Tier 5 Youth Mobility to Tier 2 General - Application

[SuzMac]

Hello there.

My current Visa: Tier 5 Youth Mobility (March 1 2014 - March 1 2016)
My nationality: Canadian
My current job: Graphic Designer
Applying for: Tier 2 General Visa (March 1 2016 onward )

My current employer has offered to sponsor me but will first need to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship. In this process I found my SOC code (3421) for graphic designer under Table 4: Occupations skilled to NQF level 3. It also stated the following:
Tier 2 applicants can only be sponsored for jobs in these occupations if:
- the job appears on the Shortage Occupation List*, or
- the applicant is currently in the UK under Tier 2, and has been in Tier 2 since before the changes made on 6 April 2011 came into force, or
- the applicant is currently in the UK under an old immigration category that was replaced by Tier 2, such as work permit holders.

My job is not on the Shortage Occupation list and I do not have a old Tier 2 Visa. So my question is:
Am I still able to apply for Tier 2 General Visa as a Graphic Designer?

If it is possible, I would also like to know about transferring from a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa to a Tier 2 General Visa:
Am I able to make this transfer between these two visas?
Can I apply for Tier 2 General before my Youth Mobility visa ends?
Can I do this from the UK?

Hope you can help or point me in the right direction. Thanks!

[srsw]

Hello there.

So my question is:
Am I still able to apply for Tier 2 General Visa as a Graphic Designer?

If it is possible, I would also like to know about transferring from a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa to a Tier 2 General Visa:
Am I able to make this transfer between these two visas?
Can I apply for Tier 2 General before my Youth Mobility visa ends?
Can I do this from the UK?

Hope you can help or point me in the right direction. Thanks!

The following may help you for your second question of transfer (switching) between visa and last question about doing it from the UK..

As per Tier 2 guidance:

Switching to Tier 2 (General):
15. You can apply from inside the UK if you have, or were last granted, leave in one of the categories listed in the table below:

 Any Tier 1 main applicant;
 Tier 2 (General);
 Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer:
 Established Staff) if you are applying to change sponsor1;
 Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer), under the rules in place before 6 April 2010 if you are applying to change sponsor1;
 Tier 2 (Sportsperson);
 Tier 2 (Minister of Religion);
 Tier 4 student3;
 Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) in the Creative and Sporting sub-category, for a job as a professional footballer switching into Tier 2 (Sportsperson) only2;
 Dependent partner of a Tier 4 student;
 Highly Skilled Migrant Programme;
 Innovator;
 Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme;
 International Graduates Scheme (or its predecessor the Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme);
 Business and Commercial work permits (except multiple entry work permits) including Intra-Company Transfer work permits;
 Sports and Entertainment work permits (except multiple entry work permits);
 Jewish Agency Employee;
 Member of the Operational Ground Staff of an Overseas-owned Airline;
 Minister of Religion, Missionary or Member of a Religious Order;
 Overseas Qualified Nurse or Midwife3;
 Person Writing Up a Thesis3;
 Postgraduate Doctor or Dentist3;
 Representative of an Overseas Business;
 Representative of an Overseas Newspaper, News Agency or Broadcasting Organisation;
 Student3;
 Student Nurse3;
 Student Re-Sitting an Examination3;
 Student Union Sabbatical Officer3.

Not sure if the text in Red applies to your case or not. But hope it provides you some starting point to explore further. Cheers.

[eefa05]

I was on a tier 5 yms and just switched to a tier 2 general a month ago under shortage occupation.
You cannot switch from a youth mobility visa to tier 2. The yms is meant to be a two year visa and then it ends. It is not meant to lead to settlement.
The only way that I have read on this board of people have switched from a yms is if they were married or in a 2 year living arrangement with a British citizen and applied for flr.

I had to leave the UK and then apply for tier 2 in my home country. As well your employer will have to issue you a restricted certificate of sponsorship.

To my understanding as well, you can only apply for jobs that are NQF level 6, unless they are listed on the shortage occupation list.
As well, your employer would have to ensure the RLMT is completed accurately before your rcos is issued.

[SuzMac]

srsw - Thank you for your response. I will investigate further into that.

[SuzMac]

eefa05 - Thank you for your response. It's very helpful. I've just been reading about the NQF levels document and you're right about my job needing to be NQT level 6. Thanks for confirming.

When you applied for your Tier 2 visa in your home country did you wait until your Tier 5 had expired? Are you allowed some overlap? And how long did it take for your Tier 2 visa to be issued when you were in your home country?

[eefa05]

My process was quite tedious as the person in HR of my company, I found out, did not know what they were doing really.
The first time i applied my tier 5 had not expired yet. It does not matter because it was going to expire soon and if you get a new visa, the previous one becomes invalid. However, my employer applied for an unrestricted COS, instead of a restricted and I had no idea until it got refused. This is because they did not realize that you cannot switch from a tier 5 to anything.
Then they filled in the paperwork wrong it got rejected in the september allocation because they only get allocated on the first working day after the 10th of each month.
Finally I got it in October, I paid for priority and I had the whole visa done and back to me in a a week and a half. Because it is not the busy time, it was very quick to get an appointment and I had no issues.
I got mine approved under shortage, if your not you need to make sure the RLMT has been done correctly and all the details are in correctly. Mine should have been shortage in September but they were not specific in the work details and job description and it was rejected.

[SuzMac]

eefa05 - Brilliant. Thanks again for all this. I will make sure they apply for a Restricted Certificate, appreciate you pointing that out.

[CeddyAndy]

My process was quite tedious as the person in HR of my company, I found out, did not know what they were doing really.
The first time i applied my tier 5 had not expired yet. It does not matter because it was going to expire soon and if you get a new visa, the previous one becomes invalid. However, my employer applied for an unrestricted COS, instead of a restricted and I had no idea until it got refused. This is because they did not realize that you cannot switch from a tier 5 to anything.
Then they filled in the paperwork wrong it got rejected in the september allocation because they only get allocated on the first working day after the 10th of each month.
Finally I got it in October, I paid for priority and I had the whole visa done and back to me in a a week and a half. Because it is not the busy time, it was very quick to get an appointment and I had no issues.
I got mine approved under shortage, if your not you need to make sure the RLMT has been done correctly and all the details are in correctly. Mine should have been shortage in September but they were not specific in the work details and job description and it was rejected.

I see you said you tried to apply for the Tier 2 while your Tier 5 was still active, how long in total were you out of the uk before you were able to get sorted, and if you could give an estimate on time if all paperwork is sorted correctly before i would have to leave the uk to reapply.

[CR001]

I see you said you tried to apply for the Tier 2 while your Tier 5 was still active, how long in total were you out of the uk before you were able to get sorted, and if you could give an estimate on time if all paperwork is sorted correctly before i would have to leave the uk to reapply.

Kindly start your own topic with your circumstances and questions rather than digging up a thread from 2015, whose posting members are no longer active on the forum.