10-year long residency-EA ends time enquiries

[Carrie9608]

Heard a lot of good things about this platform. So I am here to try my luck, thanks everyone in advance.Any comments will be appreciated.

It's a bit complicate but I will try to keep the story short.

1, I entered the UK on 21 September, 2016, with a T4 Student visa;
2, I got a T2 visa in earlier 2018 before my above T4 visa expired.
3, The company who sponsored my T2 visa went bankrupt in the end of 2018, subsequently i was unemployed but I remained in the UK until home office's curtailment letter arrived 18 months later,the curtailment letter stated my T2 visa was curtailed, it's going to be end on 23rd March, 2020.
4, While I thought I had to leave the country, pandemic happened, UKVI extended everyone's stay, include mine. I seized the chance filed application for another T4 visa in late June 2020. Got my second T4 visa in September 2022. valid til 26 March, 2022. ------Please be aware, between 23rd March til when i got my new T4 visa, there was a gap which could be referred as EA. My question is gap be taken into count of 10 years route?

5, After graduation, I acquired my PSW visa, which is my current visa. It ends on 7th of Jan, 2024.

6, I got married this year June, my husband is EU citizen with settlement status. and we meet all requirements needed to switch my PSW visa to spouse visa at the moment.

However, The time frame is a bit tricky,

To my calculation, the earliest I am qualified for the 10 years route is on 25th of Aug, 2026 ( include the 28 days prior period). while a spouse visa is 30 months, If I wait til 7th Jan, 2024, which is my current visa expiring date to submit my spouse visa application. then this spouse visa will be most likely ending in some time in July 2026. I will be 1 or 2 months short to qualify 10 years depending on visa processing speed.

AND, for what I heard, due to the new rule started in 12, april 2023, that period of EA I had back in 2020 during pandemic wouldn't be taken in for 10 years route calculation. I was told I would need to stay longer to make up the amount extension given to be qualified.
If this is correct. I wouldn't be just short for 1 month or 2, I would be needing another 8 months after my initial spouse visa to be eligible for ILR.

And we also know there is going to be a huge raise on IHS and visa application fees soon. I have to choose between:

a, apply immediately, so i don't need to pay the raised fee rate;
b, wait til Jan 2024, pay the raised fee rate, BUT ONLY IF there is a chance I could be eligible for ILR when my initial spouse visa end.

Would you guys share with me if there is any ways I could make b happen? I am really tired of visa application and actually do not mind pay a higher rate if it could save me from 1 more visa application.

Thanks.

[zimba]

The long residence rules changes are not quite clear on the exceptional assurance periods. Such periods are not excluded specifically at all under the rules. See Discussion. So you may or may not need to worry about the EA period being lawful or not

If you apply for a spouse visa using standard service in January and then delay the biometrics as much as you can, then your visa may be issued several months later. I believe you should gain several extra months this way to push your spouse visa issue date to close to the summer of 2024, so that visa period will be more than enough to get you to August 2026. So assuming no issues with the period of EA in 2020, then you should be able to get to August 2026 without any issues to apply under long residence

[Carrie9608]

The long residence rules changes are not quite clear on the exceptional assurance periods. Such periods are not excluded specifically at all under the rules. See Discussion. So you may or may not need to worry about the EA period being lawful or not

If you apply for a spouse visa using standard service in January and then delay the biometrics as much as you can, then your visa may be issued several months later. I believe you should gain several extra months this way to push your spouse visa issue date to close to the summer of 2024, so that visa period will be more than enough to get you to August 2026. So assuming no issues with the period of EA in 2020, then you should be able to get to August 2026 without any issues to apply under long residence

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Thank you Zimba, your response is gold !

or alternatively. Do you think if it's plausible if I exercise my Section 3C, leave the UK before my current visa ends , go back to my home country and wait 3 months, then apply my spouse visa there, come back within 184 days, that should give me a few months extra ?
I have plenty of absence days to spare, I barely left the UK in the past 7 years.

Also, quite coincidently, although I have had 4 visas in total from past( 3 applied within the UK, 1 applied in my home country), I have never asked to give my biometric information in the UK, so i am not familiar with the procedure in term of how long I get to delay it for? do we get to choose a date within a specific time frame?


