Removal of T2 employment 60 days gap

[micasa]

Hi modelators and experts,

The changes introduced recently included removal of Tier 2 rule covering gaps in employment of 60 days. I am curious to know how it exactlly works.

I am currently on Tier 2 General. If I loses my current job, I have 60 days to find a new job assuming the last day of my empleyment will correspond to the termination of my current visa. If I don't find a new job within 60 days, I have to leave the UK - I presume that part remained the same? So if I still want to continue living here, I have to look for another job in the UK from outside of the country. Say I find a new job in the UK one year after I have left the country. Then I would apply for a new Tier 2 visa from outside of the UK, return to the UK with the new visa, and re-start the ILR clock from where I left off. Is that how it works?

This change works very favourably if I could remain in the UK to look for another job beyond 60 days. Otherwise it would be very hard for many people (including myself) to look for a new UK job once I completely moved my life out of the country. Then I wonder what is the purpose of this rule change - is this mainly to save the folks in the situation where they find another job while they are still in the UK but the new job did not start within 60 days?

I am from a non-EU country but my passport allows me to stay in the UK up to 6 months without a visa. If I leave the country after 60 days grace period, I wonder I could re-enter as a tourist visa while I look for a job.

Your advice would be very much appreciated.

[lanrezy]

Hi modelators and experts,

The changes introduced recently included removal of Tier 2 rule covering gaps in employment of 60 days. I am curious to know how it exactlly works.

I am currently on Tier 2 General. If I loses my current job, I have 60 days to find a new job assuming the last day of my empleyment will correspond to the termination of my current visa. If I don't find a new job within 60 days, I have to leave the UK - I presume that part remained the same? So if I still want to continue living here, I have to look for another job in the UK from outside of the country. Say I find a new job in the UK one year after I have left the country. Then I would apply for a new Tier 2 visa from outside of the UK, return to the UK with the new visa, and re-start the ILR clock from where I left off. Is that how it works?

This change works very favourably if I could remain in the UK to look for another job beyond 60 days. Otherwise it would be very hard for many people (including myself) to look for a new UK job once I completely moved my life out of the country. Then I wonder what is the purpose of this rule change - is this mainly to save the folks in the situation where they find another job while they are still in the UK but the new job did not start within 60 days?

I am from a non-EU country but my passport allows me to stay in the UK up to 6 months without a visa. If I leave the country after 60 days grace period, I wonder I could re-enter as a tourist visa while I look for a job.

Your advice would be very much appreciated.

I am not clear about "When you mentioned termination of your current visa".

This is what I understand about the 60 days gap and the changes.
Let us assume that you have a 5-year Tier 2 Visa issued on 01/02/2013 and expires on 01/03/2018.
That means that you can apply for ILR 28 days before 01/02/2018.
If you lose your job on 01/02/2016, provided HO have not curtailed your Visa, you can still be eligible for ILR if you can secure another job about a month or 2 before your visa expires and meet all other ILR requirements..
What it means is that the gap in unemployment will not affect your ILR provided you have valid visa within the period.
In the past, you must secure a job within 60 days. If you get a job after 60 days, it will affect your ILR even if it was not curtailed during the period of unemployment.
This have now been removed.

[micasa]

Thanks lanrezy for your response.

Let's say my Tier 2 General visa started on 1/7/2013 and expires on 1/8/2019 (it's been renewed so 3+3 years). If I lose a job in the end of February, I have 60 days (until about end of April) to find a new sponsor. Failing to do so, I would lose a leave to remain and need to physically exit the UK after 60 days from my last day of employment. Is it not the case? Can I still keep my current status (T2 General) until expiry and remain in the UK even after I lose the current job? Wouldn't my T2 General become invalidated when COS is withdrawn?

I am worried as finding a new job and getting a visa sorted in mere 2 months is not easy. I understand that now not securing a new employement within 60 days does not reset the ILR clock, but I assume I still have to leave the country after 60 days of losing a job if umemployment continues? So I am wondering, what people do in that situation - they look for a job in the UK from outside of UK??

