10 years residency help

[Bry]

Hi all

I'm due to apply for my ILR next month based on 10 years residency. Will my wife also be elligible to apply as my dependent? She is currently on a dependent visa and has been in the UK for 5 years.

[stedman]

Yes, she is eligible for ILR as your dependent.

[raniwza]

Hi

Let's say i am eligible to apply for a long residence next year in September (2007); what happens if i have had in the past of 9 months non-stamp in the passport? But i never left the country to be safe.

I have stayed on because I was advised to do so until the visa was sorted out and I was told I was still staying in the UK legally during those 9 months because the process was under appeal. So finally i fed up, instead having my husband to be the main holder of the visa, i took over with a fresh application explaining that i was frustrated and didn't feel safe without a stamp visa apart from informing them i have a good track record of progress of my education in the UK from 1997 with evidences - i was doing my masters full time anyway at the time so in 2 weeks i got my student visa instead of that dependant. I was advised to withdraw my husband's application so i did.

Will this incident affect my 10 year eligibility? I was informed that i was in the country legally although there is hardly evidence apart from the letter asking me to withdraw my last application as a dependant to my husband's. I however have been studying full time and enrolling as an overseas student and paid full oveseas fees anyway. Will this effect my ILR application next year?

Thanks
rani x

[John]

Stedman, I don't agree that the wife of Bry will be able to get her ILR as a dependent of Bry under the 10-year heading. She has only been here 5 years, we are told, and so does not qualify to get ILR under that heading.

Bry, can you post your wife's full UK immigration history please.

raniwza, as long as you have been legal at all times when in the UK during the 10-year period you should not encounter a problem.

i have had in the past of 9 months non-stamp in the passport

Sorry, what does that mean? Do you mean that the stated expiry date on the previous visa had passed and there was no new visa in place? If that is what you mean then we need to establish this ..... was the application for a new visa made before the expiry date of the old visa?

raniwza, it might be a good idea if you posted your full UK immigration history.

[Bry]

John - My wife visa has been 4 years as student and a year on dependent visa.

My other question is how long before my 10 years residency I am apply for my ILR?
I've read that you can only apply on exactly 10 years since you arrived here, but some people say that you can apply 28 days before.

[ppron747]

Note 4 of the application form says

"...For applications in the long
residence category, you must complete at least 10
years. Please do not apply more than 28 days
before completing the qualifying period. If you
apply earlier than that, your application is likely to
be refused."

[sraboni123]

I am in a dilemma and would appreciate it if anyone could advise on this:

My situation
1) came as dependent of father who is diplomat and exempt from any limitation or condition of stay in uk.
2) after 6 years in service dad retired and he didnt change his status
3) he just stayed on and we as his dependents didn't change our status.

Now we've been here for 10 years and my dad and us are established, my question is would the last 4 years count towards the 10 year long residence? We are also planning to go to PEO office direct, do you think this is straightforward case. This is so confusing, and any advise on this would be much appreciated.

[John]

You have posted this same query on another Board, and I have just posted a reply there. To encourage discussion here I shall now post the same :-

I am not totally sure about this, and you may need to seek professional advice before submitting an application.

On the IND I have found this document. Part of that reads :-

12. Diplomats who cease to be exempt from immigration control

12.1 Persons who are entitled to exemption from control under s.8(2)-8(4) of the 1971 Act (as amended by the 1988 Act), and who subsequently lose that claim to exemption (eg diplomat leaving employment), do not commit any offence under the 1971 Act if they fail to apply for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. Except in serious cases of overstaying, the objective will be to regularise their status by granting 28 days' leave (or some other period if they apply and are found eligible).

This seems to suggest that whilst no offence has been committed all of your family are serious overstayers ... for years. I hope I am wrong about that ... other opinions most welcome .... but do seek professional advice!

Of course if it is the case that you are all overstayers then it is not possible to make a 10-year application.

[sraboni123]

Thanks John,

For your advice, we are seeking advice, I don't understand what they mean by the 28 days when we apply bit on the passage you provided?

Anyone who has been in the same postion - would appreciate anything else we should do?

[ppron747]

I think the point is that, because diplomats are exempt from control under the Immigration Act, then when they stay on after they cease to be exempt, they're not actually committing an offence (unlike other overstayers) because their former exemption means that they were never given a specific time limit. They haven't therefore stayed longer than their permission allowed - because the exemption meant that there was no permission to start with. (Phew...)

But the fact remains that diplomats should either leave the country as soon as the posting finishes, or they should seek permission to stay on, if they're eligible to do so under the normal provisions of the Immigration Rules.

So I think that what para 12.1 is saying is that, normally, an overstaying ex-diplomat should be brought within the ambit of the Immigration Rules by granting him 28 days leave to remain, and that he should leave before that period expires, unless he qualifies to stay for some other reason.

Although - due to a technicality - you haven't committed an offence, IMO you have not been here lawfully since your father's posting came to an end, and I think it reinforces John's view that you need serious professional advice.

