I am posting this again and shall be really grateful if someone can help
Before I mention my query, I think it is useful to provide its background. I studied up to PhD level in the UK for approximately 4.5 years. After which I was recruited for a shortage occupation job by my current sponsor and I have been working with them on Tier 2 visa (General) for more than 3 years. I am now considering to change my job with a different employer and expecting an interview with them in near future for a job which is neither on shortage occupation list nor on PhD Level. It meets the salary criteria as well as completes the residence labour market test. In addition, if I qualify then this job would take me to a completely different industry than that of my current employer.
Main Query:
With the HR of the interviewing company, I discussed my current Tier 2 status and further visa sponsorship from them upon interview success. I learnt that their previous experience with candidates' applications for Tier 2 visa have not been successful. They mentioned of their jobs fulfilling the Residence Labour Market Test requirements as well as the salary criteria, even after that their selected candidates did not get Tier 2. They said that the quota for Tier 2 application is very limited and it is hard to get applications accepted visa. Since then I have been trying to find out if the capping criteria applies to me as I am already on Tier 2 and only switching sponsor, which means my CoS should be unrestricted? Am I safe to switch my sponsor or is it more likely for my application to be rejected due to the capping criteria [reference to current situation with rejections: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... plications]? In addition, are there any other factors which I haven't thought of and that may affect my visa application negatively?
The news in Guardian mentions during Dec and Jan the visa applications hit the cap, causing Home Office to increase the minimum salary requirement from £30K to nearly £55K. Does this apply to my case where i am changing employer.
I would really appreciate your support.
P.S. i think the new job would be at RQF 6 (SOC), but i still need to confirm this.
Kind Regards
Sob
