Tier 4 student working Part Time - awaiting Tier 2 Sponsorship Licence

[sponsor2020]

Hi,

My friend is on Tier 4 student visa expiring on 31st July. Working for a company on part time basis. Company has applied for Tier 2 sponsorship and awaiting decision. Can he stay legally and work or do need to apply for any other visa?

Thanks

[CR001]

He must apply for a visa before his current visa expires. Once his visa expires on 31st july, he has no legal status in the UK and cannot work.

[JohndoesUK]

Googling around, it seems as though the licence processing time pre-Covid was 6-8 weeks. If the company has only just recently applied for it's license then it's probably not going to get the license in time. Also, with the Covid situation, processing times have most likely increased quite a bit.