General UK immigration & work permits; don't post job search or family related topics!
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chickpea
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by chickpea » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:33 pm
Hello All,
A friend of a friend is out of the UK. She is American with ILR via a British spouse. She has lived here 17 years, and travels in and out frequently.
She does not have a BRP (my understanding is that - like me - she did not know she needed one and hasn't been told to get one). Her ILR proof is in an older expired passport. She is currently out of the UK in the US and has LOST the old passport. She has no BRP for proof of ILR. She is due to fly back Sunday 24/9.
What should she do? Come into the UK and try explaining her situation then hope they allow entry with condition to apply for BRP? Or is it best to apply for the transfer of visa out of the country? From some quick research those seem the only two options.
Thanks in advance for advice.
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chickpea
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by chickpea » Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:56 pm
BUMP... for the evening crowd. It's a pretty simple question, hopefully someone has an answer.
There are a few threads regarding lost BRPs that are somewhat helpful, but this is not a BRP replacement this is a lost passport with vignette visa!
The best case is that they try to return to the UK and explain the situation but if anyone has any idea how difficult that could prove to be, please do reply!
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chickpea
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by chickpea » Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:11 pm
One more bump, because surely someone has an answer or at least a suggestion?? Thx.
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Aleksej2008
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by Aleksej2008 » Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:47 am
Hi
First point of call would be your embassy in America to see if they can issue temporary / permanent passport, your friend might? have to travel back to her own country if temporary passport is issued to get things sorted, for ILR she must contact the British Embassy in USA to see if they can issue a replacement, you must report the loss of a passport and ILR to the police (you will be given a crime number) also the home office and your own passport office in your country.
I am not an expert but this is my view on how to do things.
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bibbledybob
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by bibbledybob » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:10 pm
I know the friend too and she got back into the UK without any problems. She found a photo of her ILR visa in an old email and showed that. The Border Control Officer said she had never needed to carry the original when travelling. He advised her to call the Home Office which she did the next day. They also told her she was fine as even though she didn't physically have the ILR visa she still had it on the system.
She tried contacting the US Embassy in London to report her old invalid US passport (with the ILR visa) as lost but never managed to speak to anyone.
She can still travel without physically having the ILR so she can still go on an overseas trip this month.
She is looking into the BRP application or (and this would be the better choice) getting British Citizenship.
From all the stories I've seen here, she has been incredibly lucky.
