Post
by HSMPgirl » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:47 pm
I called the Home Office helpline again, and a second caseworker emphasized that I am eligible to apply on the visitors' visa now, because the visitors' visa was still valid at the time (i.e. 6 months had not yet elapsed) - I repeated the question a number of times and she had the same answer. She even told me to book the life in the UK test ASAP.
Also it was a multiple-entry visa valid for 5 yrs...
By the way I couldn't apply on writers and artists until now, because in 2002 I switched to student, then switched to work permit in 06, etc...
There is some new guidance in the HO website, which has an example:
"A person enters the UK on 1 September 2004 with entry clearance as a student which is valid until 31 October 2005. On 25 October 2005 (before the previous leave expired) the person departs the UK. On 5 January 2006 the person re-enters the UK with valid entry clearance as a student. Will the person’s continuous residence be deemed to be broken?
No. Because the person had valid leave on the date of their departure and the date of their return and the time spent outside the UK was less than 6 months, continuous residence has been maintained, even though they re-entered with a fresh grant of leave."
So the HO woman on the helpline said that because I left the UK before 2 December 1999, by getting the visa on 16 November (48 hours after landing in my home country) I did not break my leave - she said that ANY period of stay, including visitors' visa, counts as "leave to enter".
Even in the worst-case scenario, if the visitors' visa ends the minute one steps outside the UK, there is another paragraph in the guidance:
"If an applicant has a single short gap in lawful residence through making one single previous application out of time by a few days (not usually more than 10 calendar days out of time), caseworkers should use discretion granting ILR, so long as the application meets all the other requirements."
In this case, the "gap" would be 48 hours, as I could not have made the appointment at the British embassy the minute I stepped off the plane, but it was as close as possible to that moment!
So my y query is, can/should I apply now, and highlight that portion of the new guidance in my application?
Thanks!!