Regards,

[zimba]

If you want to leave the UK and return with a visa, you should make sure to leave the UK BEFORE your visa expiry and return within 180 days to preserve the continuous residence for ILR under the long residence. This has nothing to do with Section 3C.

See: Online applications, UKVCAS appointments & BRP queries

You apply online and then get 45 days to book your Biometrics appointment. The visa application will be processed only after your enrol your biometrics

[Carrie9608]

If you want to leave the UK and return with a visa, you should make sure to leave the UK BEFORE your visa expiry and return within 180 days to preserve the continuous residence for ILR under the long residence. This has nothing to do with Section 3C.

See: Online applications, UKVCAS appointments & BRP queries

You apply online and then get 45 days to book your Biometrics appointment. The visa application will be processed only after your enrol your biometrics

-------------------


Thank you Zimba, very clear.

Wish you a great day.

[Carrie9608]

If you want to leave the UK and return with a visa, you should make sure to leave the UK BEFORE your visa expiry and return within 180 days to preserve the continuous residence for ILR under the long residence. This has nothing to do with Section 3C.

See: Online applications, UKVCAS appointments & BRP queries

You apply online and then get 45 days to book your Biometrics appointment. The visa application will be processed only after your enrol your biometrics

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Sorry Zimba, just another quick question.

Do I need to comply to the 39E, 14days restriction if I leave the UK, stays in another country and file the application. Do I still need to apply my new visa within 14 days after my previous visa expired?

Regards,

[zimba]

No. Paragraph 39E is not relevant when you leave the UK with a valid visa for the purpose of maintaining lawful residence under long residence

[Carrie9608]

No. Paragraph 39E is not relevant when you leave the UK with a valid visa for the purpose of maintaining lawful residence under long residence

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Thank you Zimba for your patience. really appreciate a lot. x

Regards,

[Carrie9608]

Hi everyone,

Firstly, thank you in advance for any feedback on my situation.

Here's the timeline:

I arrived in the UK on 21st September 2016 with a T4 visa, later switching to a T2 work visa before the T4 visa expired. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt, and my visa was curtailed until 23rd March 2020.

Before the visa deadline, COVID-19 occurred, leading to an extension of my curtailed visa (EA). I took this opportunity to enroll in a master's course at a university. I submitted my T4 application on 25th June 2020, about three months after my last visa expired. Despite starting my university course immediately after applying online, I only received approval for my T4 visa on 26th September 2020.

My first question is: How should my EA period be calculated? Is it from 24th March 2020 to 25th June 2020 when I submitted my new visa application online, or from 24th March 2020 to 25th September 2020 when I officially got my new visa? Did I have a three-month or six-month EA period?

I commenced my course right after submitting my visa application. After completing the course, I obtained a Graduate Route visa, and now I hold a spouse visa valid until 15th September 2026.

Before the new rules came out on 14th March, I thought I would still be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under the 10-year route before my current visa expires. I planned not to renew my spouse visa in 2026. However, it seems that EA will not be counted towards the 10 years of residency.

I understand that I could opt to trigger 3C Leave by delaying biometric enrollment for a certain period, typically 45 days. When switching from my Graduate visa to Spouse visa, I successfully extended this to 70 days. So, I'm considering if I might still have a chance if my EA period was only three months rather than six months.

Any thoughts on whether I can be eligible for ILR under the 10-year route without renewing another spouse visa? Thanks!

[Carrie9608]

Can anyone give some insights of the posted question? Any comments would be much appreciated.

I'm bit confused of the definition of the time between 24th Jan 2020 to 21 August 2020.
I thought it was considered as Exceptional Assurance, but when I looked back to the letter I received from home office in 2020, It stated as VISA EXTENSION, saying they have extended my current visa.

And I have seem that in the new rules when they mentioned EA, "After 1st September 2020" was frequently mentioned. It seems they are excluded the time mentioned above for some reason.

So I am wondering if my visa was extended, the time I spent in this extension period between 24 March 2020 to 25th Jan 2020( online visa submission date) would be count towards to lawful residency for 10 years long residency?


Again, I am very grateful of any output you can provide. Thank you.

