****LONG POST ALERT BUT I PROMISE I AM FOR REAL****
First time posting, long time spectator. Thank you to every posts and posters that I've come across over the years that have given me some peace of mind one way or another. If I'm doing anything odd/incorrect, please do kindly let me know!
Long residence route has been in the back of my head for a while, had a feeling the other day that I should start crunching those absence numbers so I did and it came to 539 days over the past 9-ish years! Gave me a shock but glad that I didn't go ahead and buy those flight tickets to Japan... I guess it's only Scotland distillery tours and Snowdonia hikes from now on until further notice.
So, I've been reading the guidances, the Rules, and doing draft applications to see where I'm at, what needs prepping, etc. As a result, I have got some queries, which I will be more than grateful for some discussion of sorts!
Some details of my situation:
- First entered the UK on 2 Sept 2010. Preparing for SET LR to be filed Sept 2020. (Yes, I understand the rules might change by then so will need to keep a close eye out anyway).
- Always departed the UK whilst leave is still valid and re-entered with leave to enter/existing leave to remain.
- Had Tier 4 (Child) [A-levels], Tier 4 (General) [Uni], Another Tier 4 (General) [GDL law course], then Tier 5 YMS [GAP YAH], then now on Spouse (unmarried partner) [devoted partner, working cat-mom, and studying part time Masters] - pretty typical if you ask me.
- Absence days: is there a Rule that says UKVI actually really only care about "whole days absence" (i.e. departure date and return date don't count) when it comes to SET LR? I read in several blog posts that this is the case. Read "Indefinite leave to remain: calculating continuous period in UK Version 18.0", which mentions "whole days absence", but also specifically mentions LR guidance is separate from this guidance. I simply cannot find the authority that supports the "whole days absence" i.r.t. LR and am extremely anxious.
- Documents: I'm surprised by how few documents are required. I did a draft application form and the documents asked for are simply passport(s), BRP, Life in the UK test cert, degree certificate for Eng language, and proof of relationship for the past 2 years. Is that really all?! I paralegal-ed for a bit before and I remember the 10-yr LR cases were always SO complicated, with binders and binders of documents giving evidence of residence for each year over the past 10 years despite meeting the absence days requirement. Was that all for naught? Were they lying to me and were just trying to get more billable hours for documents collation? Why did they tell me to stick with the firm produced document lists and guidelines and said that the Immigration Rules do not contain everything? Where is everything then if not the Rules? Why did I not rebel and become a more efficient person? I'll leave some of these questions for my therapist of course.
- Last one: following on from above, any idea why the relationship evidence is required and should I look to Appendix FMSE for reference even though the SET LR should not be judged based on the FMSE requirements? The entire point of ILR sooner instead of waiting out the 5-yrs under spouse route is such that it'll be assessed differently, it seems a bit counter-intuitive that they're then asking for relationship evidence for a non-family members route. The concern here is the standard of proof required here for the relationship/cohabitation aspect - we switched over all our joint-named bills to electronic form and essentially everything gets sent electronically to us these days. I know these are admissible but they'll always have a risk of not being accepted as they're technically not "originals" and I just don't like taking this kind of risks with applications.
Thanks,
F