Tier 5 YMV extension

[afro88]

Hi guys. I'm an Australian living in the UK on a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. I know there's no way to extend a Tier 5, but I have heard that if you leave the UK for an extended period of time you can apply to have that time outside the UK added to the time on your visa.

So say my Tier 5 YMV expires on 30th April but I was outside the UK on holiday for the month of December last year, can I apply to have this month added to the my Visa? If so, who should I contact?

Thanks

[Lucapooka]

What would be your new visa and what do you mean by added? If you return in another work-related category that leads to ILR, you can't aggregate the time spent on Tier 5 into the qualifying residence period.

Or are you talking about stopping the clock? The visa is valid for two years from the time it is issued and you can't do, say, 18 months, leave the UK for a period, and then come back and pick up where you left of to complete the remaining 6 months.

[afro88]

Thanks Luca, the second bit was where I was coming from. Thanks for the quick reply.