Indefinite Leave to Enter

StaceyWarman · Post by **StaceyWarman** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:23 pm

When my fiance has been granted Indefinite Leave to Enter - should he have a stamp in his passport or will they do that when he gets to the UK? Will he have to get a visa or is the letter from the home office enough? Should he take any additional documents to the airport with him?

Thanks in advance

StaceyWarman · Post by **StaceyWarman** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:37 pm

Please can someone help me!!

Thanks

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:54 pm

I take it that your fiancÃ©'s application hasn't been processed yet?

Normally, I think, there is a sticker placed in the person's passport, which will give a date, the date being the last day on which the person can enter the UK on that visa. The visa in the passport ought to be enough to keep the airline check-in staff happy and it will allow entry into the UK.

Post by **vinny** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:43 pm

Sample

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:12 pm

Christophe wrote:I take it that your fiancÃ©'s application hasn't been processed yet?

Normally, I think, there is a sticker placed in the person's passport, which will give a date, the date being the last day on which the person can enter the UK on that visa. The visa in the passport ought to be enough to keep the airline check-in staff happy and it will allow entry into the UK.

I ought to add, because what I wrote may not be clear, that once a person with a visa giving indefinite leave to enter has entered the UK, he or she has indefinite leave to remain: the date on the visa then becomes irrelevant â€” in other words, the leave doesn't end on that date, the leave is indefinite (i.e. without time limit), and the date is merely the last date on which the visa can be used to make a first entry to the UK.

StaceyWarman · Post by **StaceyWarman** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:10 pm

Thanks for your replys. Will he get his stamp when he lands in the UK or will the stamp it at the home office before they send it to him?

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:09 pm

Well, presumably the sticker will be placed in the passport by the embassy, high commission or consulate that is processing the application â€” this will be before he embarks on his journey to the UK. The passport will, I imagine, be stamped (with an ink date stamp) by the passport control officer on his arrival in the UK.

StaceyWarman · Post by **StaceyWarman** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:38 am

Well apparantly - i'm being told that my boyfriend will have a letter with him and when he lands in the UK - they will scan some barcode thats on the bottom of the letter and all his details will come up in the system and then they will stamp his passport and let him in. But it sounds a bit dodgy that he won't have any travel information in his passport

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:16 am

StaceyWarman wrote:Well apparantly - i'm being told that my boyfriend will have a letter with him and when he lands in the UK - they will scan some barcode thats on the bottom of the letter and all his details will come up in the system and then they will stamp his passport and let him in. But it sounds a bit dodgy that he won't have any travel information in his passport

I suspect that you are worrying unnecessarily. The visa is not an unusual one, so we must presume that the authorities know what they are doing. Where is your fiancÃ© applying from and what nationality is he?

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:25 am

Hi there:

Sorry to jump in into this topic, but I am in a simillar position and would appreciate any advice about my case.
I was granted indefinite leave to enter to the uk on the 23/06/08 valid until 23/06/10 to join my unmarried partner in the uk. My query is:
Could I apply for indefinite leave to remain as soon as I get back to the uk or do I have to wait until the end of the 2 years?

Many thanks in advance.

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:48 am

weldsousa2007 wrote:Hi there:

Sorry to jump in into this topic, but I am in a simillar position and would appreciate any advice about my case.
I was granted indefinite leave to enter to the uk on the 23/06/08 valid until 23/06/10 to join my unmarried partner in the uk. My query is:
Could I apply for indefinite leave to remain as soon as I get back to the uk or do I have to wait until the end of the 2 years?

Many thanks in advance.

Once you have entered the UK on the visa (i.e. between the two dates), you have indefinite leave to remain. The second date (i.e. 23 June 2010) is merely the last date on which you could use the visa to enter the UK for the first time. (In other words, "indefinite leave to remain" is called "indefinite leave to enter" when it is granted outside the UK.)

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:04 am

Thanks Chirstophe for the prompt reply.
You said I would be granted Indefinite leave to remain as as I enter the uk. But do I have to do anything or apply for anything to get it??? And the next step, when will I be able to apply for natrulisation??
Thank you.

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 1:51 pm

weldsousa2007 wrote:Thanks Chirstophe for the prompt reply.
You said I would be granted Indefinite leave to remain as as I enter the uk. But do I have to do anything or apply for anything to get it??? And the next step, when will I be able to apply for natrulisation??
Thank you.

I don't believe that you do need to anything else. Others will correct me if I'm wrong.

As to the time frame for naturalisation, if you're married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, you can apply for naturalisation after three years residence provided that you have indefinite leave to remain on the day that you make the application. (You don't need to be married/in partnership for the three years, just when the application is made.) Otherwise, you need to have five years' residence in the UK. In addition, you need to fulfil the other criteria â€” see this page and related pages from the BIA website.

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:59 pm

Thanks again Christope for your relpy. I am back to the uk today and had no problem getting through immigration. They have confirmed to me what you said, it's just I'm still confused to when do I qualify to natrulise ??
I would appreciate it if you could clarify that to me.

Thank you

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:05 am

weldsousa2007 wrote:Thanks again Christope for your relpy. I am back to the uk today and had no problem getting through immigration. They have confirmed to me what you said, it's just I'm still confused to when do I qualify to natrulise ??
I would appreciate it if you could clarify that to me.

Thank you

I'm glad that you arrived in the UK without any problem.

To answer your question, basically you could apply for naturalisation after 3 years' residence in the UK if you are married or in a civil partnership with a British citizen (at the time of application) or after 5 years if you are not. This is, as you see, a few years down the line, so you will need to see what the situation is nearer the time.

There are other criteria that you need to fulfil apart from length of residence, including passing the Life in the UK Test: have you looked at this page and related pages from the BIA website?

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:47 pm

There are other criteria that you need to fulfil apart from length of residence, including passing the Life in the UK Test: have you looked at this page and related pages from the BIA website?

I did look at the web page and I think you are right. So my previous 4 years residence in the uk wouldn't count towards the qulifying period for natrulasation( overstaying). I will have to wait another 3 years by the look of it. It's just the incovience of having to apply for a visa every time I want to travel to Europe. Anyway thanks again for your help. I can now relax and forget about immigration issues for a while.
Cheers!!

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:57 pm

Either way, you're going to be eligible to apply sooner (after 3 years or after 5 years) without taking into account any previous, unlawful period. As you say, you can relax now for a while.

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:11 pm

Christophe wrote:Either way, you're going to be eligible to apply sooner (after 3 years or after 5 years) without taking into account any previous, unlawful period. As you say, you can relax now for a while.

I don't remember where I read it, but I think I do qualify after holding an Indefinite Leave to remain for one year. You can correct me if I am wrong.

Cheers!!

Post by **vinny** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:42 pm

You must satisfy all the requirements, where one of which is holding ILE/ILR.

Christophe · Post by **Christophe** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:19 pm

weldsousa2007 wrote:I don't remember where I read it, but I think I do qualify after holding an Indefinite Leave to remain for one year. You can correct me if I am wrong.

Cheers!!

No, people applying for naturalisation must have held indefinite leave to remain for one year at the time of application: I think that is where you got that from. The minimum time of legal residence in the UK is five years, with ILR held for the last year (as a minimum).

The exception is those applying on the basis of marriage to or civil partnership with a British citizen, as noted earlier, but the qualifying period of residence is then three years (with ILR held at the time of application).

weldsousa2007 · Post by **weldsousa2007** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:31 am

Thank you for the clarifications.

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Indefinite Leave to Enter