10 year law full residence broken or not

[chandran_geek]

Dears,

I have been in UK since 2015 under various visas, ICT-Short Term, ICT-Long Term, Tier 2 Dependent and Skilled Worker.

Since i came to UK on Sep/2015 for the first time in ICT - Short Term and it had validity till 17/Aug/2016 however i returned to home country on 13/Aug/2016.
Later i applied for ICT - Long Term on Oct/2016 from home country and got visa validity from 20/Oct/2016 to 03/Nov/2021 in which i came to UK on 30/Oct/2016 and stayed till 08/Dec/2019 and returned to home country.
On the same month/year Dec/2019 i have applied tier 2 dependent from the home country and got the visa validity from 13-Dec-2019 to 15-Jul-2021 and came to UK on Dec/2019 and the remaining visa switch i have applied with in UK and stayed in UK without any leave till now.

my query is, have i broken the stay when i switched to ICT - long term visa during 2016? though i have returned to home country when the ICT - short term visa is still valid Aug/2016 however i have made the application for ICT - long term after the expiry of ICT-Short term visa is it considered as break in lawful residence?

Also does switching the visa even with validity outside the country is considered as resident break or not ?
as i switched to tier 2 dependent from ICT - long term outside the UK, even i had the valid ICT long term visa during the travel to home country and returned to UK with tier 2 dependent visa.

Your valuable advice would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,
C

[zimba]

None of those breaks your lawful residence as you left with a valid leave and returned within 6 months. Changing your visa route also has no effect.

Appendix continuous residence says:

Applications from outside the UK
In limited circumstances where a person had permission before leaving the UK and made a successful application from outside of the UK, it will not break the period of continuous residence.

Applications for permission that were made outside the UK on or after 26 November 2016 will not break the period continuous residence if:

•the applicant had permission when they left the UK and made a successful application for entry clearance before that permission expired
•the applicant had permission when they left the UK and made a successful application for entry clearance within 14 days of that permission expiring except for applicants applying under Appendix Long Residence
•under Appendix Long Residence, where the applicant had permission when they left the UK,and returned to the UK with valid permission in the same or another route, provided the applicant was not absent for more than 184 days where the absence started before 11 April 2024, or 180 days for absences which started on or after 11 April 2024, continuous residence is not broken

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... le-version

[Jumbolizard]

Does this only applies for absences after 26th of November?There is no exceptions for long residence route for absences before that.

[chandran_geek]

Thanks Zibma for the instant response.
i have the same question as Jumbolizard , on the attached notes, its mentioned that on or after 26/Nov/2016, would it affect my situation? as i did the visa switch between ICT Short term to ICT long term before Nov/2016.

Thanks in advance.

[zimba]

Under long residence, if you left the UK with a valid visa and returned within 6 months the lawful residence was always maintained. This was preserved even after the recent rule changes. This is not really about whether it was before or after November 2016. I know that does not seem quite clear in the continuous residence guide which I quoted from above, but the long residence guide refers to it:

Paragraph CR 4.1.(d)(iii) also preserves the position in the rules as of 10 April 2024 for applicants who had permission when they left the UK and returned to the UK with a valid permission, provided they do not exceed the limit of permissible absences.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... accessible

[chandran_geek]

Thanks Zimba, it is really helpful.

[Jumbolizard]

Thanks Zimba!

chandran_geek, I have similar situation. I will only be able to apply for ILR in December this year. If you are going ahead with your application, can you let me know please if your application will be successful?

[zimba]

Thanks Zimba!

chandran_geek, I have similar situation. I will only be able to apply for ILR in December this year. If you are going ahead with your application, can you let me know please if your application will be successful?

For the periods of absence started before 11 April 2024, the transitional arrangement maintains ALL the old rules regarding absences in place. So you do not need to worry about this

[chandran_geek]

Jumbolizard all the very best for your application. i would be applying only next year Aug as my UK stay starts from sep/2015.

Zimba i have a follow up question regarding the ILR for my spouse and first kid born outside UK, both of them are living with me in UK since 2018 continuously. i have got an advise from another sub group "British citizenship" that first kid born outside UK cant be register as British citizen directly after my ILR and needs to follow same path as my spouse, so when i apply for ILR do they qualify as well to apply for ILR? if not what is the way forward for my spouse and first kid to get ILR?

[zimba]

Jumbolizard all the very best for your application. i would be applying only next year Aug as my UK stay starts from sep/2015.

Zimba i have a follow up question regarding the ILR for my spouse and first kid born outside UK, both of them are living with me in UK since 2018 continuously. i have got an advise from another sub group "British citizenship" that first kid born outside UK cant be register as British citizen directly after my ILR and needs to follow same path as my spouse, so when i apply for ILR do they qualify as well to apply for ILR? if not what is the way forward for my spouse and first kid to get ILR?

The advice you got is correct. Your spouse can only settle if she has been under any dependent visa for a total of 5 years. Otherwise, she extends under her current route until she has 5 years. Then she settles using form SET(O) under the skilled worker route.

[chandran_geek]

Thanks Zimba, apologies for throwing more questions i would like to have very clear understanding of my situation before making any plans.
so she is holding skilled worker dependent visa valid until dec/2026, completing 5 years since 2021,
would it be valid after my ILR after Aug/2025? can she continue living in the visa till dec/2026? and apply for ILR on nov/2026?
same case for first kid born outside UK who is also holding skilled worker dependent visa valid till dec/2026, can he stay till the visa expires or would it become invalid after my ILR on aug/2025? would he also eligible to apply ILR on Nov/2026 when completing five years in dependent visa?

Kind Regards,
C

[zimba]

Their visas remain valid until expiry. Nothing happens after you get ILR. They both will remain under that route until they settle in 2026

[chandran_geek]

Thank you so much Zimba. Much appreciated.