[CR001]

You are confusing things.

The 60 days curtailment letter you get eventually has nothing to do with the now removed 60 days employment gap.

If I lose a job in the end of February, I have 60 days (until about end of April) to find a new sponsor. Failing to do so, I would lose a leave to remain and need to physically exit the UK after 60 days from my last day of employment. Is it not the case? Can I still keep my current status (T2 General) until expiry and remain in the UK even after I lose the current job? Wouldn't my T2 General become invalidated when COS is withdrawn?

60 days employment gap has recently been removed from the immigration rules. However, to apply for ILR, you must be employed with a sponsor and meet all the requirements. Once your ex employer notifies HO, this will set in motion the curtailment of your visa and the letter can take a few months to get to you. The letter will give you 60 days to make an application or leave the UK at the end of the curtailment period.

I am worried as finding a new job and getting a visa sorted in mere 2 months is not easy. I understand that now not securing a new employement within 60 days does not reset the ILR clock, but I assume I still have to leave the country after 60 days of losing a job if umemployment continues? So I am wondering, what people do in that situation - they look for a job in the UK from outside of UK??

NO, you don't!!

[lanrezy]

You do not have to leave the country. Provided you did not get any letter from HO curtailing your visa, you only need to make sure you get a new job with sponsor before the end of ur visa.
There is a discussion relating to that here.

indefinite-leave-to-remain/great-news-6 ... 44892.html

indefinite-leave-to-remain/great-news-6 ... 44892.html

[micasa]

Many thanks CR001 and lanerzy for clarification.

So how long we can remain in the country after the employment depends on how quickly HO sends a curtailment letter. With my last employment, however, the employer was quick in notifying HO and the letter (or email?) from HO came shortly after I left the job so I had an impression that HO does not waste time in curtailing of the existing visa! It did not matter that time as there was no gap between the employment but I am concerned about finding a new job if I was made redundant. Touching every wood I can that I get an ILR before that happens!

[lanrezy]

Many thanks CR001 and lanerzy for clarification.

So how long we can remain in the country after the employment depends on how quickly HO sends a curtailment letter. With my last employment, however, the employer was quick in notifying HO and the letter (or email?) from HO came shortly after I left the job so I had an impression that HO does not waste time in curtailing of the existing visa! It did not matter that time as there was no gap between the employment but I am concerned about finding a new job if I was made redundant. Touching every wood I can that I get an ILR before that happens!

I sincerely wish you the best of luck. But in truth, the condition remain the same.
I hope you do not lose your job, but if you do,make sure you get another job with a new sponsored visa before the present one expires. No one can say exactly how quickly HO sends the curtailment letter. The fact they sent one in the past quickly does not mean they will send another one quickly. There are many instances that HO have spent several months before sending curtailment letter. Sometime, they do not even bother sending and just wait for the visa to run out. You have about 4 to 5 months to your ILR. I hope you make it.

[zimba]

The 60 days rule is now removed entirely. You can remain in the UK as long as you have visa and apply for new positions without any effect on ILR

[micasa]

Thanks zimba88. The removal of 60 days employment gap rule is great. I am truely happy for those who were previously disqualified for having more than 60+ days gap can now apply for an ILR. However, for someone like me who is afraid of losing a job in the next 4 months (i.e. before I become ILR eligible), the timing of the curtailment letter delivery is so crucial and it keeps me awake at night. If I have 7-8 months, I think I stand a good chance of securing a new job. But if I only have 2-3 months, it would be extremely hard. And not knowing when the curtailment letter arrives at the door is a huge stress to bear as it seems HO is quite random in sending curtailment letters. While I pray that my current employment continues to July, I should probably start some ground work of job searching (update CV, contact headhunters, check who is hiring, catch up with ex-colleagues, etc.) so not to waste any time in the worst case scenario...

[zimba]

HO generally is slow in that regards. You might get 3-4 months in my opinion