Tier 2 cooling off period confused

[sasm1]

I was first given a Tier 2 (General) leave to remain between August 2009 to December 2011. From December 2011 to December 2014, I was under Tier 4 (General) and Doctoral Extension Scheme. I switched back to Tier 2 (General) in December 2014 and have been on it since then.

According to the latest Tier 2 (General) policy guidance from the UKVI (see the highlighted text on page 24 of the attached document), a person can extend their stay in the UK under Tier 2 (General) for the maximum period of 6 years. They will not be able to apply for Tier 2 (General) any further except when they can show that either (i) it has been 12 months since their last 2 leave expired or (ii) they have been outside the UK for 12 months whichever is sooner. This is referred to as the 'cooling-off' period. The cooling-off period also needs to be observed if one applies for Tier 2 after their last Tier 2 leave has expired, even if they have been on Tier 2 for less than six years.

Given the fact that my total stay under Tier 2 during my entire immigration history is 2 years 5 months + 3 years 11 months = 6 years 4 months, it can be argued that I have gone beyond my 6 years limit and cannot apply for Tier 2 (General) any further. I will have to leave the UK for 12 months and apply in India after 12 months for Tier 2 (General) again.

However, there can be another argument on the basis of the abovementioned cooling-off period. When I switched back to Tier 2 (General) in December 2014, it had already been nearly 3 years since my last leave on Tier 2 expired in December 2011. Even though I was not out of the UK for 12 months during this 3 year period, my last leave under Tier 2 did expire before 12 months (they say whichever is earlier). Does that mean that I have already served my cooling-off period in those 3 years and am now eligible for another 6 years of Tier 2 (General) ? Since I have already spent nearly 4 years on Tier 2 after switching back on to it in December 2014, I am eligible for another two years on Tier 2 before I need to serve another cooling-off period. This argument is supported by the fact that my total stay under Tier 2 is already slightly more than 6 years as of now (6 years and 4 months). The UKVI would have only given me those extra 4 months of Tier 2 leave if they considered that December 2011 to December 2014 was my cooling-off period and I have 6 more years counting from December 2014.

Please help and reply. Thank you.

[CR001]

Have you registered a second username to ask more questions with a slight variation?? Multiple usernames are not permitted. You are both posting from the same static fibre optic IP address and both appear to have the same prefix name in your email.

member/shmehta21/

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[sasm1]

I am sorry CR001. I was not aware of this rule. Can you please delete this post and account and I will post it through my old account. Thank you.