No continous employment - Please help!

[maynarduk]

I've been on a Tier 1 visa since 2008 + 6 months work permit in 2007. I will be eligible for ILR in July 2012. My Tier 1 runs out in April 2013. My question is:-

1) I have 2 gaps of unemployment - one in 2008 for 6 months and one this year for 4 months. I'm a IT contractor and had some bad luck getting employed in the past. I'm in employment now since July and this contract runs till end of next year so I will still be employed when I apply for ILR.

2) I was out of the country for 90 days in 2008 (during my unemployment period)

Will my past unemployments impact my ILR application in July next year since I wasn't "economically active" for the whole 5 years?

I read that under the new requirements, they (HO) only ask you for your last 12 months payslips and bank statements.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you

[mk357]

I've been on a Tier 1 visa since 2008 + 6 months work permit in 2007. I will be eligible for ILR in July 2012. My Tier 1 runs out in April 2013. My question is:-

1) I have 2 gaps of unemployment - one in 2008 for 6 months and one this year for 4 months. I'm a IT contractor and had some bad luck getting employed in the past. I'm in employment now since July and this contract runs till end of next year so I will still be employed when I apply for ILR.

2) I was out of the country for 90 days in 2008 (during my unemployment period)

Will my past unemployments impact my ILR application in July next year since I wasn't "economically active" for the whole 5 years?

I read that under the new requirements, they (HO) only ask you for your last 12 months payslips and bank statements.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you

They do ask for wage slips sometimes 12 months and sometimes 3 months, and 5 years P60s or Tax Return if self employed. However, if you are now employed IMO you should be OK. The problem which you could face would be the 90 days out of country period (if it was in one go) without any plausable reason. This might reset your ILR clock.

[Lucapooka]

Periods of unemployment have no bearing in Tier 1 category. You need to score points for salary for ILR.

[maynarduk]

I've been on a Tier 1 visa since 2008 + 6 months work permit in 2007. I will be eligible for ILR in July 2012. My Tier 1 runs out in April 2013. My question is:-

1) I have 2 gaps of unemployment - one in 2008 for 6 months and one this year for 4 months. I'm a IT contractor and had some bad luck getting employed in the past. I'm in employment now since July and this contract runs till end of next year so I will still be employed when I apply for ILR.

2) I was out of the country for 90 days in 2008 (during my unemployment period)

Will my past unemployments impact my ILR application in July next year since I wasn't "economically active" for the whole 5 years?

I read that under the new requirements, they (HO) only ask you for your last 12 months payslips and bank statements.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you

They do ask for wage slips sometimes 12 months and sometimes 3 months, and 5 years P60s or Tax Return if self employed. However, if you are now employed IMO you should be OK. The problem which you could face would be the 90 days out of country period (if it was in one go) without any plausable reason. This might reset your ILR clock.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the 90 days was in one go from 15 Dec 2008 to 15 March 2009 (including departure and arrival dates). It was meant to be for 2 weeks but I had to reschedule because of family issues back home. I thought it was more that 90 days that was a problem. Please advise what I need to do to avoid reseting the clock. Thanks again.

[maynarduk]

Periods of unemployment have no bearing in Tier 1 category. You need to score points for salary for ILR.

Thank you