Switching from Tier 2 Dependent to Tier 2 General

[shnkuk246]

Hi,
My wife is on tier 2 dependent visa and working in UK. Her employer is willing to provide her CoS and tier 2 general visa. She joined this job 4 months back and they posted ad for that job for almost 45 days.
Will the employer again need to do RMLT or can they use the previous ad?
If yes, Does she need to resign and go back to home country before the employer does RMLT or she can continue working during the RMLT period?
Is this a straight forward procedure or there can be complications in this procedure?
Many Thanks

[CR001]

Yes, there can be complications. The employer has to prove that there is no EU or British citizen or person with ILR that is suitable for the job and that your wife has not been 'pre-selected'. Pretty difficult if your wife is already working for the sponsor. Is it a specialised job?

How long has she been in the UK as a PBS Dependent?

[moonlight55]

1. Yes, she has to go back to home country and apply for entry clearance visa. Resign or not resign is not an immigration issue. It could be either.

2. RLMT is normally valid for 6 months. It's already 4 months old and it was run for 45 days. I would say, technically it should still be valid but its touch & go. UKVI may query the employer on this gap.

3. This could be a case of pre-selection since your spouse is already working for the employer. If you browse this forum, you will find quite a few pre-selection cases which were rejected because UKVI was not convinced that RLMT was carried out as per guidelines. This could also delay the application process. You spouse will not be able to travel back since she will have to send the passport as well as part of the application. You need to be careful about this.

If she do go ahead, her employer should be particular to conduct the RLMT exactly as per guidelines and prove that they could not find a suitable candidate from UK/EU before they offered a job to your spouse.

[shnkuk246]

Yes, there can be complications. The employer has to prove that there is no EU or British citizen or person with ILR that is suitable for the job and that your wife has not been 'pre-selected'. Pretty difficult if your wife is already working for the sponsor. Is it a specialised job?

How long has she been in the UK as a PBS Dependent?

Thanks for your reply. She's here since January 2016. I'm not sure whether it's specialised job or not, However, it doesn't fall under shortage occupation.

[shnkuk246]

Also, will the name or brand value of employer make any difference?

[Casa]

Also, will the name or brand value of employer make any difference?

Not at all.

[shnkuk246]

Thanks for your replies.
She can opt for 1 of the three options:
Use the RMLT that was done for her job through which she was selected. Just couple of days are left before job posting date will be more than 6 months.
Her employer posted another job ad in August for a quite similar profile (not exactly same) but couldn't find a suitable candidate. So can they use that as RMLT for her now?
Or they can start a fresh process of RMLT for her profile.
Please suggest which of the options would be most reliable and risk free?

[CR001]

Use the RMLT that was done for her job through which she was selected. Just couple of days are left before job posting date will be more than 6 months.

This will prove she was 'pre-selected' as she was already 'selected' and is in the job.

Her employer posted another job ad in August for a quite similar profile (not exactly same) but couldn't find a suitable candidate. So can they use that as RMLT for her now?

Is it a job she will apply for or do they just want to use a 'different' job RLMT but she will stay in her current job?

Or they can start a fresh process of RMLT for her profile.

Still the 'pre-selected' aspect given that she is in the job already and this suggests that RLMT will be 'tailored'.

Please suggest which of the options would be most reliable and risk free?

They are all risky.

What is her current job she does?

[shnkuk246]

Use the RMLT that was done for her job through which she was selected. Just couple of days are left before job posting date will be more than 6 months.

This will prove she was 'pre-selected' as she was already 'selected' and is in the job.

Her employer posted another job ad in August for a quite similar profile (not exactly same) but couldn't find a suitable candidate. So can they use that as RMLT for her now?

Is it a job she will apply for or do they just want to use a 'different' job RLMT but she will stay in her current job?
She can check for both the options, That job is no longer available now but she can check if she can apply for that job. Or is it possible to stay in her current job and use different job RLMT?

Or they can start a fresh process of RMLT for her profile.

Still the 'pre-selected' aspect given that she is in the job already and this suggests that RLMT will be 'tailored'.

Please suggest which of the options would be most reliable and risk free?

They are all risky.

What is her current job she does?

She's component Engineer.

[CR001]

She cannot apply for a job that is no longer available.

They cannot use an RLMT for a different job to the one she will do/does do.

Why does she not stay as PBS Dependent? Why does she want to change?

[shnkuk246]

She has a permanent job and employer is willing to sponsor. If she can get Tier 2 General then I can become dependent and easily change my job. Will be more stable for us.

[CR001]

Why don't you look for another sponsor to change jobs.

[shnkuk246]

Because it is not that easy for me to change job or sponsor.

[CR001]

It isn't that hard to be honest, many people do it.

I will leave this thread now for others to offer advice.