How exactly is this fair?

[n1213]

I entered the UK from Canada on a 5 year intra-company work permit early Nov 2005, with the expectation that in my fourth year I would be able to apply for and get ILR.

Obviously this has changed now so that I can only apply for ILR after 4 years and 11 months. What I don't understand is why the .gov changed the rules retroactively.

I came to this country with a specific expectation that after x amount of time, I could progress through the naturalization process. Subsequently, I've paid my taxes (well into 40% bracket), behaved myself and have integrated well into British society. Yet the .gov seems to want to penalize people like me?!

If this was a matter of an increase in fees to get ILR it would be a different matter, but to ask for an extra year means putting off my long term plans of buying a house for another year. I've saved, have a deposit ready, but don't feel that getting a mortgage while on a work permit is financially responsible. Let's not talk about delaying my marriage plans also for a year.

What will have to happen now is that I will need to get some form of 1 month extension in my visa/wp and then apply for ILR the next month? This is absurd! I see that the rules for HSMP have been changed slightly so that people on HSMP before a certain date can still apply for ILR after four years. Does this take effect for WP holders also? If not, then why not?

Is going to my MP a good next step to try and correct this unfairness. The government and I entered into a contract of sorts with certain expectations. I committed 4 years of my life to fulfilling the governments expectations, and now it tells me it is not good enough, and I need to pay for an extension, and then spend another year on "probation"?

Am I the only one in this situation?

[jei2]

Absolutely not!

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=19561

There's also a possibility that this 5 year rule might be challenged so keep an eye on the forum.

[RobinLondon]

I hate to write this, but you may be beating a dead horse. We here at this forum have been going nuts debating this issue since March 2006 when the change was first announced. You can find a massive thread on this subject here:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... hlight=ilr

Many of us have requested help from our MPs, but the Home Office has refused to budge. There was a Judicial Review on the issue last December, but the Home Office won their argument. So unless there is some carry-over benefit from the recent HSMP-applicants case, there's unlikely to be any change. Particularly for those whose original four-year initial visas have already expired or are soon to do so.

So, as a Canadian with full voting rights in the UK, you might want to consider your full range of choices when you head off to the polling station today.

[jei2]

RobinLondon,

I agree with much of what you say I've said as much in other threads. The Home Office will definitely want to dig their heels on this one and its only the lucky triers who will get through at this stage.

Having said that, it ain't over till the fat lady sings! I think when we start to see the domino effect of some of these changes, the government might have to back track or introduce some palliative measures to help retain its HSMs.

[n1213]

jei2:

Lucky triers? There are some who have got through?

[RobinLondon]

At this point, no one has "got through" since the very limited "transitional measures" ended at the end of April 2006. In order to stay legal in this country, to keep working, to allow our children to stay in school, everyone (WP holders, HSMP holders, Ancestry visa holders) has had to pay for a one-year extension. I have a paper trail dating back to February 2005 on this issue between me, my MP and three (!) Home Office ministers, and I'm telling you that if you want to maintain some level of stability, you'll pony up for the extension and get ILR next year.

The other option, and you're more than welcome to do it, is to NOT file for the extension using FLR(IED), but to apply solely for ILR using form SET(O). You will be refused, guaranteed, and then the road to your court case will begin. The difficulty is that the situation is ambiguous. The Judicial Review from December 2007 said that the Home Office had the right to change the residential qualifying period and impose a Life in the UK exam. However, a Judicial Review lodged by HSMP applicants that was decided in March 2008 stated that the Home Office did not have the right to tinker with the points-awarding system previously in place that adversely affected current residents. The decision did not explicitly mention a remedy for the 4-->5 year change.

So I don't know what to recommend to you. If you can handle the ambiguity of not knowing your status in the UK for a couple of years, give it a try. If not, suck it up and apply for the extension. It's really a personal decision. In my case I applied for the extra year last year and will apply for ILR in 57 days. I did not do it happily, and I'll be forever po'd. But this is a decision that you need to make for yourself.

[jei2]

At this point, no one has "got through" since the very limited "transitional measures" ended at the end of April 2006.

