Eligible for ILR?

[fabflower]

Hi team,

Firstly a timeline of my immigration history:
20.03.2009 - 31.10.2011 Tier 4 student Visa
04.10.2011 - 28.09.2013 PSW Visa
04.10.2013 - 25.08.2015 T2 General visa
08.05.2015 - 18.11.2015 EEA family member (refused)
27.11.2015 appeal lodged
16.01.2017 first tier appeal hearing date (I applied via my solicitor to extend the date)
I never got the outcome of this extension. My next correspondence from HO was to attend a reporting centre in April 2017. I reported quarterly
07.01.2019 Applied for FLR(FP) basis of a 7 year old child
15.08.2019 FLR(FP) granted valid till 02.2022

Question: as per my timeline, can I apply for ILR?
I believe I qualify under the 10 year continuous residence rule... my issue is regarding "lawful residence" as I cannot account for the period of my appeal hearing. I never got the outcome of the hearing and cannot determine if this is a break in lawful residence.
Also does anyone know which team to contact to btain the outcome of the appeal? I have emailed customer.service@justice.gov.uk and got no response
Thirdly if I applied for ILR and it was refused, will my FLR(FP) be affected?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

[secret.simon]

EEA family member

What was the basis of your EEA family member application? Was it as the spouse of an EEA citizen? If it was any other basis, then you are likely not eligible for ILR.

EEA applications do not extend Section 3C leave. Therefore, assuming that you were not married to an EEA citizen, you were an overstayer from the time your T2 General visa expired in 2015 till January 2019.

ILR (LR) requires 10 years of continuous legal residence. And the continuity of your residence was broken.

[fabflower]

Thanks for your response secret.simon

Yes it was as a spouse of an EEA citizen. The application was refused with right to appeal. The outcome of this appeal I do not have.

[fabflower]

Can any other moderator please assist with my questions.

thanks

[secret.simon]

When and where did you marry the EEA citizen? If in the UK, was it a marriage at a registry/civil marriage?

[fabflower]

We got married 18.10.2014 at the registry. Ceremony was outside the UK. we got divorced in 2017

[zimba]

Here is what the long residence guide says:

Time spent in the UK does not count as lawful residence under paragraph 276A of the Immigration Rules for third country nationals who have spent time in the UK as:
• the spouse, civil partner or other family member of a European Union (EU) national
• an EEA national exercising their treaty rights to live in the UK but have not qualified for permanent residence
• former family members who have retained a right of residence

During the time spent in the UK under the provisions of the EEA regulations, the individuals are not subject to immigration control, and would not be required to have leave to enter or leave to remain.

However, you must apply discretion and count time spent in the UK as lawful residence for an EU or EEA national or their family members exercising their treaty rights to reside in the UK. Sufficient evidence must be provided to demonstrate that the applicant has been exercising treaty rights throughout any period that they are seeking to rely on for the purposes of meeting the long residence rules.

You need to show (with evidence) that your ex-partner was exercising treaty rights in the period you had no UK leave. The question is why your EEA residence application failed.

[fabflower]

Thanks Zimba, this is very useful piece of information.

The EEA application was refused for a number of reasons, the poignant one being that my ex-partner had been previously married to another lady and had not waited to obtain the decree absolute before re-marrying. This led to the breakdown in the marriage.
This was also the basis of my appeal, as I was not aware of my ex-partner's circumstances.

what is the implication of this in relation to exercising treaty rights?

[zimba]

No relation. The point is that you need to show your ex exercised treaty rights. If you cannot, then you cannot get ILR under the concessions I quoted above

[fabflower]

Thanks Zimba.

It feels safer to just wait for 5years on FLR(FP) as I dont have the outcome of the appeal.

Thanks all for your assistance

[zimba]

Thanks Zimba.

It feels safer to just wait for 5years on FLR(FP) as I dont have the outcome of the appeal.

Thanks all for your assistance

You often have to wait for 10 years under FLR(FP) routes

[fabflower]

My understanding was that you could apply for ILR after 5 years if you met the financial requirement under FLR(FP)

[fabflower]

as a parent of a child who is British/ settled. correct me if i'm wrong

[zimba]

as a parent of a child who is British/ settled. correct me if i'm wrong

No you are correct. FLR(FP) covers a wide range of categories and some have 10 year requirement but not the parent. Parent is 5 years

[fabflower]

Brill. Thanks guys