SAR on ILR from 1988

[serenita]

Hi everyone

Question: can I use a Subject Access Request to find a record of being granted ILR 19 years ago? If so, which box should I tick on the application for? Would it be:

"Home Office Files (including port/NASS)" ..or
"Printouts from our computerised casework database"

.. Or should I just tick both to cover all bases?

Context: I've lived in the UK since 1982. My family and I were granted ILR in 1988 (I was 9 years old and the ILR stamp went into a 10 year passport I held till I was 19.) My country of origin (Finland) subsequently joined the EU so I/my family never needed to renew the ILR stamps as from 1995 we simply came and went as EU citizens with freedom of movement.

Post-brexit I want to have proof of the ILR. I haven't found the old passport with the ILR stamp, although I am still hopeful I might find it.

Many thanks in advance!

[physicskate]

You can certainly try!

By the way - you are older than you think. 2017 - 1988 = 29 years!

If they do not have the records (and I doubt they do) do you still have the passport with the ILR sticker? Have you been out of the UK for more than 2 years at any point?

It might be worth checking out what you would need to do to apply for a PR card under EU rules in case they come back with nothing...

[serenita]

Hahaha!! Thanks for pointing that out. I am older than I think, and also worse at maths than I thought Or maybe the first has to do with the second..

I also doubt that they have records from 30 years ago... but I guess it's worth a shot.

I can't currently apply for PR under EU route as I've had too many recent absences :/

The ILR would actually also be invalid due to ^^ absences but at least I would have a shot of applying from abroad as a returning resident in a worst case scenario.

My roots and family are in the UK, I've spent 30 of my 37 years of life in this country, paid tax/NI since I was 16, all my education and most of my working life have been here, my son was born here.. there's no other country I call home. And I'm about to be kicked out! It's like something out of kafka.

[physicskate]

Are you in the UK now?? How long is your latest stint? Have you been away for 6 months (or more) each year of the last 5?

Returning residents' visas are only sparingly granted. I've only heard of two in my 4+ years of following visas like a hawk. I wouldn't rely on it.

Get yourself back to the UK and apply for an EU RC as a minimum. Stay here for 5 years and apply for PR. A much safer route than relying on returning resident...

Really, in your situation you should have naturalised/ registered way back when for BC!!!

[serenita]

I am in the UK - I returned last July specifically because of the referendum result and not wanting to lose the right to live here, and have been working here since then.

I actually have an EU RC issued in 2009 (I applied because my my husband was applying for an EU family permit), but I've had absences of a total of 20 months since that was issued :/

...Yeah I should have naturalised - hindsight is a wonderful thing! But who would have predicted brexit?

I have a huge number of European friends & family members who have been here for similar lengths of time and not a single one has naturalised, except when there was a very specific need for it (eg joining the army/foreign service or sponsoring a spouse). Why would anyone pay over £1200 to sit a difficult test, go through an excruciating immigration process, send their passport to the Home Office for months on end, etc etc... for a British passport that they never thought they'd need?!

[serenita]

Have you been away for 6 months (or more) each year of the last 5?

No I haven't but I thought the upper limit was 450 days? I have definitely exceeded 450 days.

[physicskate]

Have you been away for 6 months (or more) each year of the last 5?

No I haven't but I thought the upper limit was 450 days? I have definitely exceeded 450 days.

So, just to confirm, you were absent from the UK for a whole two years between 1989 - present?

The application for EU PR suggests absences of more than 6 months in a 12 month period...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... _03-16.pdf

Try applying for PR if you have been absent for more than two whole years since you acquired ILR. It's only £65. but there is quite a backlog of applications because of brexit so the result might take a bit...

Have you been a qualified person for the whole of the last 5 years?

[serenita]

Firstly thanks so much for taking the time to advise me!

==So, just to confirm, you were absent from the UK for a whole two years between 1989 - present? ==

No, I've had much longer total absences since 1989. Off the top of my head, something like this:

1989 - 2006 UK resident 17 years with only short absences, holidays, never longer than 1.5 months
Jan 2006 - Aug 2008 - Long absence (31 months)
Aug 2008 - Sept 2014 - Normally resident (working + mat leave) but with absences:
2009: two work trips (employed by UK company), total 4 months
2010: several work trips (employed by UK company), total 5 months
2011: short trips, total maybe 6 weeks
2012 - sept 2014: very short absences, total maybe 4 weeks
sept 2014 - mar 2015: long absence 6 months
mar 2015 - jun 2015: in UK not working
jun 2015 - jul 2016: long absence 13 months
jul 2016 - date: in UK, working full time.

So I think I probably don't qualify for PR via the normal route!

[iworker]

since being a EU citizen, they dont stamp your passport.
If you have not been flying in/out, they may not have a proof that you have not been in the UK?
Maybe i am wrong.