A method at a user equipment for handover from a serving cell to a target cell, the method sending a measurement report to the serving cell; and transmitting a reconfiguration complete message to the target cell; wherein the measurement report includes downlink timing measurements for the target cell. Further, a method at a source network element for handover of a user equipment from the source network element to a target network element, the method receiving a measurement report from the user equipment; sending a handover request to the target network element; receiving a handover request acknowledgement from the target network element, the handover request acknowledgement including a reconfiguration message and at least one downlink subframe in which an uplink grant is expected at the target network element for the user equipment; and forwarding the reconfiguration message and at least one downlink subframe to the user equipment.