Seem to refuse to return Passport

[olud]

Hi all , i do hope someone can help. I was granted ILR with no conditions in Jan 2003 . I sent my passport together with the letters to the IND this june to have the ILR stamped on my passport. They have not returned my passport nor have i had anny communication from them. I called them a couple of times. They acknowledged they had the passport but would not say why it has not been returned. On one of my calls, they even said it may take up to 13 weeks!!

Is there anything i can do?

[British]

Hi,

After 3 and half years, you have sent your passport to HO for stamping your ILR that was give to you in Jan 2003???

But i don't understand how you managed to not get your ILR sticker in your passport all these years, and then also be able to do any travel in / out of UK for the past 3.5 + years. Maybe you did not tavel at all, all these years. You don't say anything about that.

I guess this must have confused HO, so they are taking a long time to give the ILR stamping in your passport. Is the passport still valid, i the first place? (becasue you must at least stayed in teh UK for four years to get ILR status, then you have your passport for further 3.5 years and you must have had your passport before you came to UK for some time. Adding all this together, the passport must be close to its expiry date - very vague calculations though )

Since you don't say anything about your passport validity, and the fact how you managed to travel without ILR sticker in your passport (if you did travel all these years ), i am unable to think of any reason why the HO is holding on to your passport.

Its worth noting that the HO is not even reqd. to take any decision to grant ILR, but just need to put the sticker in your passport, given that you are saying the ILR was given to you almost 3.5+ years back.

I am sure HO must be confused too.

Wait for other members to see what they have to say on this.

[JAJ]

Hi all , i do hope someone can help. I was granted ILR with no conditions in Jan 2003 . I sent my passport together with the letters to the IND this june to have the ILR stamped on my passport. They have not returned my passport nor have i had anny communication from them. I called them a couple of times. They acknowledged they had the passport but would not say why it has not been returned. On one of my calls, they even said it may take up to 13 weeks!!

Is there anything i can do?

As British says, you should explain how come it's 3.5 years since you were granted ILR without needing a stamp any of that time.

If there's some reasonable explanation for all that, one option you have is to contact your Member of Parliament and ask him or her to ask the relevant Home Office minister to intervene.

[olud]

My passport went missing just after i got the ILR in 2003 and i have not travelled out of the country since. I have just got a neww passport and i sent it in for the ILR to be stamped on it .

[Jeff Albright]

Again, from my personal experience, MPs are useless, busy and do not remember things. They write letters as they want, not as you want. It also takes ages for the IND to deal with their correspondence.

The best bet is to sort it out yourself and file a complaint to the IND Customer Focus Team (INDCU) and make it clear that you require explanation to those issues.
State your immigration reference number, date of birth and nationality. A simple e-mail to ind.cu@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk is sufficient to initiate a complaint.
See the Homeoffice website for the detailed information how to complain.

[jes2jes]

My passport went missing just after i got the ILR in 2003 and i have not travelled out of the country since. I have just got a neww passport and i sent it in for the ILR to be stamped on it .

If you noticed your passport was missing for over three years ago, why didn't you apply for a new one there and then?

Or does it take three years for your Embassy to issue a new one?

You would need to explain this to HO and get all relevant documentation to support this since it is a bit over the top. I would understand if you said this escaped you and you realised that you need to get the ILR stamp but otherwise, I am a abit bemused!

[Christophe]

Although ... it isn't actually compulsory to have a valid passport, is it?

My passport went missing just after i got the ILR in 2003 and i have not travelled out of the country since. I have just got a neww passport and i sent it in for the ILR to be stamped on it .

If you noticed your passport was missing for over three years ago, why didn't you apply for a new one there and then?

Or does it take three years for your Embassy to issue a new one?

You would need to explain this to HO and get all relevant documentation to support this since it is a bit over the top. I would understand if you said this escaped you and you realised that you need to get the ILR stamp but otherwise, I am a abit bemused!

[olud]

I didnt apply for a new one because i did not need it and besides it states on the letter ILR letter from the home office that it is not compulsory to have my passport stamped and that the letter could be used at entry points into the UK.

In addition... i dont think its compulsory to have a valid passport ...or is it?

[jes2jes]

Olud wrote:

In addition... i dont think its compulsory to have a valid passport ...or is it?

Yes you are right it is not compulsary to have a passport but for some basic services, the best form of ID is your passport if you do not have a driving licence.

Thanks.

[Christophe]

Olud wrote:

In addition... i dont think its compulsory to have a valid passport ...or is it?

Yes you are right it is not compulsary to have a passport but for some basic services, the best form of ID is your passport if you do not have a driving licence.

Thanks.

That's true, but the point is that the original poster (OP) ought not to be penalised by the Home Office because he or she did not have an unexpired passport: it sounds as if the OP's immigration status was in order throughout the period in question.

The only further point to put the OP, though, is: when your passport went missing, did you report it missing (to the police and to the issuing authority - i.e. the government that issued it as represented by their local overseas mission (consulate, embasssy.high commission))?