British overseas citizens

[penanglad]

>10. WORK PERMITS ISSUED TO BRITISH OVERSEAS CITIZENS
>OR BRITISH PROTECTED PERSONS
>A British Overseas Citizens or British Protected person who
>presents a work permit should be given indefinite leave to enter.

No replies to my previous enquiry, so here's what I've been able to find out so far.

I spoke informally to an immigration solicitor who said that the easiest way to apply would be to get a BOC passport (I currently travel on a Malaysian passport) and present my work permit and try to get ILR at Heathrow. I am reluctant to do this because it will cause me to lose my Malaysian passport if the Malaysian authorities find out. There is also nothing in the paragraph that says that the concession is restricted to BOCs with UK passports, unlike the provision in para. 18 of the Rules (I have a 'documents produced' letter from the Home Office confirming my nationality status).

The next time I passed through Heathrow I asked the immigration officer, who said that even if I did qualify, there was nothing she could do as they no longer had ILR stamps and all variations to entry clearances had to be made by the Home Office. I don't know if this would be the case with a BOC passport, since there is no entry clearance in the first place.

So I will try Croydon. The immigration officer said I should take a day off work and speak to someone there, but I wonder if it would be possible to book an appointment. Clearly I don't want to spend £250 unnecessarily, but I keep getting different answers from different people, so perhaps the answer is to make an application and find out. The way I see it, if they have made an unqualified statement in published policy documents like the above, then in the absence of anything in the Rules that prevents it, there is a legitimate expectation that they will follow the published policy.

Obviously I don't want to get into a protracted battle based on the substantive legitimate expectations. Neither do I want to have my passport held by the Home Office for months while they make a decision, as I have a holiday booked in late March, hence why if I apply I want to apply in person.

Does anyone have any advice/comments?

[fpoptani]

Hi there. i am a similar situation as yours. could you please tell me what happened. i.e did you manage to get a ILR on the combination of your BOC and a work permit.

[ppron747]

>10. WORK PERMITS ISSUED TO BRITISH OVERSEAS CITIZENS
>OR BRITISH PROTECTED PERSONS
>A British Overseas Citizens or British Protected person who
>presents a work permit should be given indefinite leave to enter.

Good luck with this quest, penanglad - it'll be interesting to see the eventual outcome.
Have you considered simply putting the two questions in writing to the FOI people at the Home Office?
It seems to me that both the question about the discrepancy between the passage you've quoted, and the obstacle that has been put in place by the withdrawal of ILR stamps at ports of entry, and that about whether a BOC has to be travelling on a BOC passport in order to benefit are legitimate questions of policy to which you should be entitled to get a straight answer. I don't think you have to make an application in order to ask a question about HO policy...

[Rogerio]

Totally agree with Paul - best of luck Penanglad - let us know the outcome of this very interesting situation.

[fpoptani]

Hi there
Hi there. i am a similar situation as yours. could you please tell me what happened. i.e did you manage to get a ILR on the combination of your BOC and a work permit. I alrady have a BOC passport and will shortly get a work permit. I read the policy that says that Boc with wp on arrival to be given ILR. but on the work permit application form guidance notes there is a conflicting statement,
fromthe followinf url: http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/workin ... /BandC.pdf

Immigration Clearance
157. Work permit holders who are either a British
National (Overseas), a British Overseas Territories
Citizen, a British Overseas Citizen, a British
Protected Person or a person who under the British
Nationality Act 1981 is a British subject are not
required to gain entry clearance. However,
individuals falling into the above categories who
choose not to obtain entry clearance before
travelling, should be aware that they will only be
granted six months leave to enter. They will therefore
need to apply for an extension to their work permit
and further leave to remain before this six month
period has elapsed. Both of these applications will
incur the appropriate charges.

[penanglad]

I posted the original post in January 2005 - I have since got ILR on the 10-year rule and did not go down this route.

My investigations revealed that this concession coexisted with the Special Voucher scheme - when the Special Voucher scheme was abolished, the two connected concessions, namely for work-permit holders and retired persons of independent means to get ILR on entry to the UK, were never abolished, and the annex quoted is still on the Home Office website. However, the IND repeatedly refused to acknowledge that the concessions were still available or how they were to be availed of now that ILE on entry is no longer available. I was even told by the policy division at the IND that the annex was out of date and would be replaced. This was almost a year ago- it still hasn't.

The most I got a letter from Tony McNulty to my MP in June 2005 which said: "Whilst Mr X travels on a M passport he is presenting himself to the immigration authorities as a M citizen. He therefore cannot be eligible for the concession that applies to British Overseas citizens or British Protected Persons who have valid work permits."

I suppose I could have applied to the IND in Croydon after entry on the basis that I had a legitimate expectation that ILE would be granted at the port. At the time there was no formal limit on the leave that could be granted to BOCs at the port, except that they no longer had ILE stamps. Therefore, the policy set out in the annex should have prevailed.

However, the Immigration Rules have now been changed so that BOCs can only get up to six months at the port of entry without entry clearance. This is a breach of what we were told when the residence permits were introduced - we were told that BOCs would not be affected, but I know why it was necessary because we are third-country nationals in EC law, and the UK has opted into the directive on residence permits

I suppose you can still apply to the IND in Croydon, but the case will now be weaker because they can say that there has been a change in the Rules and therefore the concession is obsolete.