Tier 2 Visa - Employer takeover

[immBoardusr1]

hi ,

I am in a bit of a situation and need to know the best way for me to go forward.

I am a tier 2 general VISA holder from my Employer since 2013.

In Jan 2017 the employer had investments in the company from a investment firm , as a part of the investment , the sharholding in the company was changed and the same was communicated to the home office in Jan 2017. The home office has now come back ( June 2017 ) and said to my HR that they have 20 days to apply for a new Sponsorship licence as the changes in the ownership of the companycannot be covered under the change of circumstance process.
The HR is starting the process now. The last time they did this , it took them well over a year to get the licence sorted. The general timelines I have seen on various threads on this forum is atleast 6 months.
I am worried that 20 days is not long enough a time for the HR to make an application and even if they do make the application in 20 days considering that it took almost a year for them to get the licence last time , I am worried it is coming too close to the time when my current VISA expires.
(My current VISA is expiring in May 2018)

My question is ,

1. Has anyone got any idea if the new application that the HR is making will be considered as a fresh one or will they consider the fact that the company already has a employee ( me ) on their existing Licence and that this is just a change of company name / ownership.
The reason i ask this is , it might mean it takes lesser time than a fresh application in such a case ?
2. Are the 20 days for submitting all the documents or just to tell them that the company wants to apply ?

3. If my employer gets a new licence will my current visa be automatically carried forward to the new licence ? or will I have to apply for a VISA again.

4. From the point of view of my Job safety. Can someone who has gone through similar experience tell me if its a straight forward process of moving the visa from a old company to new entity , Is the time frame of 10 months too tight for this process to be completed ? Should i be looking for a new job ? (I would like to continue with the current company if possible. )

Thanks for your comments in advance .

[nair03]

1. Has anyone got any idea if the new application that the HR is making will be considered as a fresh one or will they consider the fact that the company already has a employee ( me ) on their existing Licence and that this is just a change of company name / ownership.
The reason i ask this is , it might mean it takes lesser time than a fresh application in such a case ?

Ans: They will consider the application as a fresh one. But you can mention the reason for the application as "For TUPE purpose". In my case, got the licence for the new company in less than one month.

2. Are the 20 days for submitting all the documents or just to tell them that the company wants to apply ?

Ans: It should be for submitting all the documents. Has your old company got the licence still? Is the company appearing in the registered sponsors list?
Note: Experts can give better answer for this.

3. If my employer gets a new licence will my current visa be automatically carried forward to the new licence ? or will I have to apply for a VISA again.

Ans: You will be transferred to the new licence. But your employer has to submit the TUPE documents.

4. From the point of view of my Job safety. Can someone who has gone through similar experience tell me if its a straight forward process of moving the visa from a old company to new entity , Is the time frame of 10 months too tight for this process to be completed ? Should i be looking for a new job ? (I would like to continue with the current company if possible. )

Ans: If everything goes right, it's a straightforward process. Make sure your employer is following the correct procedure. In my case it took 9 months to get the confirmation. But to be in safe zone try applying for other jobs.

[immBoardusr1]

Just wanted to put an update to this thread.

Our situation was resolved.

The company applied for the licence as new sponsor and were granted the licence.
They then applied to have me transfered to the new Licence which was also done.

It took a good 2 months for all the process to complete. The Licence was issued in a month and another 15 days before they confirmed that I will be transfered to the new licence and i do not need to apply for a extension immediately.

The company submitted a lot of proof in terms of vat documents , take over documents . they also tried to show link between old and new company while asnwering questions as much as possible.

Hope this helps others