December 2015. Your Sponsor puts ‘Start date’ on your new COS as 1 December 2015 (date when your current visa expires) and ‘End date’ as 1 December 2018, ie 3 years later (assuming you’re extending for 3 years, which is often the case if your initial visa was for 3 years). In this scenario you can apply from 1 September 2015 onwards and your visa will have an expiry date on 1 December 2018 and will be enough for ILR! Even if you're using same-date."

Kindly DO NOT post weblinks to social media accounts (especially posts from 2015) or any third party advisors. You should read the latest HO official guidance notes.

[zatmian]

Thanks Admin for mentioning that.

Would like to share any reference to Home Office Notes regarding Tier 2 Visa Extensions especially when the extension has to be applied.

Thanks in advance.

[CR001]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 18__2_.pdf

[zatmian]

Thanks.

I've reviewed the shared guide but not able to find any specific guideline regarding when the extension application has to be submitted. Especially there is nothing mentioned, how the extension visa expiry will be determined either its based on the COS (Start Date) or its based the day, we attend Premier Service. Can you please explain it further.

[saliame]

Point to consider is the "Visa issue date", so if the issue date is 23/03/2018 when you attend the same day service appointment, and you have paid fees for 3 years visa, you will not be given more than 3 years+14 Days or End Date on the COS whichever is shorter. So if you put end date which will take your visa to beyond 3years+14days, say 39 months from the issue date, you will get max 3 years+14 days maximum, unless you are paying 5 years fee (I am sure you're not), and if you are paying 5 years fee you will get the leave for the period of time to take your total stay in Tier 2 to 6 years.

[zatmian]

Thanks a lot Saliame.

The confusion arose with the wording that I shared earlier, as it was stated that it will follow the Start Date mentioned on the COS.

[zatmian]

The actual challenge is 06th April 2018, when the VISA fees will again get increased. It will also increase the Premium Service charges.

So I was looking for a possibility if the VISA extension can be applied earlier and I will be able to secure the VISA for all 6 years instead of loosing some time at the end.