Extension of Tier 1 or ILR

[bobby80gh]

I will be 10 yrs in UK on the 1st of September 2012. I am currently on Tier 1 which expires at the end of September 2012. I work on contract basis and most employers ideally wants to engage someone whose visa is valid for more than six months. I am currently in a dilemma whether to extend my tier 1 in April 2012 or wait till September 2012 and apply for ILR based on 10 years resident by post. Another issue is ILR application based on 10 years resident takes an average of 14 weeks for UKBA to make a decision and this may be a problem to me as sometimes I am required to travel abroad for work.

Applying for extension in April 2012 may be a bit costly as I have to pay £1800 as the application fee and also I have some outstanding taxes which I need to pay before I can make any application at the Home office.

Someone advise me on the best option to take.