Dear All,
I'm following up on a question I raised back in 2010 regarding my chances of meeting the continuous residence requirements on the 10 year ILR application. See original query and responses below:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/indefi ... ml#p396662
Now I'm coming up to my application date next month, and I've looked at the 10 year (SET(LR)) rules in place right now, and things appear to have changed. Just to give you a quick recap of my situation.
19 Sept 2005 - arrived in UK under student visa valid until 10 Aug 2009
9 Aug 2009 - applied for Tier 1 Post Study Work leave to remain
3 Sept 2009 - application was refused solely on the maintenance (funds) requirement due to my missing the qualifying period by one day and the use of investment ISAs as insufficient evidence.
18 Sept 2009 - left the UK voluntarily back to home country (please note that this was within the 10 working day period of Section 3D leave when an appeal could be brought)
Roughly 23 September 2009 - applied for new home passport due to my current one expiring in December 2009 (which would have caused problems with the UK entry clearance application)
16 October 2009 - new passport received
3 November 2009 - applied for Tier 2 post study work entry clearance from home country
January 2010 - Tier 2 post study work entry clearance granted
Mid-January 2010 - Returned to the UK
My worry is that the current rules state that if valid UK leave expired while outside the country and an application for new entry clearance was not lodged within 28 days of the leave expiry, the continuous residence is deemed to have been broken. At the same time it states that leaving the country and returning with valid leave within 180 days (even if the leave used to enter is different to that at previous departure) is acceptable.
I guess my question is quite simple:
Based on the information provided above, would my 10 year ILR application be valid? If not, is there any potential for the application of discretion in my case considering the following:
(1) My student visa was only valid for four years (11 Aug 2005 - 11 Aug 2009), when it should have been for four years + four (or six?) months due to the length of my four year degree
(2) prior to my in-UK Tier 1 PSW application, I tried to contact the embassy in my home country to get the student visa expiry extended by the additional four months but they did not respond
(3) when I applied for Tier 1 PSW I was refused on maintenance only, which I believe was not a valid reason based on the Pakina ruling
(4) the only reason I didn't apply once I returned to my home country was due to applying to get a new passport due to the imminent expiry of my previous one. and
(5) I did not overstay or break any immigration rules during my 10 years in this country
Do I have any hope?
Please let me know your thoughts. Many thanks.
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