Getting your national passports back after being granted refugee status.

[Solo4Life]

HO took my national passport when I applied for asylum and they retained it, along with my old expired passports. I do have a travel document but I need my national passport.
I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back? Or some alternative arrangement such as the HO contacting the relevant department for access to my passports?

[London22]

HO took my national passport when I applied for asylum and they retained it, along with my old expired passports. I do have a travel document but I need my national passport.
I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back? Or some alternative arrangement such as the HO contacting the relevant department for access to my passports?

You can contact home office &ask to send you SAR subject access request which will tell about your history hence you will be able to apply with that as proof or alternatively ask them to send your passports which HO will send but ask first you to send them travel documents as a refugee can only keep national passport or travel documents.I want to make it clear for other refugees here as well that a refugee can actually keep national passport if the purpose of use is not travel as we know by keeping a national passport &travelling to home country without a compassionate reason under the current hostile environment in UK will get refugee status revoked.

[seagul]

I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back?

ILR can't be obtained by merely residing for 10 years rather the legal residence must have continuously been maintained all times by applying in timely & by not breaching the conditions of relevant visas. Also liuk test and B1 English test must have been passed at the time of application for which passport is needed as well.

[CR001]

I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back?

ILR can't be obtained by merely residing for 10 years rather the legal residence must have continuously been maintained all times by applying in timely & by not breaching the conditions of relevant visas. Also liuk test and B1 English test must have been passed at the time of application for which passport is needed as well.

@ seagul, the user was advised of this specifically last year when they asked. They have failed to clarify if they have 10 years LAWFUL residence rather that simply "been in the UK for 10 years".

general-uk-immigration-forum/will-i-be- ... l#p1845443

[Solo4Life]

HO took my national passport when I applied for asylum and they retained it, along with my old expired passports. I do have a travel document but I need my national passport.
I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back? Or some alternative arrangement such as the HO contacting the relevant department for access to my passports?

You can contact home office &ask to send you SAR subject access request which will tell about your history hence you will be able to apply with that as proof or alternatively ask them to send your passports which HO will send but ask first you to send them travel documents as a refugee can only keep national passport or travel documents.I want to make it clear for other refugees here as well that a refugee can actually keep national passport if the purpose of use is not travel as we know by keeping a national passport &travelling to home country without a compassionate reason under the current hostile environment in UK will get refugee status revoked.

Thank you for your concise and informative answer. It was very helpful. Just one thing, what does SAR specifically stand for?

[Solo4Life]

I want to apply for settlement under the 10 year long-residence rule and I can't apply without my old passports, which prove I have been in the UK for 10 continuous years and havent been absent for more than 540 days, no period of 180 or more days etc. Is there a way I can get my passports back?

ILR can't be obtained by merely residing for 10 years rather the legal residence must have continuously been maintained all times by applying in timely & by not breaching the conditions of relevant visas. Also liuk test and B1 English test must have been passed at the time of application for which passport is needed as well.

@ seagul, the user was advised of this specifically last year when they asked. They have failed to clarify if they have 10 years LAWFUL residence rather that simply "been in the UK for 10 years".

general-uk-immigration-forum/will-i-be- ... l#p1845443

My stay should be considered legal:
Student visa 2010-2017 (3 different visas but all applied to before my previous visa expired, they were applications in the UK,i.e. applied to 'extend', I think i got one in Nov. 2017 when my previous visa expired on sep. but that is only because HO was considering my application, i had applied to extend in Aug. that should be fine right?)
Applied for asylum in June 2017 with my student visa expiring in Oct. that year, I was given an ARC card with permission to work, my application was accepted on December without any appeal and I was granted refugee status)
I have not been outside the UK for more than 540 days or any single period of more than 180 days
Do you think there is anything wrong?

[Solo4Life]

Anyone?