Second extension of Tier-1 General

[vennk0]

Hi,

My initial tier-1 General visa granted on 16-Jul-2010 for 2 years and I applied for 1st extension and got it extended upto Jul-2015.

Now I am planning to apply for 2nd extension. But I was going thru UKBA website and found below
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How long you can stay
You can extend or switch to a Tier 1 (General) visa for 3 years. However in all cases you’ll be given enough leave to take the total leave granted in Tier 1 (General) to 5 years.
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Does above statement mean that second extension is not possible as I was already on Tier-1 general for 5 years?

Note I am not eligible for settlement as I was outside UK for more than 8 months in one stretch.

Regards,
Kalyan

[vennk0]

Hi,

Can anyone of senior members advise please.

Thank you

Regards,
Kalyan Chakravarthi.

[bond.boy203]

You can extend as many times as possible but you might want to extend before 06-Apr-2015 because there will not be anymore extension post that date as Tier-1 general extension is closing on that date.

Also your 8 month absence can be split into two based on calendar year and the date and you directly apply for ILR. Do some search on this forum and you will find answers