Help! ILR with visitor stamp on passport?

[uniriri]

Hi,

I received my ILR in January and have been in and out of the country w no issue. Last week, I return from a 2 week holiday back home and I notice that my entry stamp at heathrow has a very faint stamp on top which looks like a visitor visa "employment...recourse, etc" all faint but it seems like it. What do I do? After reading a few threads here I'm worried and scared. I am still working in the uk, I have a boyfriend and our flat

What can I do? Who can I call/talk to?

[secret.simon]

Does it look like the one in this thread?

Did you have your BRP card with you when you returned from your trip?

How many days have you spent out of the country since you got the ILR? Could the pattern of leaving and reentering the country create an impression in the mind of the Immigration Officer that you are not settled in the UK?

[uniriri]

I can't open the picture link but can scan a copy of my passport?! I have probably spent 3 weeks outside of the country since I received my ILR. I had a few long weekend away in Europe during the bank holidays (3days in dublin, antwerp and dublin) and then the 2 weeks I mentioned.

I'm hoping it'll be easily resolved like this thread http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... 20084.html

Yes I had my brp card. I am a visa national.

[uniriri]

as i said, it is very faint - i can only really read the 'leave' on first sentence, then 'emp' on second line then a whole jumble on stuff on the third line which looks like 'public'. this is on top of the entry date stamp.

[uniriri]

Hi All,

A bit of an update.

I have called the Immigration Centre at Heathrow Terminal 3 (where I entered) and she said not to give it "a second of thought". Her answers were:

1) Seeing as it is very light/unreadable it might just be a mishap with the way the IO was holding the stamp
2) As I am a visa-national, the IO can't legally give me a visitor visa (code 5? n5? something 5)
3) They cannot unilaterally revoke/cancel my existing ILR just like that on the border

Also, I mentioned to her that on my landing card, i filled in '6 months' when asked for 'length of stay'. I always do this - as I always go somewhere on holiday twice a year and feel like I have to give a proper answer. She told me off and said that I shouldn't have done that and that I should have just put 'resident' when asked for length of stay. In any case, she said not to worry.

I feel somewhat relieved, though as this is all over the phone, the stressed and concerned immigrant in me wants to have something in writing! Should I ask for a second opinion? Should i call again asking for review of landing card/speak to Chief Immigration Officer?

Many thanks!

[Casa]

The 6 months on your landing card probably led the Immigration Officer to assume you were only visiting.

[uniriri]

yes - i know the error of my ways now! i was always unsure of how to handle that question and i have always put it down for the last 10 years i've been here!

on that note - should i call the immigration office again and request more information?

[redgirl]

Hello,

I have a not dissimilar question.

I received ILR in 2009 as a spouse when I was living in Birmingham. At the time I was a PhD student at a university based in Canada and obtained my degree in 2015. Although I was residing in the UK and held a home there for most of that time period (2009-2015) and still hold an address there, I made frequent trips to Canada throughout, especially towards the end of the study period when the visits were longer, in order to submit and defend my thesis. Because of the periods away, I decided to delay applying for citizenship for fear that I would not met the criteria.

In Oct 2011, I left the UK for a study trip in Canada. I returned in April 2012 and a "normal" stamp (without conditions) was added to my passport by the immigration officer. In June 2012, I briefly left the UK for a trip to France (2 days), when I returned, my passport was stamped as a visitor with the condition "leave to enter for six months: employment and recourse to public funds prohibited." At the time, I believed that, because I had not been away 2 years, I could resume my ILR privileges if I chose to make the UK my primary home again before the end of that 2 years. I was not working in the UK at the time so the condition did not seem to impact me immediately.

I have re-entered the UK on a couple of occasions since, living between Canada and the UK for the time during which I completed my PhD. My ILR has not been questioned. On these occasions, I entered the UK through Dublin (Ireland). I arrived at the Dublin airport and travelled to the UK by bus. Sometimes my passport was not stamped at the airport, other times it was stamped with the indication that I was travelling onward to Northern Ireland. My current address is in Belfast.

I wonder if the "visitor" stamp given in 2012 might pose problems in the future. I ask this now because I am considering being in the UK full time and eventually applying for British citizenship. Technically speaking, a UK immigration officer has never seen the passport since the 2012 visitor's stamp was added.

Of course, I want to avoid the "Returning Residents" route because I have read it is difficult to argue.

I appreciate your advice.

[Casa]

Hello,

I have a not dissimilar question.

I received ILR in 2009 as a spouse when I was living in Birmingham. At the time I was a PhD student at a university based in Canada and obtained my degree in 2015. Although I was residing in the UK and held a home there for most of that time period (2009-2015) and still hold an address there, I made frequent trips to Canada throughout, especially towards the end of the study period when the visits were longer, in order to submit and defend my thesis. Because of the periods away, I decided to delay applying for citizenship for fear that I would not met the criteria.

In Oct 2011, I left the UK for a study trip in Canada. I returned in April 2012 and a "normal" stamp (without conditions) was added to my passport by the immigration officer. In June 2012, I briefly left the UK for a trip to France (2 days), when I returned, my passport was stamped as a visitor with the condition "leave to enter for six months: employment and recourse to public funds prohibited." At the time, I believed that, because I had not been away 2 years, I could resume my ILR privileges if I chose to make the UK my primary home again before the end of that 2 years. I was not working in the UK at the time so the condition did not seem to impact me immediately.

I have re-entered the UK on a couple of occasions since, living between Canada and the UK for the time during which I completed my PhD. My ILR has not been questioned. On these occasions, I entered the UK through Dublin (Ireland). I arrived at the Dublin airport and travelled to the UK by bus. Sometimes my passport was not stamped at the airport, other times it was stamped with the indication that I was travelling onward to Northern Ireland. My current address is in Belfast.

I wonder if the "visitor" stamp given in 2012 might pose problems in the future. I ask this now because I am considering being in the UK full time and eventually applying for British citizenship. Technically speaking, a UK immigration officer has never seen the passport since the 2012 visitor's stamp was added.

Of course, I want to avoid the "Returning Residents" route because I have read it is difficult to argue.

I appreciate your advice.

This thread is over 12 months old! Please continue in your original thread.
http://www.immigrationboards.com/genera ... l#p1401838

[Rohullah]

Hi,

I received my ILR in January and have been in and out of the country w no issue. Last week, I return from a 2 week holiday back home and I notice that my entry stamp at heathrow has a very faint stamp on top which looks like a visitor visa "employment...recourse, etc" all faint but it seems like it. What do I do? After reading a few threads here I'm worried and scared. I am still working in the uk, I have a boyfriend and our flat

What can I do? Who can I call/talk to?

Hi uniriri,
I am in similiar situation as u were, can u plz let me know how did u sort it out, ur response will be highly appreciated.