overstayer

[nunja28]

i need help i have been here since 1999. i came here on a visitors visa but decided to study. it was too late to apply for a student visa so i decided to overstay. after college i managed to get a job which am still doing now and have reached the position of manager. three years ago i had a daughter with my then girlfriend who is a british citizen and so is my daughter. i do give money to her mother every month and go and see my daughter every other weekend because i do shifts at work. i want to apply for indefinite leave to remain as my daughter is growing up and am limited to what i can do with her. considering my circumstances do you think i have a good change. i am going to see a solicitor next week so would appreciate a quick response. thank you

[Mr Rusty]

considering my circumstances do you think i have a good chance.

No. I hope you get an honest solicitor who gives you a realistic assessment before he takes any money off you.

[nunja28]

considering my circumstances do you think i have a good chance.

No. I hope you get an honest solicitor who gives you a realistic assessment before he takes any money off you.

thank you for the reply but i dont accept that there has to be something i can do. i have been here for 10yrs and i was in college for 2 yrs been working for 8yrs which means i have been paying tax as well. i am from a commonwealth country so i vote. i have a new type full uk driving licence. i have bank accounts and credit cards and even a loan. i have fully integrated into the british society. so there has to be a way. thank you

[Siggi]

Nunja28,

Don't delude yourself you are in a very serious position and even with a dishonest solicitor, your chances of normalisation, given the facts you have presented are not good at all.

Your best chance would have been marriage to your British girl friend, but I suppose that avenue is closed to you now.

The other option you have is to wait it out for a few more years.

As matter of interest, what is your nationality?

Good Luck

[drjabberwocky23]

I think that you're in a very difficult position. Unfortunately for you, the UKBA/Home Office probably will not see your work experience as a reason for you to remain in the UK. Under the current Immigration rules, you may have been able to apply for ILR after 14 years of unlawful stay in the UK (at the discretion of the Home Office), but it is looking very likely that that loophole may well be closed in the near future.

I think you should seek legal advice regarding the fact that you have a daughter in the UK, but as you're not currently in a relationship with her mother, even that avenue looks to be closing.

I don't know if there is a satisfactory solution for you, as you have unfortunately managed to wind up working illegally in the UK also. Your employer may well end up with a fine for employing you once the facts come to light, which then leaves your own employment status on dodgy ground.

Sorry, but I'm afraid that the situation doesn't appear particularly hopeful for you at present.

[nunja28]

Nunja28,

Don't delude yourself you are in a very serious position and even with a dishonest solicitor, your chances of normalisation, given the facts you have presented are not good at all.

Your best chance would have been marriage to your British girl friend, but I suppose that avenue is closed to you now.

The other option you have is to wait it out for a few more years.

As matter of interest, what is your nationality?

Good Luck

i am from Ghana and i am sure even though i am in a bad position each case is looked at on an individual bases. it maybe a long stretch but it is still a 50/50 chance. has there not been any instances where someone was given leave to remain with my circumstance or similar?

[Siggi]

Nunja 28,
HO might tell that they look at each case individually, but doubt it.
Best bet in my humble opinion is to wait it out for 14years and then try your luck, other wise I think you risk deportation.

[Wanderer]

Can't he apply for rights of access to a child? It's not ILR but DL or whatever replaced it isn't it?

[gordon]

Here are the requirements for access to a child; the clauses in boldface might rule out this option for the OP.

Requirements for leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a person exercising rights of access to a child resident in the United Kingdom

248A. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to remain in the United Kingdom to exercise access rights to a child resident in the United Kingdom are that:

(i) the applicant is the parent of a child who is resident in the United Kingdom; and

(ii) the parent or carer with whom the child permanently resides is resident in the United Kingdom; and

(iii) the applicant produces evidence that he has access rights to the child in the form of:

(a) a Residence Order or a Contact Order granted by a Court in the United Kingdom; or

(b) a certificate issued by a district judge confirming the applicant's intention to maintain contact with the child; or

(c) a statement from the child's other parent (or, if contact is supervised, from the supervisor) that the applicant is maintaining contact with the child; and

(iv) the applicant takes and intends to continue to take an active role in the child's upbringing; and

(v) the child visits or stays with the applicant on a frequent and regular basis and the applicant intends this to continue; and

(vi) the child is under the age of 18; and

(vii) the applicant has limited leave to remain in the United Kingdom as the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom who is the other parent of the child; and

(viii) the applicant has not remained in breach of the immigration laws; and

(ix) there will be adequate accommodation for the applicant and any dependants without recourse to public funds in accommodation which the applicant owns or occupies exclusively; and

(x) the applicant will be able to maintain himself and any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... les/part7/

[pjoshi007]

Hi There,

If you were on a student visa from the begining you could have got your ILR after u completed 10 years in the country. But because that's not the case, you can apply for ILR once you have completed 14 years in the country irrespective of your status in the country (Legal or illegal).

It will help if you have a daughter and u still meet her.Even if u don't meet her for any reason or are not in good terms with her mother it won't affect your application.

It surprises me how u managed to get NI number and a driving lisence while being on visit visa?!

If you don't get caught to the immigration officers and manage to spend 14 years then no one can stop you from becoming a permanent resident.

[drjabberwocky23]

Hi There,

If you were on a student visa from the begining you could have got your ILR after u completed 10 years in the country. But because that's not the case, you can apply for ILR once you have completed 14 years in the country irrespective of your status in the country (Legal or illegal).

It will help if you have a daughter and u still meet her.Even if u don't meet her for any reason or are not in good terms with her mother it won't affect your application.

It surprises me how u managed to get NI number and a driving lisence while being on visit visa?!

If you don't get caught to the immigration officers and manage to spend 14 years then no one can stop you from becoming a permanent resident.

I don't think that the last statement is quite true. I thought that either the 14 or 10 year long residence rules for ILR were still applied using a caseworker's discretion.

[Mr Rusty]

Hi There,



It surprises me how u managed to get NI number and a driving lisence while being on visit visa?!

If you don't get caught to the immigration officers and manage to spend 14 years then no one can stop you from becoming a permanent resident.

As previously pointed out, the 14-year concession is discretionary, "no-one can stop you" is a gross over-simplification, and in 4 years time it may no longer be available to the OP.

I don't suppose he'll admit it, but the NINO and the driving licence will have been obtained by some form of documentary fraud - either a false passport or false stamps in his own passport.

He has virtually no legitimate expectation of being granted leave to remain here, and should bear that in mind before paying over several hundred pounds for the application and several hundred more to a solicitor.

[ci07jjs]

I don't think that the last statement is quite true. I thought that either the 14 or 10 year long residence rules for ILR were still applied using a caseworker's discretion.

not sure about the 14 years one.

but 10 years is not down to discretion of the caseworker. It is part of the rule - as long you have lived in the country legally for 10 years then the applicant is eligible.

[Wanderer]

Also let's not forget if the OP has ever been served with removal or deportation papers even without his knowledge then his 10 year and 14 year ILR clocks stop there and then.

[drjabberwocky23]

I don't think that the last statement is quite true. I thought that either the 14 or 10 year long residence rules for ILR were still applied using a caseworker's discretion.

not sure about the 14 years one.

but 10 years is not down to discretion of the caseworker. It is part of the rule - as long you have lived in the country legally for 10 years then the applicant is eligible.

Fair enough. But I do believe the 14 year rule is discretionary.