I apologise for the lengthy topic in advance
. I am an overseas doctor and I currently hold tier 4 visa in the UK to do part-time master's degree. the course should end in September. I have a job offer as a doctor for which I need to have a tier 2 visa, however as per UKVI rules, I can't switch from tier4 to tier2 until June (3 months before the official end-date of the course). I contacted international students support at my university about this rule and they told me that this rule was made for full-time students, however it also applies for part-time students. I maintained my residence outside the UK during the course time and I only travelled to the UK 6 times to attend taught material and sit exams in the past two years.My questions are following:
1- Can I apply for a new tier2 visa from outside the UK regardless of having leave to remain as tier4 since I maintained my residence outside the UK? would that result in my current tier4 automatically cancelled?
2- If I apply for interruption of study for 4 months, will that result in my current tier 4 visa be cancelled? if yes, how soon after applying will the visa be cancelled? will I be subjected to any restriction on how fast I can apply for a tier 2 visa?
3- Since I have finished all taught material and all assessments, if I arrange with my department to submit my final dissertation (the final requirement to get the MSc) by July, and get an official letter stating that my course is expected to end in July, would I be able to switch my visa in April? would this be accepted by UKVI?
Thank you in advance