Tier 2 (General) to ILR

[Irfan5426]

Hi
I arrived in UK on March 2010 as student and switch to Tier2 General in September 2011. Company sponsor suspended March 2012 and liquidised.I did not recieved any curtailment letter till today (No one received curtailmentletter ) and company told all employees (11 employees on tier 2) that our visa will remain valid (my visa expiry Aug2014) and we can find job with another sponser company of tier 2. No more work and start looking for new job.
I applied for Tier 1 Business visa on March 2013 and refused. I appealed my case and refuse in court in July 2014.
As mentioned earlier I was looking for the job and luckily found one with £31,000 yearly.
I applied with new company in Aug 2014 ( Mentioned old company details in application) and got visa tier 2 general.happily started new job and my current company even increased my salary to £35600 last year in May 2015. I am still working with current company and my visa is valid until Aug 2017 next year.
Am I eligible to apply for ILR now (5 years rule / Tier 2 General)
Or I will be eligible to apply in 2019.

[Obie]

The plain reading of the rules does not preclude you per sa.

However in a previous Judicial review case, following a refusal of the Secretary of State on the basis that a person was no working in all the period under Tier 2, the High Court state that lawful residence in the 5 years, should be interpreted as not only having a leave which has not been curtailed, but also they have to have resided in accordance with the condition of their visa.

If the Home Office takes similar approach to your case, you may well be refused.

[JoeLawerence2]

I had a similar case of gap in employment of around 5 months while in valid Tier 2 general visa. I applied for ILR last month and got it without any issues. I believe you should not have any issues as well.

[Obie]

I am sure you will appreciate that 5 months is not the same as 3 years.

[Irfan5426]

I did not recieve any curtailment letter
I did applied for Tier 1 Business visa (reason of refusal: missing some paperwork nothing with my previous tier 2 visa and I can go further for appeal but I didn't because I accepted better job offer)
I request for my SAR and sent application waiting for my file now.

Thanks all for giving me reply

[Irfan5426]

How many days it takes to receive SAR ?
JoeLawerence2 Thanks for your reply ... Do you have any idea how long it takes in your case to get SAR

[JoeLawerence2]

I am sure you will appreciate that 5 months is not the same as 3 years.

Lol, I didn't realise the gap was of 3 years I suppose the OP will need to do the SAR to find if and when his visa was curtailed.

[JoeLawerence2]

How many days it takes to receive SAR ?
JoeLawerence2 Thanks for your reply ... Do you have any idea how long it takes in your case to get SAR

It took me 2 months to get back the SAR details.