The Tier 1 (General) category visa was closed to new applicants outside the UK on 6th April 2010 and as of 6th April 2015, will close to applicants who wish to extend their visa. If you applied for a Tier 1 (General) visa on or after 6th April 2010, you can extend your visa for a maximum of 3 years. Those who applied for either a writer, composer or artist visa, a self-employed lawyer visa, applied under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme or for Tier 1 (General) before 6th April 2010, may extend or switch to Tier 1 (General) for a maximum of 2 years. Dependants can still apply to join applicants who have obtained prior entry clearance for Tier 1 (General).
In addition to this, as of 6th April 2018, applications for indefinite leave to remain will no longer be accepted under the Tier 1 (General) category. Therefore, those currently in the UK under Tier 1 (General) must submit an application for indefinite leave to remain on or before 5th April 2018. You can qualify for settlement once you have been in the UK for a consecutive 5 year period. Should you require any advice regarding your Tier 1 (General) extension or indefinite leave to remain application, do not hesitate to get in touch