chaddsuk

Hi Everyone

I am hoping that someone can give me some advice. My friend is currently living and working in the UK (US citizen) and is currently using the Tier 2 ICT visa to achieve this.

He has been here since 2012 and both he and his wife would dearly love to stay in the UK permanently however they recently discovered that they can only stay up to a maximum of 5 years on this visa before they have to leave the UK.

It would appear that there is no path from their Tier 2 ICT visa to permanent residency so I was hoping that they can maybe switch to another visa and from there then apply for ILR once at the end of that visa, does anyone know if this is possible or if they have any options at all for ILR?

He is a highly skilled individual earning a very good salary here in the UK (though I believe he is on than less than £150,000 PA) and it would be in my eyes a travesty if this country was to allow skilled individuals to leave in this manner.

His wife is also working in a good job and is the manager of a large customer service team for a well known company within the UK.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

chaddsuk

sorry fixed a bunch of typo's!

MrMuffin

I'm no specialist but probably the first thing your friend should check out is his or his wife's heritage. Are there any parents or grandparents that were born in the UK or Ireland, for instance? If that's the case one of them might have a possible route to a British passport and from there who knows...

formula

No option for settlement on that visa now, that stopped on 6 April 2010. He needed a Tier 2 (General) visa to get ILR.

He cannot switch visas in the UK and as he is on a Tier 2 (ICT) visa, he is subject to a 12 month cooling off period outside the UK, before he can apply for a Tier 2 (General) visa from the US.

If his wife's firm will sponsor her on a Tier 2 (General) visa and she is at the correct level and salary to get that visa, she can return home and apply and he can apply to be her dependant. That way, there will be no 12 month cooling off period for either of them. She would need a restricted CoS and the firm will need to carry out a resident market test. Their ILR clock starts when they return on a Tier 2 (General) visa.

EDIT Link to UKBA
https://contact-ukba.homeoffice.gov....skilledworker/

BritInParis

Echoing MrMuffin any UK/Irish/European-born parents or grandparents for either of them should be their port of call.