Tier 2 (general) and maternity leave out of UK for more than 180 days

[Suruchi123]

Dear members,

I am new to this forum, so many thanks in advance for your patience.

I am Indian citizen working in the UK on a Tier 2 (general visa) until June 2019. I became pregnant in August last year and had a complicated and difficult pregnancy ending up in hospital and on sick leave from work. I've now started maternity leave early (52 weeks or 1 year) and travelled to be with my parents for extra support during this time.

I plan to return to the UK around 2-3 months after the delivery with my child. I will have been out of the UK for approximately 7 months during my maternity leave. My question is, will I have any problems returning to the UK on my Tier 2 (general visa)?

I know that being out of the country for more than 180 days may negatively impact my ILR application, but I am not worried about that at this moment, as my husband is a British national so I also have the option to switch to spouse visa.

Many thanks in advance.

[kumar84]

Hi,

Since you are the main applicant of Tier 2 G, spending more than 180days continuously will make you ineligible for ILR through this route. And since the most one can stay for max of 6years on tier 2G, it’s advisable to switch to partner visa.

[Suruchi123]

Thanks for your reply.

I was planning to switch to partner visa around September this year once I am back in the UK.

My question was: will I have a problem to come back to the UK on my Tier 2 G visa after being out of UK for 6-7 months?

Thanks again

[kumar84]

You should have problem to enter before your current visa expires.

Not sure if you will be able to switch to partner visa from within the UK. I will leave the experts to answer this.

[kumar84]

I hope you will be applying for child visa as dependent of your partner and not Yourself or else you will be spending more.

And since your partner is already a BC, I think the child is will be eligible for ILR. But experts can confirm