Gaps between employment for ILR

[tonypetty]

HI,

i am asking this question on behalf of my friend. his time lines are as follows:

First employer WP started: 20 Oct 2006
Employer had revoked (August 2007) the WP and my friend was not informed until September 2007. He then start looking for another employer. He did not received any communication from HO till today regarding this curtailment.
He found another employment Jan 2008 and got WP and LTR on 18-02-2008.
Now he is with same employer. Salary is well above SOC code.

My question is should he apply now for ILR or wait until Feb 2013 to complete five years.

I know all of seniors here would say that he should wait until Feb 2013 and same i told him but he want to get rid of his current employer asap and don't see much of chance to convert the current WP to another employer because of current unemployment. He is planning for his own business.

What options are available to him to do something else or how can he apply for ILR now and what should he do to get more chance of success at ILR? If he apply now. He has everything from day first except that 5 missing employment months.Later on after getting a complete file from HO it was clear that his previous employer had informed HO and HO issued curtailment notices to his previous address which he never received.

In order to give him employment rights back in Feb 2008 HO used Discretion.

My friend thinks HO should use discretion now to give him ILR as HO has gave him a hope and legitimate expectaion to get ILR at the end of his five years period.

I could not find any information anywhere else on this website so started a new topic if this information is available anywhere else please guide

[geriatrix]

If his leave was curtailed, then the time your friend spent in UK from the date such leave expired to the date he received (new) leave to remain as a WP holder was as an "overstayer" (i.e.- illegally). That his application was accepted and leave granted in Feb 2008 does not make the "illegal" stay legal. Therefore, he must wait until such time that his period of illegal stay falls out of the (5 year) qualifying residential period.

But, if he applied for (new) leave before the expiry date of his curtailed leave, then there is no overstay and he may be able to apply for settlement as normal.

The question is - what was the new expiry date when the leave was curtailed?

[tonypetty]

Many thanks,

Yes you are right but just want to know what options are available for him if he don't want to work with current employer and want to do a business?

Secondly if he was informed or pointed out the same curtailment any time afterwards then it was different but my friend only knew about curtailment when he got his file from HO. Many time at airports and many time afterwords for dependent visas and his visas for different employers and this curtailment was never mentioned or questioned. He was writing continuous period of employment for the first employer and HO did not say anything if it was illegal work??

Anyway any other option available for him? other than waiting?

Secondly if he apply for ILR at same day service does he stand any chance? or they would simply refuse to submit the application?????

Thanks for your patience

[geriatrix]

He cannot be self-employed when in UK under WP / Tier 2 leave.

As for when he may have become aware of curtailment of leave, one cannot comment on the whys and why nots because, more often than not, there is more to the issue than meets the eye e.g. - did he update UKBA about his address(es) for correspondence during his entire period of stay in the UK to ensure that any correspondence from UKBA reaches him for sure?

He should seek professional legal advice if he wishes to contest the issue (curtailment) with UKBA.