Hi,
I have just successfully made an application on this basis. When I was preparing my application I had the same concerns and it was incredibly difficult because there really isn't a lot of information on applications on this basis. So hopefully this is helpful to anyone in the same situation.
My case:
2005 - Arrived in UK age 11 and overstayed. Went to high school, college, and university
Feb 2018 - age 23 so applied as I've spent more than half my life (12 years) in UK
December 2018 - granted leave to remain. So you'r possibly looking at 10 months wait
1) Make sure your calculation is right.
If you came to the UK in May 2007 - you will have spent 11 years and 8 months in the UK as of Jan 2019.
If you are exactly age 24 and not a month or day older, as it stands, you have not spent half your life in the UK to qualify for this category.
This site can help you calculate
https://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html
First calculate how many years, months and days old you were when you entered the UK. Then calculate how long you've been in the UK for. If the time you've been in the UK is the same or greater than your age when you first arrived AND you are still between the age of 18-24 you can rely on this ground.
For example, if you were 12 years and 6 months old when you arrived, you will not be able to rely on this ground because by the time you've spent half your life in the UK (12 years and 6 months) you will be 25. So make sure you were under 12 years and 6 months on the day you arrived in the UK even if its only by a few days AND apply before your 25th birthday.
2) Is your residence continuous?
You have to have been living in the UK continuously. This means you must not have left the UK for more than 6 months and when you left and came back you had a valid visa.
For example, I arrived on a 6 months visitor visa in 2005 and went back a year later in 2006 but my residence was not broken because I had a new valid visa when I left and came back.
3) Evidence
The only evidence of relevance here is evidence of residence in the UK.
I included bank statements only as evidence of residence in the UK. I didn't include any financial evidence to prove sponsorships - they could have been giving you cash, how do you prove that. I just stated how much I was receiving per month and from whom. That section wasn't very comprehensive - I merely stated that I was getting money from friends and families and dropped a couple of names. It really has no bearing on the decision process provided you don't say you were working or claiming benefit when you shouldn't.
The only evidence concerning third party/sponsor that I provided was water bills and council tax from the family friend I was living with to prove it is her property I am staying in.
Types of Evidence
- Passport - strongest proof that you haven't been out of the country
- Schools - letters, attendance report, progress report, exams result, awards, certificates, etc
- I wrote to high school to request letter confirming the duration that I was a student and made subject access request to have all my results and attendance sent to me
- I understand your concerns about including university degree but my lawyer said it was okay and I included it in my application and nothing bad happened. Can't say whether or not they'll contact the school. If they did it will probably be to verify the degree and that you were indeed a student. They may ask the university how you were able to enroll but that's the uni's problem, not yours. You already have your degree, so there's not a lot that can be done. If you were still studying, I have heard of HO contacting universities to remove the applicant from the course.
- Bank statements - very useful gap fillers
- Baptismal classes and records - you can ask the church for this - they keep the records.
- Phone bills
- Pictures - especially if dated
- GP letters, vaccination records etc.
YOU NEED TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE COVERING EACH WHOLE YEAR NOT JUST FOR THREE MONTHS.
I know this can be difficult especially when its been over 10 years and lost some documents and letters but just try and cover as much months as possible. This is why school evidence is so important. One letter that I was a student at my high school from 2005-10 pretty much covered me for those years, so I didn't have to worry about finding a letter for every single month of those years. Any letters I could find were just supporting evidence.
ARRANGEMENT OF EVIDENCE IS IMPORTANT
The people looking at your application are normal people just doing a job. They are not specialist and expert - HO makes a lot of mistakes - so arrange your evidence with that in mind. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to follow your evidence. Think of them as children who needs lots of direction and guidance before making a decision.
Buy some clear plastic pocket/sleeves, paper clips and sticky tape/paper.
On each plastic pocket stick a paper on it and label it a particular year, i.e. 2007, 2008, or 2007 - 2008, 2008 - 9, etc.
After that in each year's plastic pocket put evidence of your residence for that year in it starting with the earliest month - so for year 2007, any evidence you have from May onwards to December, secure them with a paper clip and put it in a plastic pocket labeled Year 2007. Do the same for the rest of the years you've been in UK starting from January to December.
Once you've done this, arrange the paper pockets from the earliest to later years - 2007 to 2019.
4) Application
Send a cover letter with your application - Think of this as a job app
- State what you're applying for
- Explain evidence you've provided for each year - also mean you have detailed records of everything you sent in case they lost some things.
- any questions you could not answer in application form - explain here
5) After Applying
From my experience it only took a few days to receive letter to register biometric.
No interview or further evidence was requested - very important you provide as much evidence as possible but be careful you don't provide something that will compromise your application
You can pay for premium but it's highly unlikely a decision will be made at the interview since this application is outside the rule and a lot of the evidence provided will need to be verified. You're better off spending the money on a lawyer. I used a lawyer just to be on the safe side but I personally didn't feel the lawyer contributed greatly to the application. I did the legwork and arranging of evidence, the lawyer only wrote the cover letter. It is also good to already have a lawyer in your corner in case it is refused.
If you're refused you're generally given opportunity to leave voluntarily and appeal outside the country.
Anyway, hope you find this helpful - I know its long lol.
