How many times can i extend Tier 1 Visa

[jpsnair]

Guys
i have seen answers on my questions in this forum but those are dating back to 2009. Hence i thought of putting the question here again.

ie how many times can i apply for Tier 1 general visa extension. I applied fo tier 1 general visa in sep 2009 and i was given 3 years visa till sep 2012. And this sep i renewed it for 2 more years till sep 2014. But in 2010 i was out of the country for 18 months as i decided to take up work in singapore. I came back to UK in 2011 July under same tier 1 and started wroking here again.

Since i broke my stay here in between i had to restart my 5 year stay for ILR from July 2011 onwards. As such once my tier 1 current extension expires in sep 2014 i need another 18 months before i can apply for PR. So can i again extend my Tier 1 again when it comes to 2014 for another 2 years...

can anyone pls advice

Rgds

[cs95tdg]

You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you like. There is no upper limit.

[Lucapooka]

As long as the scheme remains open to extensions, you can extend as often as you wish.

[jpsnair]

guys thanks a lot for the reply. One more question , are they thinking of changing this scheme? i checked at this years recommendations but nothing outright is mentioned abt tier 1 visa extension..So i assume as long as the points are met i can extend in 2014? Also how many months before can i go for extension?

[cs95tdg]

No one can comment on what immigration changes may occur in the future. So your guess would be as good as mine as to what would apply in 2014.

But as already stated in this topic, as long as the scheme to allow extensions remains open then, you will be fine.

You can apply for an extension as early as you like, there is no explicit number of months, though unless you have a specific need to do so (E.g. frequent travel or employment reasons) you would generally apply before your current leave to remain expires and not apply more than 28 days before your current leave to remain expires.