Entry Date is 2 months before I intend to move

[MattDell]

Hi all, thanks for the guidance in this forum I was granted a Tier 1 last week.

My entry date is 6 February, but I must stay with my current employer until at least 1 March, and after that I have holiday plans in Australia for the 2nd part of March. So, realistically, I can't move to the UK until April.

I want to be able to apply for ILR in 5 years, but from what I have read, entering the UK more than 28 days after your entry date can cause extra hassle in the future.

Two questions
1) Can I (legally) have a quick weekend trip to the UK to get my passport stamped?
2) Traveling there for a weekend will cost me around 600 GBP; is it worth it to do this just to get my passport stamped and reduce future hassle?

Cheers,
-Matt

[vinny]

When you applied, didn't you ask them to postpone the effective date?

[MattDell]

Yes, I asked them to postpone it 90 days from my application date, which they did.

[mulderpf]

Matt, read this explanation about the 28 day rule and why you have 28 days.

1. Yes you can, your first entry shouldn't be a problem afaik. Although you are not sticking to the reason you got the visa, you're also a non-visa national, so I don't think there should be much problem. If you go this route, don't worry about it.
2. I would say no - that's just personal opinion. You would be entering as a visitor, not really to stay there to become resident. When you fill in your ILR application in 5 years time, do you really want to "lie" on there if you only actually moved there in April.

That said, read my post and the concern about extensions (all speculation though).

I am not sure why you would have chosen 6 February if you could only leave later.

[MattDell]

Thank you for the explanation, mulderpf. That's a very informative link as well.



You do raise a good point about the ILR application and explaining those days from the proposed weekend to my actual move day. I suppose it is probably best to just stay put.

Thank you for putting that in perspective for me.

Cheers,
-Matt

[mulderpf]

What you might want to do (and it might cost a little more than GBP600 at the time, but not much) is to renew and then renew shortly afterwards again in order to make up your five years if it seems that they are going to close the route completely. Also as I might have mentioned, you never know what options you might have in a few years time!

Good luck (and enjoy the holiday)!