ILR_10 year long residency_Eligible?

Hi all,

I have been in the UK since September 2003 and I wanted to apply for ILR based on the 10 year residency rule. I meet all the requirements although I have one problem with my application. This is what happened:

I had a student visa that was due to expire on 31.October.2010 and I wanted to apply for a post study visa. I filled out my application form, but I had to wait around for the bank statement for a couple of weeks. I sent my application on 04.October.2010 (was received by 5th). On 1st or 2nd November (don't know the exact date, but there is a stamp on my paperwork for 29.October) I got my documents back saying that my application was 'invalid' for filling out the wrong application form. Turned out during the time I was waiting for my bank statement they had brought out a new version of the form which made my application invalid. (in my defence the two were the same word by word apart from a sentence or two in the 'guidance notes' at the beginning which didn't even apply to me). I was advised to leave the country since my visa was already expired and reapply from my home country. I booked an appointed on 7th November for the earliest time slot which was 17th November, and left the UK on 11th November (10 day overstay after visa expired). I attended my appointment and submitted the document on 17th Nov and it took til 31.December.2010 to get issued a visa. My passport got to me a week or so after and I left my home country on 22nd Jan to come back to the UK with a valid entry clearance.

This means I was out of the country for 72 days (less than the allowable 180 days at one time) but I didn't have a valid visa for that period. I couldn't have done anything to make the process faster.

Do you think this has broken my 10 year period?

Many thanks in advance.

Anyone?

Unfortunately it would appear that as you did not have valid leave on the date of your departure, continuous residence has been broken.