Calculation of Pay and Days Abroad for ILR

[ptdee]

Hi,

I thought I might run through my ILR application with you all as there can be some misinformation out there. In particular, I want to clarify how pay is included for contractors using umbrella companies/schemes and the calculations for days abroad.

Firstly, my application was successful, received it back stamped on the 7th of September 2011.

I first entered the UK on a Working Holiday Visa in 2004. I switched to a HSMP Visa in September 2006. I renewed (as a Tier 1 Visa) in 2008 for a further 3 years.

I have travelled a lot. More than 270 days out of the country in the last 5 years. One of the things that still boggles me is why the Home Office purposefully give you the wrong information on this point. I have rung HO 3 times asking for details on how the time abroad is calculated. Their response:-

If you go abroad on a Friday night and return Sunday night, you have been out of country for 3 days. Every single day, weekday, weekend or bank holiday is included. The limit of 180 days is final.

My solicitor calculated the days as such:-

If you go abroad on a Friday night and return Sunday night, you have been out of country for 1 day.
Calculate your total days (270 in my case) and subtract your annual leave entitlement for each year. As an employee, statutory leave is 20 days. Business trips do not count (I was away on business for 31 days). 270 – 100 – 31 = I qualify

The format you should present to the HO is below:-

Country visited Reason Date of departure Date of return


Get a letter from your employer that states your salary, annual leave entitlement and the dates you were away on business. If you are over the 180 days still, I was informed by my solicitor that the home office’s position would not hold against an appeal as long as you can prove you were gainfully employed and were resident within the UK.

I’m a contractor using an umbrella company so on paper, I earn very little. I use an umbrella company where the majority of pay is issued as a loan (not used any more as these are banned but it was part of last years earnings). This is where things get a little tricky. There are 2 scenarios for applicants depending on what Visa they started on.

1. You were on a HSMP issued before November 2006. (HSMP Judicial review pre Nov 2006)

You don’t have to prove earnings. You have to prove that you are/have been economically active for the last 5 years. To do this, ring the Inland Revenue and ask for the last 5 years history and they will send you SA302 statements which cover all P60’s etc. submitted to them. It will NOT cover P11D’s or commercial loans.

I qualified within this bracket. If you received your HSMP before April 2006, you qualified for ILR under the same rules as point 1 except, you can apply for ILR after 4 years in the country.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... -09-policy

2. You were issued a HSMP/Tier 1 after this date

You must qualify against the points criteria which means, you must earn above a particular threshold. You must up your PAYE amount if you’re within the umbrella company schemes. If you are a regular contractor (limited company), it would be smart to increase the amount you pay yourself in dividends to cover your living costs. Your accountant should provide a statement of dividends and salary to you with dates of payment. These amounts will match your bank statements. An important note:- the HO will tell you that the dates of payment on your salary/pay slips/accountants statement must match the receipt dates in your bank account. This is also untrue as most people have a 2 days lag when their employer pays them.

The Home Office will tell you that utility bills and bank statements must be within the last 3 months. Not true. Some bills like Thames water are yearly. All my bills were dated in April of this year and were accepted. The last statement from my bank account was May and was accepted.

One last point. I paid for the premium service. This supposedly means you will have a result within 24hrs. If the HO is busy it will not be done on the day. Mine took 2 days, was submitted on the Monday and processed on Wednesday. Funnily enough, they still took the money on the first day!

If you really want the ILR, pay for a professional. The points above are my own experience. If it’s important to you, start the ILR application a year in advance. I hope this helps as applying for ILR can be very stressful.