Will cooling off period apply for Tier 2 General to New point based skilled worker visa

[Ershadna]

Hello All / Moderator :

I am in the process of being actively considered for a one year fixed term job in the UK with a start date of Oct 2020 and the employer will provide me a CoS and hence I plan to apply for Tier 2 General visa. Since the CoS will issued for one year I hope I will be able to apply for and get Tier 2 General visa for one year that would expire by Sep 2021.

I understand that I will be able to apply for a new job within UK under the new Skilled workers schemes in 2021 and will the able to change jobs within my Tier 2 General visa validity period. I wanted to clarify/understand if the cooling-off period of 1 year will apply for me if I am not able to find a job within my one year Tier 2 general visa validity plus grace period ? That is, will the cooling off period apply if you change from Tier 2 general to the new point based skilled workers visa after the tier 2 visa is expired? Thank you.

[CR001]

I wanted to clarify/understand if the cooling-off period of 1 year will apply for me if I am not able to find a job within my one year Tier 2 general visa validity plus grace period ?

The information that has been released clearly states that tier 2 general can switch to the new pbs route. Not sure what "grace period" you are referring to. There is no such thing. If you cannot apply for a visa or visa extension before the expiry date if your visa, you have to leave the UK.

That is, will the cooling off period apply if you change from Tier 2 general to the new point based skilled workers visa after the tier 2 visa is expired? Thank you.

Cooling off period doesn't apply to tier 2 general switching to another pbs route.

Also, the immigration rules and official guidance notes for the new routes have NOT been published yet.

[Ershadna]

Thank you for your quick reply. Ignore the grace period part. In your reply I wanted to understand it a bit more clearly.

" If you cannot apply for a visa or visa extension before the expiry date if your visa, you have to leave the UK."
And
"Cooling off period doesn't apply to tier 2 general switching to another pbs route."

Does this mean that I can apply for new visa under pbs route immediately after returning from UK after my Tier 2 general visa expires in case I am not able to extend/switch to pbs skilled worker visa before my Tier 2 General visa expiry date? Provide I have a job offer..

Please provide some clarification. Thank you.

[CR001]

Does this mean that I can apply for new visa under pbs route immediately after returning from UK after my Tier 2 general visa expires in case I am not able to extend/switch to pbs skilled worker visa before my Tier 2 General visa expiry date?

Unclear, until the immigration rules are formally published, what the requirements are if you leave the UK.