[zimba]

Any migrant in the UK whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 July 2020 was able to request an extension if they were unable to return to their home country due to a COVID-19 lockdown. So if that was your case, you should be ok

EA was different. If at that time you could extend or apply for a new visa before the visa expiry after July 2020. If there was no pandemic, you were expected to either extend normally or leave the UK. However, you could not extend your visa before visa expiry as you did not have a legitimate reason to stay in the UK. The pandemic simply forced people to stay as they could not travel and so UKVI decided to provide protections against immigration enforcement so that you do not end up being detained or deported. However, this was NOT a form of visa or lawful leave such as an extension. This was just a protection against enforcement of the rules against a person staying unlawfully in the UK. People who could extend normally were free to extend their leave lawfully even during the pandemic.

The new changes cover this period under paragraph 39E, so they are going to disregard this period of unlawful stay for people so things will be fair. The only exception is the long residence rule where the paragraph 39E will not apply anymore. This means ALL provisions under paragraph 39E are ignored when applying under long residence. This means to qualify under the long residence, you need to have a full 10 years of LAWFUL residence in the UK and you no longer can benefit from provisions under the paragraph 39E. This is ONLY specific to the 10 year long residence route to ILR

[TPTPTPTP]

Honestly, most people are concerned whether the EA will break the continuous residence under the new rules, which you did not make it crystal clear. For example, I had no gaps between all my previous visas, all the visa applications were made in time (before the expiry date), except the EA period, which is 65 days from the expiry of the previous visa to the commencement of the next one. I would say that's the only advantage I will take from paragraph 39E, I agree these 65 days will be ignored under the new rules, but as I submitted my ILR application after 10 years and 4 month, it really shouldn't be a problem.

[Carrie9608]

Honestly, most people are concerned whether the EA will break the continuous residence under the new rules, which you did not make it crystal clear. For example, I had no gaps between all my previous visas, all the visa applications were made in time (before the expiry date), except the EA period, which is 65 days from the expiry of the previous visa to the commencement of the next one. I would say that's the only advantage I will take from paragraph 39E, I agree these 65 days will be ignored under the new rules, but as I submitted my ILR application after 10 years and 4 month, it really shouldn't be a problem.

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We are in similar situation. I have read your case and replied.

Apart from you made your application after 1st September which was definitely classified as EA time, however my application was made on 25 June 2020, prior to 1st September, 2020. Within 24th March 2020 to 30 July 2020. I'm not sure would that make any differences. But we do share some similarity in this.
It is quite frustrating living in unknown, if there is a clear saying to this we would happily endeavour other options instead of tangling in this.

[Carrie9608]

Any migrant in the UK whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 July 2020 was able to request an extension if they were unable to return to their home country due to a COVID-19 lockdown. So if that was your case, you should be ok
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Thanks for replying Zimba. That's indeed my case. It happened in the period of time you mentioned above.

My T2 visa was due to expire on 23rd March, 2020, I applied for extension, before extension ends, I submitted my T4 visa application on 25th June 2020. Although I only got the T4 visa approval on 26th September 2020.

Please allow me to confirm with you of this again:

Is my stay in the UK between 24th March to 25th June 2020 can be considered as lawful stay?
Can this period of time be added to the calculation for ILR under 10 years long residency route ?

x

[TPTPTPTP]

Any migrant in the UK whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 July 2020 was able to request an extension if they were unable to return to their home country due to a COVID-19 lockdown. So if that was your case, you should be ok
--------------------------------
Thanks for replying Zimba. That's indeed my case. It happened in the period of time you mentioned above.

My T2 visa was due to expire on 23rd March, 2020, I applied for extension, before extension ends, I submitted my T4 visa application on 25th June 2020. Although I only got the T4 visa approval on 26th September 2020.

Please allow me to confirm with you of this again:

Is my stay in the UK between 24th March to 25th June 2020 can be considered as lawful stay?
Can this period of time be added to the calculation for ILR under 10 years long residency route ?

x

In my view, it should be added to the qualifying period as what you received was an extension rather than the EA. It's advisable to check whether the Confirmation of Visa Extension you received explicitly states, "I can confirm that your current leave in the UK has been extended in the same category, with the same relevant conditions, until 31 July 2020. In granting this extension of leave..." If so, you held valid leave, although not extended through a formal visa application. Nevertheless, it remains valid leave, and you were not overstaying unless the UKVI changed their stance.

[Carrie9608]

Any migrant in the UK whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 July 2020 was able to request an extension if they were unable to return to their home country due to a COVID-19 lockdown. So if that was your case, you should be ok
--------------------------------
Thanks for replying Zimba. That's indeed my case. It happened in the period of time you mentioned above.

