Tier 2 to ILR, couple months unpaid with previous employer

[grmisc3]

Hi,

I got my first Tier 2 general in Oct 2014. I wanted to leave the job due to exhaustive work hours and bad mental health, so I did in Nov 2015, but did not have other employment at the time.
The employer agreed to keep me on until I found a new job, which I did, made a change of employment application and got a new Tier 2.
However, I was not paid for about 3 months (jan, feb, march).

Will this be a problem when I apply for ILR? While I was employed with the previous employer, I had 29 days of paid holiday (which ended in november 2015, after which I decided to leave) which I may be able to get a letter for from them. But could it trigger an HMRC inquiry? It is clear from the P45 that december was the last time tax was paid.

If I apply and get rejected, I could get on to tier 4 and then tier 2 again, and try the long route. Will a failed ILR affect the long route?

What are my options here? I have read pretty much every post on here and I read one where they got their ILR successfully

I am extremely stressed, could someone please help me out?

[grmisc3]

Additional Info : I've got Tax Return letters fro HMRC for the following years : 2015-2016, 2016-2017, and 2017-2018

Do you reckon if I provide those (I can request 14-15 and 18-19 from HMRC), that'll be enough and they'll just let it through?

I am be extremely grateful for any help.

[zimba]

What do you mean by 'they kept you on' ? What is the date of leaving on your P45 ? It is not important that you did not work between your jobs.

[grmisc3]

Thank you for responding!

Date of leaving on my P45 is 24th March 2016.
My new job started on 12th April 2016

I have payslips from Jan and Feb but with £0 pay. No payslips for March.

If it helps, I am also in touch with a solicitor, who mentions that as long as the yearly salary threshold isn't affected, I should be fine. He also pointed out that if this was a problem, they could've flagged it when I applied for change of employment visa or got it extended. I wanted a second opinion as its a chunky application and like most people, I really am freaked out.

[zimba]

I suggest to remind your expert solicitor that ILR requirements are not the same as Tier 2 extension. Under the Tier 2 rules, your sponsor must stop sponsoring you if you take an unpaid leave for more than 4 weeks and during ILR, checks will be made to ensure that you or your sponsor did not breach the rules. Simply keeping someone on the payroll and submitting zero to game the Tier 2 system will not help. This may flag up when you apply for ILR. I suggest to apply for ILR and hope for the best as I believe this could affect your previous sponsor rather than your ILR

[grmisc3]

Thank you Zimba.

I have asked him what his thoughts are on your response.

The previous sponsor probably won't care if his license is lost but I don't know what to do.

If I go ahead and apply, and do not get the ILR, I am assuming I will not be allowed to go through the 10 year route again. My back up plan was to go back into education and then apply for tier 2, claim 10 years. But if they refuse my ILR, that'll be a black flag for future applications?

[zimba]

It may or may not. I suggest to ignore that for now as a new course of action is only needed when faced with ILR refusal

[grmisc3]

Thank you for your reply Zimba.

For anyone who might read this, I just called HMRC and asked them if I owed them any tax. They say I do not owe them anything and there's no issues with my HMRC profile. I received £29 from my bank account in interest. I offered to pay it, but HMRC told me I did not need to. I have attempted to correct anything that may be wrong. I also asked for employment history for 5 years, I won't be submitting this but will have it on hand if need be.

Ofcourse this won't matter if they decide there's been an issue and like Zimba said, this may or may not flag up. I've requested a paid holiday letter from my ex-employer, not sure if he will send it through. I will not be mentioning the unpaid holidays. I'll provide the bare minimum needed.

As I will submit my application this week, I'm hoping to get an appointment this month (one day service) and will keep the forum updated on whether or not I got it.

Any tips or things to be wary of would be helpful. If not, thank you for your help so far. This is a great community.

[grmisc3]

I applied today and have received an email saying my application was successful, BRP will be posted in 7 Days, no problems faced.