That's a very assumptive statement. See my earlier thread above.

As I said - the lucky triers..

[n1213]

It is really bizarre that the government would want to penalize people who are obviously properly employed and paying taxes.

I mean a WP requires you to have a sponsor company that feels you are worth the cost and effort of applying for a WP. This obviously means the WP holder is educated and mostly law-abiding, and will either seek to make the UK their home, or leave back to their country of origin after the WP.

In some ways WP holders are the most stable kind of immigrants... as with what used to be the HSMP, you didn't need to hold a job to be in the country.

It makes absolutely no sense! There has to be somebody to take this case to if MPs are mostly powerless. Has anybody thought of approaching the EU?

Honestly, if I didn't just waste the last three years of my life here, I'd be upset enough to leave this country. The .gov does not deserve the tax I pay.

This is not about the letter of the law as the HO is claiming they have the right to change the laws retroactively... It is a matter of bloody common sense, and the HO does not seem to have any in this case.

[RobinLondon]

At this point, no one has "got through" since the very limited "transitional measures" ended at the end of April 2006.

That's a very assumptive statement. See my earlier thread above.

As I said - the lucky triers..

I presume that no one has got through based upon the very clearly worded correspondence that I have received from the Home Office on this specific issue. However I reserve the right to be wrong. If any WP/HSMP/AV can hold his/her hand up and legitimately and honestly say that he/she received ILR after lodging an application based on four years' residence since, say, June 2006, I'd love to hear about it. Seriously.

In the case that you cited above, "softboy" applied for ILR based upon 5 years WP. His issue was that he had a six-month gap in between. In his case, the HO exercised discretion in his favour regarding the gap. However, his stated residential period dates were at least five years apart.

I get that you're extremely annoyed about this, n1213. Particularly if you've just heard about it. Most of us here have had a collective moan and engaged in various proactive responses (see www.vbsi.org.uk). But after two years, many have just moved on. It doesn't mean we're any less angry, but sometimes there are battles that you just can't win. To quote Kenny Rogers:

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.

This is the last comment I'll post on this topic. But whatever you choose to do, I wish you all the best.

[n1213]

RobinLondon:

Thank you for the discussion and well wishes. You are right, need to fight the right battles. I'll take it as far as my MP does, but with the expectations that this will go nowhere.

[jei2]

I'm sure there's a definition for the word lucky somewhere...

[JAJ]

I entered the UK from Canada on a 5 year intra-company work permit early Nov 2005, with the expectation that in my fourth year I would be able to apply for and get ILR.

Obviously this has changed now so that I can only apply for ILR after 4 years and 11 months. What I don't understand is why the .gov changed the rules retroactively.

Because they felt like it.

No-one coming to the United Kingdom (or any country) on temporary status can have an automatic entitlement to settlement. It always depends on the rules at the time.

Incidentally, a British citizen working for 5 years in Canada on a work permit would not be entitled to any automatic "graduation" to permanent residence.

[global gypsy]

Because they felt like it.

Well, if they randomly change rules (that too with retroactive effect), they can (and should) be taken to court. Government, Home Office etc. are just a bunch of people like you and me, not some amorphous god-like entity that has to be bowed to.

[JAJ]

Because they felt like it.

Well, if they randomly change rules (that too with retroactive effect), they can (and should) be taken to court. Government, Home Office etc. are just a bunch of people like you and me, not some amorphous god-like entity that has to be bowed to.

They can do what they like provided it is authorised under the Immigration Act 1971.

[Frontier Mole]

There is an easy solution - UK plc only lets our non EEA immigrate population have ILR based on the country of origin. If it takes 10 years for UK citizen in Canada to get ILR that is the best deal you get as a Canadian citizen in the UK. Seems fair to me!

An impossible system to mange and never will it see the light of day. However a reasonable response given the relentless bleating from those that object to UK plc managing our own affairs / country.

It is a constant amazement to me how non UK citizens believe they have the right to dictate what is good for them is good for us. Take a look round the world, there is plenty of it, if you are unhappy with the UK preferably go and live / work some where else.

Long live UK plc and all those that float / drown in the bureaucracy of our wonderful nation.