Any Tier1-ILR PEO success where stay is short of 5 yrs???

[balu_sw]

Hello aa,
My case is pretty straight forward but the only contentious issue is around the continous stay of 5 years, which I why I have come to this forum . Please find below my visa details:

Tier 1 - Valid till 14th Jan 2013
Enty Clearance granted on 14th Jan 2008
Entered UK on 17th March 2008
Tier 1 extended in Oct 2009
No significant absences outside UK
No unspent convictions

I understand that I become eligible 28 days before my visa expires based on the below document Annex B:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

However, when I called up Home Office and stated my case, the answer I received was contradictory to what is mentioned in the above document. He basically mentioned that if I apply via post, the Case Worker is more likely to use their discretion to grant me ILR but the CW won't be able to use their discretion if I apply via PEO. Is this true? As per the Home Office document:

2 Applications that fall short of the five year continuous period

In some cases, applicants may have been granted 5 years continuous leave, but will not have spent 5 years continuously in the UK before their current leave expires. Caseworkers may count the period between entry clearance being granted and the date the applicant entered the UK towards the 5 years, provided this period was not longer than 3 months.


The key in the above statement, I guess, is "Caseworker may". So, I wanted to confirm if anyone in the forum was in a similar situation as I'm in and were granted ILR when they applied via PEO.

I have a PEO appointment on 17th Dec at Solihull and I wanted to get first hand information before I make the decision. All suggestions welcome.

Please can someone also provide Home Office contact email Id as I would like to get a written confirmation from them regarding the above. I wasn't able to get this email address via the UKBA website unfortunately.

[wpilr_nov12]

1. I don't see the wisdom in validating UKBA's written document with a call-center person whose qualification to answer your question might not be sufficient.

2. Having said that, you can take advantage of the policy that you are referring to.

Also, please read 'caseworkers may count' as 'caseworkers are allowed to count, rather than will they or won't they count.

[balu_sw]

Thanks for your comments.

The wisdom of checking with a call centre person is you would expect them to know the process and if they are not qualified, they shouldn't be there in the first place. Moreover, I need to make a 250 mile roundtrip for my PEO appointment and wanted to make sure it's not in vain.

Any comments from people who had first hand experience of this situation??

[wpilr_nov12]

My own:
EC 06/12/07
Entry 22/12/07
ILR approved 14/11/12

[onabanjo]

Balu_w ;- You have the answer right before you based on the qoutations from UKBA document which was released in JUly 2012.

However, i can understand your situation because you want to ensure that all Is' dotted and Ts' crossed,hence the anxiety.

according to immigration lawyer i once contacted, 5years starts counting from the date of your clearance Visa date and NOT entry to UK, PROVIDED the applicant enters UK within the 3months of being granted Visa. This rule according to the details provided by you are in order

To answer your specific question , Two of my friends got their ILR (via PEO) through this interpretation on 9th November and 15th November 2012 (both within a week and few days) and I was involved in the process.

Thank you

[balu_sw]

Thank you everyone for your comments.

@onabanjo, please can you provide the below dates for your friends applications.
Visa expiry date
PEO date
Date of arrival in uk
Date EC was granted

As you mentioned earlier, I want to make sure that all 'I's are dotted and all 'T's are crossed ...Thanks in advance.

[onabanjo]

As you may be aware, my friends passports cannot not be with me but there current Visa expiry dates are still in future, precisely in December 2012

Their EC(entry clearance) were both dated in December 2007 and they came in to UK at different times but some few weeks thereafter in December 2007. The piece of advice i had offered were based on the assumption that you came in to UK via HSMP and Tier1 general, if not please disregard all what i have said.

If you are in doubt, seek legal advice .Though am aware that some people opt for their date of entry into UK which is acceptable to CW

Thank you

[onabanjo]

The PE(O) dates were 9th November 2012 and 15th November 2012 and they got their ILR letters same day.That was why i said in my previous posts that it was about a week and few days

Thank you

[balu_sw]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions and comments.