Help / Advice Required

[Sanjotha]

Hi,

My husband and I have Indefinite Leave to remain in UK. We have Indian passports. While my husband was in India on an emergency visit, he lost his passport. This passport had the ILR stamped on it:(

He applied for a new passport in India and got the same. However the visa is turning out to be a nightmare! I called UKBA here and they were clueless. They asked us to get in touch with the British High Commission in India. My husband did that and at first they told him that he has to reapply for the ILR all over again!! That is just ridiculous....he has no original documents with him and his ILR is still VALID. Then on questioning furthering and explaining further, they seemed to realise that there is no form to apply for the ILR from India, since the ILR was issued in UK in the first place. So they consulted further and then said that he should apply for a returning resident visa. He did this and he also attached a copy of the letter which UKBA had given to him while issuing the ILR. We thought the process would be quite fast since he attached the letter. But it has been a week now and there is still no reply.

My husband needs to get back to work here. Is there anyone else who has been through such an experience? Can anything be done???

Thanks in advance

[geriatrix]

See also ECB17.2 Replacing a visa (or leave)

[tinosimonc]

Hi Sanjotha,

I noticed your post with regards to the loss of your husband's passport and the subsequent application for a replacelment ILR.

I would really appreciate if you can share how you went about it and its outcome as my sis is faced with a similar situation in India. While in India, she had her passport stolen and thus lost the ILR with it. Numerous calls to high commission and VFS have not yielded any results. We are absolutely stumped as to how to progress.

Could you please let me know how your husband applied as a returning resident, application form you used for the purpose and its outcome?

Thanks in advance for your help. Looking forward to hear from you.

Regards,
Tino

[vinny]

Returning residents - visa application guide

stolen passport (ILR samp was on it)