Further Leave to remain - 28 days guidance

[ashdaone1]

Hello All,

I am new to this forum (though I am an active reader). I will quickly introduce myself and also pose a question which has been troubling me for a while, but the answer to which I cannot find on this forum yet.

I am on a Tier 1 (general) visa valid from 09 June 2009 to 08 June 2012. So, my extension is coming up soon. I entered the UK on 11th July 2009.

Now, I am aware that according to the guidelines, the caseworker can consider the initial period between entry clearance and actual entry in UK towards the calculation of 5 years stay for ILR (provided it is not more than 3 months). So, that area is sorted.

However, I have just read that UKBA has mentioned that they advise people to apply for FLR not more than 28 days before expiry of their original visa because they extend visa from the date the caseworker approves it rather than the initial expiry date. This is where my confusion lies. Do they mean:

If you apply within 28 days of your expiry of visa, then they will extend it from the date of your original visa expiry? (A trend that I have seen in other posts) ???

Because if they were to still extend it from the date of caseworker's approval - then if I were to apply 28 days earlier for my extension and get approved the same day .. then at the end of the extension, I would still have lived here only 4yrs and 11 months. And going by the UKBA rule on ILR (not accepting applications for ILR till 28 days before qualifying period), it means I will have to apply for ILR right on the last day of my visa in 2014??

Am I missing a trick here?

Many Thanks,
A

[ashdaone1]

Just in addition to my post above, looking by the timelines posted in the thread below, the extension date seems quite arbit. Someone applying 1 week before expiry gets extended from the date of approval, whereas someone applying 8 weeks before gets extended from date of expiry.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... eo&start=0

Still, the original question remains - how will it affect the calculation of continuous period, if I apply 28 days before expiry and get the extension from the date of approval rather than date of expiry.

Any thoughts, please?

[joy_kavee]

It all depends on the case worker.

I would say if you apply 3 months before you visa expires, that should be ok.

[ashdaone1]

Thanks Joy, but wouldn't applying 3 months before the actual expiry jeopardise your ILR application if the caseworker decides to give you the visa from the date of approval?

[geriatrix]

Thumb rule

[ashdaone1]

Hello Sushdmehta,

Thank you for your reply. But my query is precisely about this thumb rule in fact.

If I do apply according to this rule - say 28 days in advance and get my visa approved the same day, by the looks of it, I will have my visa extended from the same day (day of approval).

So, unless my calculations are horribly wrong, that would leave me with a total visa validity of only 4 yrs 11 months.

And again going by the ILR rule which states that applications cannot be made more than 28 days before the 5 yr qualifying period, it means I can only apply for ILR only after my extension has expired - which does not make sense!!

Any thoughts?

[geriatrix]

If you apply at a PEO "within 28 days" of expiry of your current leave, you will be issued leave that will expire "within the 28 days window" in which you may be eligible to apply for settlement.
The closer to the date of expiry of current leave you apply for extension at a PEO, higher will be the number of days available to you - within the "28 days window" - to apply for settlement.

[mellon_21]

If the 28 day window is tight, I would suggest that you do a postal application. This will usually buy you some as you can take advantage of the length of time the Home Office takes to approve your application. Ie, the longer they take, the later your approved Expiry date will be.

To hedge your bets, you should also elect to have an appointment at a PEO. If you go into a Post Office you have to do so within 15 workings days. But for a PEO appointment, you only have to MAKE the appointment within 15 working days. Usually, there will not be any appointment slots until 6 weeks later.

I suggest you post in your application as close to your current expiry as you feel comfortable (1-2 weeks recorded delivery is plenty)

My original visa expiry was 16-Jul-11
My new residence permit expiry is now 25-Aug-13