My T2 visa was due to expire on 23rd March, 2020, I applied for extension, before extension ends, I submitted my T4 visa application on 25th June 2020. Although I only got the T4 visa approval on 26th September 2020.

Please allow me to confirm with you of this again:

Is my stay in the UK between 24th March to 25th June 2020 can be considered as lawful stay?
Can this period of time be added to the calculation for ILR under 10 years long residency route ?

x

In my view, it should be added to the qualifying period as what you received was an extension rather than the EA. It's advisable to check whether the Confirmation of Visa Extension you received explicitly states, "I can confirm that your current leave in the UK has been extended in the same category, with the same relevant conditions, until 31 July 2020. In granting this extension of leave..." If so, you held valid leave, although not extended through a formal visa application. Nevertheless, it remains valid leave, and you were not overstaying unless the UKVI changed their stance.

---------------------------
Thank you for your output on this, really appreciate it a lot.

Like everyone else, my first extension was given til 31 May 2020. In the email it says:

"your leave has been extended under existing conditions until 31 May 2020. You will not be regarded as an overstayer or suffer any detriment in any future applications. "

The second extension was applied on us automatically. UKVI put an announcement on gov. website, in the announcement they advised us not to send any emails to apply for extension, says our stay will be extended automatically. Therefore I didn't get the second extension email. but filed my application before the announced date ends.

I have checked many places, it seems not many people in the exactly the same boat as me. Even an immigration lawyer told me " i have to do some homework on this"...

[zimba]

They did not grant automatic extensions per se, they extended a grace period until August 2020 and said you do not need to contact them to leave the UK in that period. By the end of August, they introduced the exceptional assurance and the rest is history

Once the temporary policy came to an end (31 July 2020), the Government then implemented a grace period up to the end of August 2020. In practice, this meant that those migrants whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 August 2020, and had made the decision to leave (rather than extend their visa, or apply for a new one), had the month of August to prepare and leave the UK.

The Home Office also stated at this time that “you do not need to contact the Home Office to tell us you are able to leave the UK during the grace period up until 31 August 2020. If you intend to leave the UK but are not able to do so by 31 August 2020, you may request additional time to stay, also known as ‘exceptional assurance’, by contacting the coronavirus immigration team (CIT)”.

[Carrie9608]

They did not grant automatic extensions per se, they extended a grace period until August 2020 and said you do not need to contact them to leave the UK in that period. By the end of August, they introduced the exceptional assurance and the rest is history

Once the temporary policy came to an end (31 July 2020), the Government then implemented a grace period up to the end of August 2020. In practice, this meant that those migrants whose visa expired between 24 January 2020 and 31 August 2020, and had made the decision to leave (rather than extend their visa, or apply for a new one), had the month of August to prepare and leave the UK.

The Home Office also stated at this time that “you do not need to contact the Home Office to tell us you are able to leave the UK during the grace period up until 31 August 2020. If you intend to leave the UK but are not able to do so by 31 August 2020, you may request additional time to stay, also known as ‘exceptional assurance’, by contacting the coronavirus immigration team (CIT)”.

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I am not sure what policy the UKVI carried out after 31st July. 2020, or if the grace period will apply to people automatically.

I do know regard to the first extension that ends on 31st May 2020. You did need to write an email to home office to apply for extension. which i did. after that you will receive an email tells you that your visa extension has been granted.

visa extension til 31 May

The second extension was build upon the first one. calling for those "who has not yet contacted them to fill out a form"
Further VISA extension

Those two announcements explicitly calling this "visa extension". Which is to extend your current leave, means I should get to enjoy all the rights from the current(previous) visa .

And like you mentioned before visa extension is totally different as to EA , while EA is not any form of visa or LEAVE. Hence why' some people got rejected on ILR, or unless they waited longer to cover the time they spent on EA.

That's why I can't see a reason why time spent between 24th March 2020, to 25 June 2020 wouldn't be counted into 10 years long residency. This period of time should be deemed as legal residency without no doubt. If home office says otherwise, I am ready to go to court with them.

Thank you Zimba. Again, you are very helpful.

[zimba]

Yes. Your case has nothing to do with exceptional assurance at all. This means yours is not the same as others