[sraboni123]

Thank you for explaining, it makes sense. We did sought advice when dad retired, and at the time we were told to wait for 10 years. And now we're starting to realise that was a mistake. Would anyone know a good lawyer - cause all the ones we've been seeing obviously dont seem to have a clue.

I do have one question around the 7 year concession rule. I have a younger sister who came to uk when she was 3 and now shes 13, she spent most of her life here - given that the 10 year is looking bleak would there be a way to apply under this for my parents?

[raniwza]

John,

Thanks a lot for paying attention. I am hoping to apply for the 10 year long residence status within 28 days to 7 September 2007 (I got into the immigration system/UK from 7 September 1997). My following history;

1997-1999 Student Visa A-level Sudent in Harrogate, UK

1999-2003 Student Visa BA (Hons) Business Studies (Major in Finance in Carlisle Campus, UK - Sandwich degree with 1 year student workplacement in a company in Stockton-on-Tees, UK

2003-2005 Dependant Visa (1 year on my husband and then, we tried to extend our status, his Student Visa was rejected; as a result, we were on appeal process for about 9 months, hence no stamp on passport BUT we decided that I take up his place, becoming the main visa holder after that because I was in full time education doing MSc in Business Economics anyway in Manchester during this period. We were informed during the appeal process that we were considered legally stay in the UK because of we were in an appeal process but we are not sure now if we are going to have trouble with the Home Office since we were ignored for 9 months (when applying for PR next year). During this 9 month period without a valid stamp on passport, we never left the country to avoid any immigration problems.

2005 to date ACCA full time in Manchester (Finishes in September 2007 if first time passes).But the Student Visa was finally awarded to me in July 2005 (We were asked to withdraw my husband's pending application so that my new status can take place) until End of August 2006. I however changed my tuition provider (however progressed/passed my allocated papers for the first semester and now in second semester with a different provider). I have wrote to Home Office to inform them this (email and postal). My current college is better than the last one in terms of facilities and lectures, hence the reason I moved.

Will I have problem in extending my student visa this August 2006?

What if I will only be granted a student visa until End of August 2007, can i still apply for PR because my 10 year eligibility is on 7 September 2007, i presume?

If yes, how? Do i have to send the application by post?

I am hoping to get workpermit.com to handle my case because there is a lot of going on here.

Will i be successful in getting the PR?

Will my link to my relatives (diplomat family with a PR of over 30 years) help me? And other families in London?

In terms of evidences of paperwork, do i need to contact all my schools and colleges/universities to produce a special letter for me for the Home Office or would it be enough to have A-levels/degrees certificates presented to them? It's going to be a lot of work trying to get the colleges/university to write i think.

Please help me-we are so keen to stay in the UK especially when knowing it would be a lot easier to get a good job with all of my qualifications and experience - i have a couple of temporary experiences in line with my studies and conform to student visa (according to recruitment agencies) but ONLY if i don't have restriction to work i.e.requiring a work permit.

HELP WILL BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED.

Thanks
Rani
P/S I have not been out of the UK more than 3 months at a time, in fact the longest i may have out of UK is 2 months

[costa]

Why not apply a PhD degree and accordingly you can extend your visa for at least 2 year or more (depend on the wordings of the offer for the duration period). Basically home office will be very difficult to find excuse to reject such application unless the lack of financial evidence.

Please correct me if I am wrong, within current immigration rules for student visa, if you just change the school from A to B for full-time education, you don't have to notify Home Office.

Your first priority is to review whether your stay since the first time to enter the UK has been all lawful and continuous. If so, then it will make sense to continue your study in the uk and hopefully reach 10-year requirements.

But as John referred before, once you get ILR, your spouse will not get ILR but being issue a 2-year probationary visa (and need to pay another application fee for submitting another correct form at the same time.) instead.

[raniwza]

Hi Costa Thanks for the respond

I didn't really want to continue PHD because i find it is impractical of where i m hoping to be by the end of next December, which is a fully qualified chartered certified accountant (ACCA). Hence I have a continuing visa until this August 2006, then i'll have to extend visa for further papers on ACCA until next September, then i may be eligible for the permanent residency.

At the moment, i m hoping somebody can guide me to the right lawyer because i'd like to be safe getting the PR after all the hardwork to stay and work in UK for our future. There are lots of accounts opportunities, unfortunately shamefully employers just don't want the hassle to get the work permit for you; they prefer to take less qualified people than me even if i meet the requirements to have the work permit.

Anyway, i wrote to home office to inform my change of college to stay out of trouble and now i m hoping that i won't fail papers in future but i find ACCA is really hard. I have done so well not failing any papers so far in my past educations and i m working hard to get there; to be part of UK.

John, are u a lawyer, can you help me? Are my details ok for the PR status?

Thanks
rani x

[Bry]

Hi there

I have another query:

Can I submit my wife's application for a spouse visa at the same time as time? I am intending to go in person. Can my wife also come along?

Thanks