ILR : Please help

[Bry]

Hi there

I have been in the Uk now for 10 years and 4 years on a WP soon. With my 10 years residency, I believe I am eligible to apply for ILR. But I have a major problem:

I have lost my passport 3 years ago, hence along I've lost all evidence on my 10 years residence. Not sure now how to prove that I was here for the past 10 years now

The only official documentation from the HO I have, is my 4 years work permit. Unlucky me , we now need 5 years on WP to get IRL. If law didn't get I would have apply IRL under employment.

Please can anyone advise me on how to apply for the 10 years residency as I am quite upset about the situation.

Many thanks in advance.

[JAJ]

I have lost my passport 3 years ago, hence along I've lost all evidence on my 10 years residence. Not sure now how to prove that I was here for the past 10 years now
.

There are quite a few ways including:

- bank/credit card statements showing activity in the UK
- utility bills & insurance records
- employment & tax records
- rental receipts, Council Tax payment
- electoral roll information (if you're a Commonwealth citizen)
- educational & school records

and so on.

[Bry]

Thank you very much for your suggestions. Luckily I have kept my bank statement for the past years.

However what I'm concerned about is that I don't have any proof that I was legally in the UK. I won't be able to show when I first entered this country.

Do the Home Office keep records of visa approval or extension? I have applied for extension 4 times at Croydon.

I am trying to assess my chance of obtaining ILR.

[John]

Do the Home Office keep records of visa approval or extension? I have applied for extension 4 times at Croydon.

Indeed they do keep those records. In a sense your visa is always in two places .... in your passport and also in the IND computer system.

There is a good reason for this! Say someone comes to the UK with a good-looking but fake visa ...... how to prove it is fake? Simply when the visa is scanned there will be no corresponding record in the IND computer system.

So whilst the lack of old passport might delay matters a little, I certainly don't see the loss of the old passport as fatal to any ILR application under the 10-year rule.

How were you thinking of applying? In person at a PEO or by post? I think if I were you I would apply by post because it might not be possible to deal with your application on a same-day basis at a PEO.

[Bry]

Thank you for your reply John

So, probably I will need to give them my old passport number, if I have store it somewhere!

If not, I can't see how they will linked my new passport and the lost one, unless they keep records by name.


I guess also for my first entry at heathrow, they could check my landing card provided they still keep the cards.

First i was intending to go to Croydon but thinking about it twice, as you said it might be wiser by post.

I should prepare myself for a long long wait, could be months.
Any estimate on how long it might take?

[John]

unless they keep records by name.

They do keep them by name ... and that includes details of landing cards.

Estimate of time? Postal applications ... most dealt with within a month .... so guess less than two months for you. But that is only a guess.

[stedman]

If I were you, I'd go in person to explain things better to them. Someone posted here a while back that he went in person after losing his passport and got the ILR the same day. He wrote to the HO for his immigration history under the freedom of information act and they put together a quite comprehensive package for him which clearly showed they keep good records, as John said.

[Bry]

Hmm I'm facing a real dilemna now. Some people are advising to send by post and some people recommending going in person.

If anyone has been in the same situation as me, please please let me know how you did proceed?

many thanks

[John]

He wrote to the HO for his immigration history under the freedom of information act and they put together a quite comprehensive package for him which clearly showed they keep good records

Stedman, I have to say that is very good advice.

Lily, how about this? Either submit by post, or alternatively make such a Freedom of Information Act request, and after you get that back, go to a PEO and make a point of including the data that you get back from that request. Does that make sense?

[Bry]

Many thanks for everyone who brought me some suggestions.

I'm going to write to the HO now and request my data. Looking at the IND website, I think I should use the data protection act rather than freedom of information. It also mentions that they aim for 20 working days to provide you the information.

Anyway I'll keep you updated with my enquiry with the HO.

[HHH99]

hi there lily. My situation is exaxtly similar to you I lost a passport as well but I have proof from my college I was enrolled here for that period as well as exam and employment records.If it helps I also have a copy of my old passport as well as my visa I'm sure you must do to.

If you think your case is complicated try mine i've been here 10 years but the first 3 were not any under visa as I was exempted from immigration controls because I was the dependent of a diplomat of my father posted here it says that on the sticker endorsed on my official passport. I was granted a student visa after my dad left and this is the passport I lost on a vacation overseas. Not only that I lost my passport overseas so only lord knows if I will be granted an ILR or not.


But despite all this I plan to go there in person and see what happens because if you are there in person you can at least explain to them what happened and why. Not only that they say on their website that 98% cases are decided within 24 hours so the way I see it we got nothing to lose as I don't think our cases are that complicated I mean may be mine but definitely not yours. So if I was you I would just go there in person as I said you will be able to present your case a lot better in person then in a postal application.

I would consider it a big favor if you let me know when you are going and what the outcome is because your case is so very similar to mine. Well hope to hear from you soon. I really hope this post has been helpful to you