Is there a timit-limit for entering UK after HSMP approval

[simonsays]

Hello!!

I have an HSMP visa valid till May 2009.
Is there a time limit within which I have to enter the UK.

My HSMP was "Approved" on March 28th and then I went for Entry Clearance and got the visa. I got to know that if I would not enter UK within 6 months of the HSMP being approved, the visa would be considered invalid. Is this true?

I wanted to search for a job from India and go to UK with the job offer and hence delaying the travel.

You reponse would be highly helpful.

regards,
Simon

[olisun]

I wanted to search for a job from India and go to UK with the job offer and hence delaying the travel.

Check the following thread

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=17155

[avjones]

Hi Simon - you are likely to find it pretty difficult to get a job in the UK while you are still in India.

[simonsays]

Hello!!

Thanks a lot for the response.
Yes, I agree it is difficult to secure a job from outside UK.
I am planning to be there by Mid September.

I just wanted to confirm whether there is some rule which enforces that the person having the HSMP visa SHOULD enter UK within 6 months of the visa approval date. Any information on this front would be helpful for me.

thanks and regards,
Sandeep

[ball1333]

It should be stated in your approval letter that you must enter the UK (obtain EC and show up in the UK) within 6 months of the date of your approval letter. Do read your approval letter. If it does not state this information I will be very surprised.

[gordon]

Are you positive about the expectation that one should enter the UK within six months of the approval letter date ? My reading of the letter was that the letter could be used for EC/FLR applications within a window of six months, but that for those outside the country, there is no expectation that arrival must also occur within that six-month time-frame.
AG

[apeterso925]

Are you positive about the expectation that one should enter the UK within six months of the approval letter date ? My reading of the letter was that the letter could be used for EC/FLR applications within a window of six months, but that for those outside the country, there is no expectation that arrival must also occur within that six-month time-frame.
AG

That is my understanding as well. Logically, HSMP approval does not entitle you to enter the UK at all.

As I understand it: you have 6 months from the date of your HSMP approval letter to apply for EC and then you have 3 months from the start date on your visa stamp to make your initial entry...so, factoring in the EC application lag, you have about 9.5 months from your HSMP approval date to make your initial entry.

However, unless I'm overlooking it, I can't find any details in the guidance notes to confirm this.

[gordon]

In fact, there's nothing that indicates within what period one would be expected to arrive in the UK from the date the entry clearance is tenable. At any rate, one would have to be in the UK by some point in that two year initial visa, since FLR would be unlikely to be granted if up to that point there were no demonstrated intent to settle (in the temporary sense of the initial visa) in the UK. AG

[simonsays]

Thanks for all the responses.
Yes I read the approval letter and it mentions that I have six months within which to apply for EC. It does not mention anything about I having six months to enter UK.

I just heard from a friend that this six months also applies to making the initial entry but I however did not find any documentation to support this.

So I believe once getting the visa I can enter UK anything within the time the visa is valid (within 2 years). Please confirm and if its not true can you please point me to the documentation which says otherwise. Your kind assistance is highly appreciated.

thanks

[apeterso925]

We seem to have two threads going on right now on similar topics, I posted this in the other thread last night, but it is relevant here too:

I've done a bit of Googling and under the current HSMP scheme, it appears that these are the rules:

You must apply for EC within 6 months of your HSMP approval (per the current guidance notes). However, neither the guidance notes nor any of the various official websites quote any time limit for initial arrival once you have your EC stamp.

I did find this, from this site: http://hsmp.ukresident.com/hsmp-faqs/uk-immigration/40

"18. How long have I got, after a successful application decision, to enter the UK?

You must apply for entry clearance at a British Embassy within your own country and within 3 months from the date of your approval letter. You must then enter the UK within 3 months of a successful application for entry clearance."

However, those rules were based on the old HSMP scheme that was discontinued in Nov 2006. So it appears that there used to be a time limit on initial arrival, but now there isn't one (except your visa's expiration date of course).

Common sense, of course, suggests that you arrive as soon as possible because the longer you wait, the more you jeopardize your chances for FLR later on.

Amy

Thanks for all the responses.
Yes I read the approval letter and it mentions that I have six months within which to apply for EC. It does not mention anything about I having six months to enter UK.

I just heard from a friend that this six months also applies to making the initial entry but I however did not find any documentation to support this.

So I believe once getting the visa I can enter UK anything within the time the visa is valid (within 2 years). Please confirm and if its not true can you please point me to the documentation which says otherwise. Your kind assistance is highly appreciated.

thanks

[antony]

Yes..What Amy said is the correct one.

I had a enquiry from VFS, bangalore, India.
Even they did tell me the same thing as your response.

you have to enter the country within 3 months from the initial EC approval date. Else you may required to write a letter to the BHC about the delay.

Also, another point to note is that it may put you in trouble when you file your FLR(HSMP).

Antony

[apeterso925]

Yes..What Amy said is the correct one.

I had a enquiry from VFS, bangalore, India.
Even they did tell me the same thing as your response.

you have to enter the country within 3 months from the initial EC approval date. Else you may required to write a letter to the BHC about the delay.

