Options for Tier 2 COS Visa holder

[poshia]

Hi,

I am Tier 2 COS visa holder from October 2009 (landed in UK - Dec 2009). My visa type is long term and it expires in June 2014. So I have been in UK for almost 4 years and 6 months.

My husband is on Tier 1 PBS visa from March 2009 (landed in UK - Dec 2009). .

My present employer is not willing to apply for an extension beyond June 2014 so here I am seeking advise on how can I continue living in UK?

Option 1: Should i apply for dependent visa? In that case will I be able to apply for ILR in Dec 2014? I have been married for three years (from Jan 2011) and living in UK with my husband.

Option 2: Look out for another tier 2 sponsorer? Is this an easy task? If I get a sponsorer, then will I be eligible for ILR in Dec 2014?

Many thanks

[poshia]

A response will be highly appreciated.

Just to add to above scenario I am going on maternity leave from March 2014.

If I switch to dependent visa in June then can I still request for Statutory Maternity Pay from government?

Please help me with my queries

[Apam]

Option 1 as PBS dependent, you can't apply for ILR in 2014, have to wait for 5 years as per current rules.
Option 2 if you get a new sponsor and new COS, you can apply for ILR in 2014 regardless of being on maternity leave.
See how things go, try option 2 if possible, otherwise don't loose hope as option 1 still exists in the worse case scenario.
Good luck!

[Apam]

statutory maternity pay is from your employer, not the government. If you are still employed, depending on your contract, your employer can pay you what is due you for eg 3-6 months

[iworker]

if you loose employement before the maternity leave starts, u are still able to reclaim SMP from HMRC if u have been in employement for at least 6 months in last 1 year