How strict is the travel/absense match for ILR application

[lon2022]

HI I came to UK to take a job at a university last year with Skilled Worker Visa. I plan to apply for ILR in five years and as of now, I would be qualified to apply but I am not sure what documents are required except the ones I see on gov.uk website, such as passport, utility bills etc. I just don't wanna talk to things during these 4 years ahead. A colleague of mine said my employer has to submit all the vacation days and the immigration matches these dates to when I was out of the country. However, this is not listed on gov.uk or any other website I saw online. Is this true?

Also, what else do I need to submit? if you could give me a bit of details of what I am supposed to prepare and how I make sure I would not be rejected for silly things.

If there is a comperehensive guide somewhere, please do share, so I can educate myself as well.

[ywlgy]

Have a look at this https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/il ... ce.v.4.pdf Your uni's HR might have something similar.
What you can do from now is probably just record every UK entry and exit date. Worry about others when you are in the 5th year, as lots of things could change.

[lon2022]

thanks for the link. Although rules could change, I just don't want to make a mistake without knowing under the current rules at least and I certainly was not aware of this travel rule because the official documents do not say anything about this rule. So I just want to be aware of the rules as of now, so if anyone knows something else, I would appreciate it.

[lon2022]

I am relatively new to the country and is planning to apply for ILR in a few years. One requirement that caught me by surprise is that the home office will match my international travel dates to the employer provided absense dates. My job is quite flexible so technically I don't have to be in my office on friday etc, so I would like to take a weekend trip starting from friday and come back on Monday etc but I am wondering if this will cause an issue later for my application for ILR if I don't take Friday and Monday off on my employer absense system. If i don't register absenses on my employer system, those dates will not be recorded in the letter from my employer but of course, the home office will know I was out of the country on Friday and came back on Monday. The question I have is how strict is the home office on this matching? Would they not care about this sort of travel or do they strictly look at the dates I left etc? and if the latter, do they even look at the time I left the country??? FYI, I am planning to do this sort of trip once a month, so it will show up quite extensively in my travel record by Home Office after 5 years....

[ywlgy]

That's a matter between you and the employer. The rule of thumb is all your absences should be authorised by the employer. So if they are ok with you leaving on Friday and coming back on Monday then no problem.

[lon2022]

my employer doesn't have any issues with me leaving on friday and coming back on Monday but the question I am asking is that if I don't register my absenses with them (because i have only limited number of official leave dates and I don't wanna use them on my weekend trips), the letter they would provide won't include the fridays and mondays, so would that be a problem with the HO in ILR application? I am hoping the HO wont care and considered them as a weekend but I am wondering whether they actuall check the time of departure and return etc when i submit my application

[nightcrawler2u]

The guidance is clear on this -
"Short visits outside the UK on weekends or other non-working days are consistent with the basis of stay and do not break the continuity of leave. You must count such absences towards the 180 day limit. Evidence in the form of a letter from the employer which sets out the reasons for the absences, including annual leave, must be provided. Where short visits outside the UK, on weekends or other non-working days have taken place, evidence from the employer should be provided to confirm the applicant’s normal working pattern and show the absences occurred during a non-working period."

Page 10 in the guidance extracted above. If you want to read further - https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... riod-in-uk

You will need to provide a list of all absences outside the UK and evidence/letter from employer confirming the same.

[lon2022]

thanks for the clarification. If I understand it correctly, I have to put even the weekend trips in the absense form and send it to my employer and get an ok from them before submitting? I simply thought my employer will list the work trips abroad and annual leaves in that sheet and submit it. If i am following correctly, I would put the dates i was out of the country (including the weekend trips) and submit the file to my employer and get a stamp and use that as an evidence? If so, it sounds quite intense

[nightcrawler2u]

Yes that's exactly it. You enter all the dates of trips out of the UK in your online application. You will also provide a signed letter from your employer confirming and listing the same dates. It might be intense but that is the requirement as it is now.

[zimba]

indefinite-leave-to-remain/tier-2-set-o ... l#p2027888

[lon2022]

thanks for the link, I read that pdf already three times it seems to me that HO is worried about the 180 days limit but my once-a-month weekend trip will never come close to that 180 days absence. One confusing that part is the evidence to provide. I can keep all of my payslips for 5 years and send it to them upon application but is that suffificent...The confusing part is this: "There is no specified evidence for this, butyou would normally expect to see:"
So if I don't submit any evidence it is still ok? and it doesn't tell if it is "and" or "or" of the two things. If it is "or", I can just submit the payslips and be done about it but if it is "and", I have to have that annoying list approved by employer....

[zimba]

You still need a letter. The rules simply do not make it specific.