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Hi Administrator,

Apologies if this question has been addressed before( though I haven't cited any question about this on the platform).

My question is about my spouse who became eligible for ILR via the 5 year skilled worker route in August 2025. She is a newly qualified GP and was on a Skilled Worker visa as a GP trainee(registrar), sponsored by Health Education England. She became eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in August 2025, having completed 5 years on the Skilled Worker visa with Health Education England(HEE), though she hadn’t applied for ILR yet. She completed her GP training programme on 19th October 2025 but her skilled worker visa(with HEE) came with an automatic 4-month post-CCT (qualification) visa extension which is granted to all GP trainees to provide them with the opportunity to search for a new GP role though they could work up to 20hours/week as a locum GP on the extension visa.

In her case, she has found a GP practice willing to offer her a salaried GP role (SOC 2211), but they’re having trouble accessing their sponsorship license number having misplaced their UKVI(SMS) logins.

My questions are:
1) Given that she became eligible for ILR in August 2025 under her "previous employer" (Health Education England) but currently on the approved 4 month post CCT extension visa, is it advisable for her to submit her ILR application now using HEE sponsorship license number on the application form considering that she became eligible for ILR while with them though she will be supporting her application with an offer of employment letter from her new employer?


2) If the answer to question 1 is YES, will a letter from her new employer showing that she is continuously needed for a GP role(SOC-2211) sufficient or would HEE be required to also write ? (HEE however declined to write a letter considering that she has completed her training programme with them though on a 4 month- post CCT extension. Please see link below for further information about post CCT extension.

https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-trai ... e#contact8

3) If the answer to question 1 is "NO", then would she need to secure an employer with right to sponsor skilled worker and put in for ILR application or another Tier 2 application?


Thanks for the anticipated prompt response as always. Thanks

1. No. A historical claim to ILR cannot be made. The fact that she became eligible when she was with them is irrelevant. She needs a new sponsor

2. She needs to apply and be granted a new work visa from her new employer. Without that, she cannot get ILR.

3. Tier 2 does not exist. Tier 2 was replaced several years ago by skilled worker route. As explained above, she needs a new skilled worker visa

Thanks for your reply.

Just to confirm that I understood your advice correctly

Does this mean that regardless that she is on a 4 month post CCT extension visa and was eligible for ILR in August( on a 5 year skilled worker route), she would need to first apply for a skilled worker visa with new employer and then thereafter submit an application for ILR?


My follow up question to this is: If she got a Salaried GP and issued a COS for skilled worker visa, could she proceed to apply directly for ILR with this details or would she have to first apply for a skilled worker visa and later apply for ILR?


Thanks

She needs a new skilled worker visa. Just the CoS on it's own is not sufficient for ILR.

Once she has a new skilled worker visa, she will need to wait at least 1 month so that she has a payslip and matching bank statement with the new sponsor.

Thanks.

Much appreciated