HELP - I am an Asylum Seeker at the Appeal Stage with Work Rights and need to switch to Skilled Worker Visa Inside UK.

Hi everyone,

My background: Entered the UK on a Tier 4 student visa in 2018 and claimed asylum in early 2020 (6 months before my Tier 4 expiration date). I was given the right to work immediately (my ARC states: "Student" & "Work Permitted'') and have been working since then on my ARC and paying all my taxes.

I've been waiting for my initial asylum decision for over 3 years now and my employer is happy to switch my visa to Tier 2 Skilled worker visa whilst I have an open asylum case. I cannot leave the country due to obvious reasons and want to apply from inside the UK.

However, my passport is still with the home office. How can I proceed in such a case? Will I need a lawyer to request my passport back so that my company can proceed with the Tier 2 application?

Please assist.

I am assuming your employer has already applied for and has a Sponsor licence?

Your passport is not a particularly difficult problem to overcome, once you have your COS you apply on that basis and vary your leave from your asylum claim to that of skilled worker. You clearly state that your passport is in possession of the Home Office and that is about the sum of it all.

Frontier Mole wrote: ↑

Sat May 20, 2023 10:55 pm

I am assuming your employer has already applied for and has a Sponsor licence?

Your passport is not a particularly difficult problem to overcome, once you have your COS you apply on that basis and vary your leave from your asylum claim to that of skilled worker. You clearly state that your passport is in possession of the Home Office and that is about the sum of it all.

Thank you for responding. Yes, the employer already has a Sponsor licence.

Home Office website states that one cannot move to the Skilled Worker visa whilst having an open Asylum claim. But because I originally had a student visa (tier 4), this should not be a problem, correct? I cannot find much information on this.

Thank you.

You can apply for a skilled worker visa but in doing so you will have to abandon your asylum claim. Hence the important word is “open” asylum claim.
You have to abandon and apply for your visa simultaneously but you must consider the potential for your work visa to be refused and where that will leave you.

The other point - if you move to a work visa your ILR clock will restart. Given you are three years into your asylum claim that is perhaps the better place to stay?

Frontier Mole wrote: ↑

Mon May 22, 2023 4:52 pm

The other point - if you move to a work visa your ILR clock will restart. Given you are three years into your asylum claim that is perhaps the better place to stay?

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.

Even if I were to be granted Refugee Status/HP/DLeave today, wouldn't I still have to wait for 5 years to become eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain? Or my other option would be to apply in 2028 under the 10 Years Long Residence (under any combination of UK visas), correct?

Assuming I'm still here as an Asylum Seeker in 2025 (5 years of being an asylum seeker), do I qualify for anything?

Please correct me if I'm missing something here.

Your student visa is no more a thing for you and the home office as you are an asylum seeker hence your current application is what matters for you.Student visa is closed.I don't think you can switch from an open asylum claim to work permit . You may be able to do it if you leave uk go back to your home country or another country and then apply for work permit.
I may be wrong but I have never seen a case like yours.However anything is possible with immigration if you explain that you don't need asylum but as you can't return your home country due to fear then the better thing for your life is being granted permission to apply for work permit .This would be a rare thing.
Goodluck

London22 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:42 pm

Your student visa is no more a thing for you and the home office as you are an asylum seeker hence your current application is what matters for you.Student visa is closed.I don't think you can switch from an open asylum claim to work permit . You may be able to do it if you leave uk go back to your home country or another country and then apply for work permit.
I may be wrong but I have never seen a case like yours.However anything is possible with immigration if you explain that you don't need asylum but as you can't return your home country due to fear then the better thing for your life is being granted permission to apply for work permit .This would be a rare thing.
Goodluck

Thank you for responding.

According to the video & the quora answer, if you applied for Asylum whilst having a student visa, you can drop your case and apply for a skilled worker visa.

Weblinks removed by moderator

I've also completed my degree and my updated ARC card states: "Student" & "Work Permitted".

Can you please let me know your thoughts?

Thank you.

kasaj wrote: ↑

Fri May 19, 2023 2:57 pm

Hi everyone,

My background: Entered the UK on a Tier 4 student visa in 2018 and claimed asylum in early 2020 (6 months before my Tier 4 expiration date). I was given the right to work immediately (my ARC states: "Student" & "Work Permitted'') and have been working since then on my ARC and paying all my taxes.

I've been waiting for my initial asylum decision for over 3 years now and my employer is happy to switch my visa to Tier 2 Skilled worker visa whilst I have an open asylum case. I cannot leave the country due to obvious reasons and want to apply from inside the UK.

However, my passport is still with the home office. How can I proceed in such a case? Will I need a lawyer to request my passport back so that my company can proceed with the Tier 2 application?

Please assist.

Hi Kasaj,
I am in the same situation right now. Have you sort this thing out? Did you manage to switch to tier 2 visa?
Could you please guide me.
I will really appreciate that. Thank you.

ashu19 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:28 pm

kasaj wrote: ↑

Fri May 19, 2023 2:57 pm

Hi everyone,

My background: Entered the UK on a Tier 4 student visa in 2018 and claimed asylum in early 2020 (6 months before my Tier 4 expiration date). I was given the right to work immediately (my ARC states: "Student" & "Work Permitted'') and have been working since then on my ARC and paying all my taxes.

I've been waiting for my initial asylum decision for over 3 years now and my employer is happy to switch my visa to Tier 2 Skilled worker visa whilst I have an open asylum case. I cannot leave the country due to obvious reasons and want to apply from inside the UK.

However, my passport is still with the home office. How can I proceed in such a case? Will I need a lawyer to request my passport back so that my company can proceed with the Tier 2 application?

Please assist.

Hi Kasaj,
I am in the same situation right now. Have you sort this thing out? Did you manage to switch to tier 2 visa?
Could you please guide me.
I will really appreciate that. Thank you.

HI Ashu19,

No, I couldn't do it because it turns out, you can only do it while you're awaiting your initial decision. My initial decision was refused and I have appealed it now.

One cannot switch to Tier 2/Skilled Worker Visa at the appeal stage unfortunately.

If you're still waiting for your interview or for your initial decision following an interview, you still have an opportunity to switch to Tier 2/Skilled Worker.

Hope this helps.

Hi everyone,

My background: Entered the UK on a Tier 4 student visa in 2018 and claimed asylum in early 2020 (6 months before my Tier 4 expiration date). I was given the right to work immediately (my ARC states: "Student" & "Work Permitted'') and have been working since then on my ARC and paying all my taxes. I received a rejection in September 2023 and have appealed the decision.

I'm currently working and my employer has agreed to sponsor me with a skilled worker visa but according to Section 3C 4, "A person may not make an application for variation of his leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom while that leave is extended by virtue of this section."

I found out after my initial decision was refused that I was actually eligible to switch to skilled worker visa before the initial decision was made in my case.

How can I request the Home Office to allow me to switch in country? I know officially you cannot do it but I've been hearing from lawyers and case workers that you I could attempt to explain to them (my country's situation and that I cannot go back and then reenter the UK) and request an exceptional case to allow you to apply for a skilled worker visa from inside the country.

Please assist.

Hey , I have the same case with me . I got refusal before 2 weeks I put an appeal now my owner offered me for sponser and that’s why I am asking from every lawyer nobody has an answer for it . so I am stuck too by finding answer .