Also, another point to note is that it may put you in trouble when you file your FLR(HSMP).

Antony

Was this under the current HSMP structure? My understanding, outlined in my last post in this thread, is that there *was* a 3 month rule under the old HSMP structure, but under the current one, there is no time limit for initial entry.

[antony]

When i applied during March 2007, was told by the VFS folks that once i get the EC, I have to land in the uk within 3 months. Else i need to give a explanation letter to the BHC before travelling.

THat was the info i received. Apart from that i dont have any idea nor any where mentioned in the Guidance notes.

Yes..What Amy said is the correct one.

I had a enquiry from VFS, bangalore, India.
Even they did tell me the same thing as your response.

you have to enter the country within 3 months from the initial EC approval date. Else you may required to write a letter to the BHC about the delay.

Also, another point to note is that it may put you in trouble when you file your FLR(HSMP).

Antony

Was this under the current HSMP structure? My understanding, outlined in my last post in this thread, is that there *was* a 3 month rule under the old HSMP structure, but under the current one, there is no time limit for initial entry.

[simonsays]

This is turning out to be more and more confusing.... But I thank all who have cooperated and responded.

My Approval letter does not mention anything about, when I should be entering UK.
The letter says:"This permission document is valid for six months from the date of this letter. If it is not used to apply for entry clearance for further leave to remain within this period, this approval letter will become invalid and leave will be refused."

If the UK authorities have to pass on any information about the visa they should have done so in the approval letter itself, right. because I did not get any other communication document from them.

I have some pressing personal issues because of which i cannot leave India before September 15th. September 15 is still inside the 6 mths limit from the date of my approval letter. (My approval date is March 27th)

If anyone has documentary proof of whether there is time-limit for entering ,UK once the HSMP is issued; please let me know.. I would be most grateful.

Thanks a lot.. I appreciate your cooperation.

[ball1333]

If anyone has documentary proof of whether there is time-limit for entering ,UK once the HSMP is issued; please let me know.. I would be most grateful.

I am sure an immigration solicitor would know! Just a thought.

[apeterso925]

I emailed the consulate awhile ago when some of us were confused as to how important it was to match up your visa dates exactly for eventual ILR and I received a very prompt (and extremely helpful) response.

I apologize in advance, this was long enough ago that I don't recall where I found this email address, but here is who I emailed:

Consular_Visa@fco.gov.uk

I gather this might have been my local consulate, but if you poke around on fco.gov.uk, you might find the email address for your local consulate/BHC. I would ask them.

However, it's relevant to this thread to add that my question to the consulate was: (realizing that this question is based on the current HSMP structure, which will probably change)

If I want to eventually qualify for ILR, do I need to have accumulated *exactly* 5 years or was there a leeway of a few days/weeks.

The answer back from the consulate was that it had to be exactly 5 years. So what that means, for the purposes of EC and your initial arrival, is that if you don't arrive on the day your visa begins, you've made things more difficult for yourself later on.

If we go by the current HSMP structure, we get an initial 2 year visa and can then apply for an extension, where we're given a 3 year visa and could then, in theory, qualify for ILR. But according to the response I received from the consulate, you only qualify if you were in the UK from the very first day of your 2 year visa - otherwise you'll need a third visa in order to put together a 5 year period and qualify for ILR.

So the morale of the story is, if you can manage it, it's best to land on the very first day of your visa...and if you do that, the original question no longer needs to be answered

Amy

This is turning out to be more and more confusing.... But I thank all who have cooperated and responded.

My Approval letter does not mention anything about, when I should be entering UK.
The letter says:"This permission document is valid for six months from the date of this letter. If it is not used to apply for entry clearance for further leave to remain within this period, this approval letter will become invalid and leave will be refused."

If the UK authorities have to pass on any information about the visa they should have done so in the approval letter itself, right. because I did not get any other communication document from them.

I have some pressing personal issues because of which i cannot leave India before September 15th. September 15 is still inside the 6 mths limit from the date of my approval letter. (My approval date is March 27th)

If anyone has documentary proof of whether there is time-limit for entering ,UK once the HSMP is issued; please let me know.. I would be most grateful.

Thanks a lot.. I appreciate your cooperation.

[fly2uk]

But how practical is it to expect one to land in UK the very next day of getting the visa?

There might be something that we are missing here.

[apeterso925]

But how practical is it to expect one to land in UK the very next day of getting the visa?

There might be something that we are missing here.

You are allowed to request a post-dated visa (up to 4 months out, I believe) - it would be extremely unwise, in my opinion, *not* to request this.

My visa was issued on 9 July, but per my request, it does not become valid until 10 August.

I land at Heathrow on 10 August and am, therefore, making full and complete use of my visa.

I know several others here have done the same.

[gordon]

While I've heard of one case where an EC visa was postdated four months, my understanding (based on a reading of the policy statements) is that ECOs are only authorised to provide visas postdated at most three months, suggesting in practice that one's EC visa should be dated no more than nine months from the date of the HSMP approval letter. AG

[vs007]

Check this post on Entering UK after EC stamping

http://immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=17401