Tier 1 General early application for extension

[mbhong1]

Hi everyone,

My Tier 1 General visa expires in Dec 2011. My income will be unstable in the next few months and I'd like to use the previous 15 months earnings to claim points for extension application and to be able to do that I need to apply in Feb 2012. My questions are 1) do people make such early applications? 2) am I running a risk of being disadvantaged by making such an early application? 3) do you know people who have made early applications and got accepted / refused (and if refused, what was the reason...?) and lastly 4) what happens if my application gets rejected? Would I be able to apply again at a later date before my current visa expires?

Any help, tips, experience, knowledge you may share with me would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Michelle

[Lucapooka]

It's fine to apply early but the new leave will be for a fixed period starting from time of the application. Depending on how early you apply, this may create a gap in the five year residence period that leads to ILR. It means you will then have to make yet another extension to bridge that gap.

[mbhong1]

Thank you very much for your reply Lucapooka, I really appreciated it!

If my application for extension gets rejected, would I be able to re-apply before my current visa expires?

Thank you..

[Lucapooka]

Yes.

[mbhong1]

Thank you very much again. Hope you don't mind me asking another question..

I'm a contractor accountant working through a limited company. For previous earnings, what's considered as my earnings - gross invoice value? company net profit? net dividend + salary amount? something else?

And what sort of evidence is required to prove my earnings?

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,
Michelle