Long Residence ILR at PEO Croydon, Gap problem

[Liberal Immigrant]

hi people,

am writing this topic on behalf of my friend, i will use "I" instead of "him" so as to avoid complicating things. here "I" go:

I came to UK in 1998, was here as a student for 7 years, then in 2005 I applied to WorKPermitsUK for a WP whilst I still had 1 month leave left on my student visa.

Unfortunately WorkPermits UK took 2 months in approving my application; thereafter I sent my passport to the Home Office so as to extend my leave as a WP holder. there was no problem and i was granted extension of 5 years as a WP holder.

This week, I went to PEO Croydon to apply for long residence ILR. The unhelpful caseworker said "there is a break" bcoz, according to him, I had no valid leave for the 1 month whilst WorkPermitsUK were considering my WP application.

Now i was of the opinion that WorkPermitsUK being part of the Home Office meant that when I applied to WorkPermitsUK, my leave was automatically extended until they processed my application. am i right or wrong? if im wrong, then im screwed and my clock has been reset, in which case, is there anyyyyyyyyy thing at all i can do to get them to grant me ILR?

how could i have been here illegaly for that 1 month and more importantly if I had no valid leave for that 1 month, then why did the home office proceed to grant me the 5 year extension?

[William Blake]

It does happen that people do get a grant of leave after overstaying.

HO would want to see the month as a gap but you should most definitely still apply and ask for discretion to be shown regarding the month - explain the gap. If refused appeal on the basis that the discretion should be applied differently also on article 8 - right to private life.

Work permit folks are different to the work permit visa people. So applying for the work permit has no effect on your leave to remain.

[jes2jes]

hi people,

am writing this topic on behalf of my friend, i will use "I" instead of "him" so as to avoid complicating things. here "I" go:

I came to UK in 1998, was here as a student for 7 years, then in 2005 I applied to WorKPermitsUK for a WP whilst I still had 1 month leave left on my student visa.

Unfortunately WorkPermits UK took 2 months in approving my application; thereafter I sent my passport to the Home Office so as to extend my leave as a WP holder. there was no problem and i was granted extension of 5 years as a WP holder.

This week, I went to PEO Croydon to apply for long residence ILR. The unhelpful caseworker said "there is a break" bcoz, according to him, I had no valid leave for the 1 month whilst WorkPermitsUK were considering my WP application.

Now i was of the opinion that WorkPermitsUK being part of the Home Office meant that when I applied to WorkPermitsUK, my leave was automatically extended until they processed my application. am i right or wrong? if im wrong, then im screwed and my clock has been reset, in which case, is there anyyyyyyyyy thing at all i can do to get them to grant me ILR?

how could i have been here illegaly for that 1 month and more importantly if I had no valid leave for that 1 month, then why did the home office proceed to grant me the 5 year extension?

I am sorry to hear of your friends predicament. The first point in applying for ILR was to make a SAR request and be aware of the gap. Then he could have applied by post with a note to explain the 'reason for the gap' and hope the CW would use their discretion.

Your friend should be grateful at least he has to wait two more years and apply for ILR based on the WP. Others don't get this option.

Ignorance of the rules I am afraid is not an excuse. It is the applicants sole responsibility to make sure that they have a valid LTR at any point in time. WP applications and LTR applications are two different animals. If he had filled the FLR(IED) application form at the time of the WP application, he would have been covered. Sorry!!

He has two options:
1. Apply again by post and make the payment and ask the Sec of State (CW) to use his/her discretion and see what happens. No gurantees though. He can be granted ILR or be refused. One of the two!

2. Wait and use the WP when the 5 year anniversary is up and apply for ILR. Two years would come!

Bye for now!

[gainvidya]

Any idea what exactly in SAR can help us to understand if there is a GAP as per HO in last 5 years?

[jes2jes]

Any idea what exactly in SAR can help us to understand if there is a GAP as per HO in last 5 years?

A print out from GCID would show date of submission of each application for renewal and it will also say whether the application was in-time or out of time.

[Liberal Immigrant]

hi people,

am writing this topic on behalf of my friend, i will use "I" instead of "him" so as to avoid complicating things. here "I" go:

I came to UK in 1998, was here as a student for 7 years, then in 2005 I applied to WorKPermitsUK for a WP whilst I still had 1 month leave left on my student visa.

Unfortunately WorkPermits UK took 2 months in approving my application; thereafter I sent my passport to the Home Office so as to extend my leave as a WP holder. there was no problem and i was granted extension of 5 years as a WP holder.

This week, I went to PEO Croydon to apply for long residence ILR. The unhelpful caseworker said "there is a break" bcoz, according to him, I had no valid leave for the 1 month whilst WorkPermitsUK were considering my WP application.

Now i was of the opinion that WorkPermitsUK being part of the Home Office meant that when I applied to WorkPermitsUK, my leave was automatically extended until they processed my application. am i right or wrong? if im wrong, then im screwed and my clock has been reset, in which case, is there anyyyyyyyyy thing at all i can do to get them to grant me ILR?

how could i have been here illegaly for that 1 month and more importantly if I had no valid leave for that 1 month, then why did the home office proceed to grant me the 5 year extension?

I am sorry to hear of your friends predicament. The first point in applying for ILR was to make a SAR request and be aware of the gap. Then he could have applied by post with a note to explain the 'reason for the gap' and hope the CW would use their discretion.

Your friend should be grateful at least he has to wait two more years and apply for ILR based on the WP. Others don't get this option.

Ignorance of the rules I am afraid is not an excuse. It is the applicants sole responsibility to make sure that they have a valid LTR at any point in time. WP applications and LTR applications are two different animals. If he had filled the FLR(IED) application form at the time of the WP application, he would have been covered. Sorry!!

He has two options:
1. Apply again by post and make the payment and ask the Sec of State (CW) to use his/her discretion and see what happens. No gurantees though. He can be granted ILR or be refused. One of the two!

2. Wait and use the WP when the 5 year anniversary is up and apply for ILR. Two years would come!

Bye for now!

and wot exactlty was he supposed2write in the FLR(IED) form......that he may or may not be approved by the WPUK people but that in the meantime his leave should be automatically extended? extended as wot? a student or a WP holder? at that point, he had ceased being a student but nor was he a WP holder bcoz WPUK were still considering whether to grant him a WP.

please clarify how he was meant to ensure he had valid Leave whilst he had applied for WP approval to the WPUK.

many thanks.

[William Blake]

Sometimes if one does not have a document such as say when one is awaiting an new passport or document from abroad one can submit the application in time with cover note explaining when the docs will be forwarded.So he could have submitted the application to be decided pending the work permit approval.

But that won't help you now. Just go ahead with the application and expalin the case and ask for discretion.

[paulp]

Liberal Immigrant's friend has already tried and been refused. He can try his luck again. It all depends if he falls on a lenient case worker.

[Liberal Immigrant]

Liberal Immigrant's friend has already tried and been refused. He can try his luck again. It all depends if he falls on a lenient case worker.

strictly speaking, the docs were retained by the PEO: it is now going to be considered by a senior caseworker.

hence my search for arguments i can present so as to ensure ILR is granted.

[paulp]

strictly speaking, the docs were retained by the PEO: it is now going to be considered by a senior caseworker.

hence my search for arguments i can present so as to ensure ILR is granted.

Unfortunately (since 04), the work permit was separated from leave to remain, application for WP did not benefit from Section 3(c) extension of leave, and it was a period of overstay.

Here, I think it would be better to stress the contribution of the applicant to the UK.