Policy statement on the 5-year immigration plan?

hsmphopeful · Post by **hsmphopeful** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:48 am

Dear Moderators,

What are your opinions on when we should expect a policy decision regarding whether HSMP/work permit holders who have arrived in UK before the 5-years residence rule is introduced will be able to obtain ILR after 4 years of residence? Would you expect this to happen?

My guess would be that this is a 50/50 case...

Many thanks.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:01 am

No one would be able to say this with 100%.

My guess is 99.99% anyone who entered before the election would still be able to get their ILR in 4 years (At least for WP guys).

Post by **John** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 11:46 am

My guess is this is the way it will work. The initial visa will still be for one year. After that, currently, there is a three-year extension. At a particular point in time that will become a four-year extension period.

It will be possible to apply for ILR near the end of that extension period, be it three years or four years.

That is, I don't expect those already with a three-year extension visa to be affected by the change of rule. IND will not want to be bothered with lots of applications adding a further year to any three-year visa already in existence.

When will the change from a three-year extension to a four-year one take effect? Who knows? All the Government has done is announce a plan for the next five years, and no real clue as to when the various parts of that plan will be introduced.

Why do I think this will be the plan? There is a precedent ... up to 31.03.03 spouse visas were for one year ... as from 01.04.03 they were issued for two years. However those already holding a one-year spouse visa did not need to apply for a further one-year visa ... they could simply apply for their ILR near the end of their spouse visa.

infoatltd · Post by **infoatltd** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:35 pm

What about WP holders who have usually managed to get an initial LTR for 5 years since 2002?.

hsmphopeful · Post by **hsmphopeful** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 7:37 pm

All,

Thanks for the opinions. So hopefully those with the 3-year extensions (like me) can expect to be able to apply for ILR at the end of these 3 years.

Here is another question for us to speculate on: the 5-year plan is expected to move some of the requirements from the citizenship application to the ILR application (ie. English fluency). The strategy says "we will bring the settlement criteria closer to citizenship criteria" which I understand means it will be more difficult to obtain ILR but once you have got ILR it will be easier to obtain citizenship.The plan further says that the Government actually encourages permanent residents to apply for citizenship.

So, would this mean that one will be able to apply for citizenship after 6 instead of 5 years residence as is the case now when that part of the plan is implemented (ie. 4 years for ILR + 1 year with ILR before you can apply for citizenship becomes 5+1)?

infoatltd · Post by **infoatltd** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:36 am

I understand that the Home Office have already started to modify the letter given to HSMP holders on the occasion of getting a 3 year extension. Instead of saying that you can apply for ILR when the 3 year extension is over they now say you can apply for another extension of your LTR.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:47 am

Well then that nearly confirms ILR period for HSMP holders would be 5 years in future.

fadibatti · Post by **fadibatti** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:55 am

Hello All -

I got my three years extension in May 2004. The HO letter that I have says that I can apply for an ILR after completion of three years.

If the 5 years rule is in place, it may not be applicable to the existing 3 years LTR holders. However this is just my guess.

In order to verify that , I cannot find any "Update" anywhere in the HSMP leaflet and/or at IND website ???

Does anyone have any link to verify all that ??

Thanks

Fadibatti

hsmphopeful · Post by **hsmphopeful** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:07 pm

Fadibatti

This is all speculation at the moment - we are just guessing how things may go. We won't know until an official statement is made, and when it is made it will surely be on the website. It is also unknown when it would be made, because the "5 year plan" has no deadlines/specific dates in it. My guess is that those who have the letter mentioning ILR may be able to apply for ILR at the end of the 3 year period, while those who don't have such a letter (including myself) may have to apply for another FLR before being able to apply for ILR. I am sure it is not a problem for those who have the 3 year FLR, just an extra year of living with limited leave to remain

SidB · Post by **SidB** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:52 pm

I know its all up in the air and nothing is concrete at the moment but am just wondering how WP holders who switched to HSMP will / can be affected by this.

I was on a work permit for 2 years and switched to HSMP a few months back. If the rule change comes in before my 3 years FLR extn and the rule change is as is anticipated here (i.e. grant a 4 year FLR instead of three), it might leave ppl who've switched at a disadvantage.

Any ideas how they might structure such cases?

Sid

Post by **John** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:08 pm

Sid, I think that is a very good point you make. Hopefully the detailed regulations, when they appear, will provide some sort of protection for people in your circumstances.

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

Policy statement on the 5-year immigration plan?

Policy statement on the 5-year immigration plan?

What about WP holders who switched to HSMP?