lost passport containing my ILR - can I enter without it?

Hi everyone,

Last night I lost my passport containing my ILR. I have a Canadian passport, live in Germany with my spouse who is a UK citizen and received my ILR about five or six years ago.

My question: when I get a new passport, can I just use it to enter the UK and then apply for a new ILR when I get there? Canadians don't need a visa to enter, so this seems logical, but am I missing something?

If I can't, what next? We were planning on moving back to the UK in three months and I'm a bit worried that this will throw off the timing of everything -- glad we didn't give notice on our flat yet!

Cheers!

How long have you been living outside of the UK?

I've been living outside the UK for three years, but I have been back every year, most recently for a week in June.

If you've only been making short visits to the UK during the last 3 years your ILR may well be revoked. ILR status can be lost if someone remains out of the UK for more than 2 years on a single occasion or when it appears that an individual only spends short periods of time to retain their status and does not appear to have made the UK their principal home. This is known as the ‘returning residents’ rule. Absence of more than 2 years cancels the ILR status unless there are exceptional ties to the UK. Short visits don't count.
The other problem you have is that if you are granted entry on your Canadian passport as a visitor it will be even more difficult to claim validity for your ILR. This link to a post by fellow moderator Vinny gives more info:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/immigr ... ml#p151168

You could attempt to apply for a Returning Resident visa from Canada.

This is coming as quite a big shock. I knew the immigration laws had changed, but I didn't realise time length away had changed too (I was actually told by the person who processed my file when they handed me my visa that all I had to do was come back to the UK once every five years to maintain my status).

EDITED to add: I see according to vinny's post that apparently this isn't new. I feel like I've been slapped in the face.

Does it make any difference that I was granted ILR as the family member of a UK citizen? Does it make any difference that we left the UK together for work and are now coming back to settle permanently?

What if I had never lost the passport and just returned to the UK in December as planned? Would it just never have been realised?

The fact that you're married to a UK citizen doesn't make a difference unfortunately unless you can prove exceptional ties to the UK..property here etc. If you hadn't lost your passport you may still have had a problem on re-entry. You appear to have been lucky so far when you've returned briefly during the last year. When a passport is lost containing ILR while someone is outside of the UK the standard procedure is to apply from Returning Resident visa. The problem is, you're almost certainly going to be asked in the application how long you've been away from the UK. I can't advise you to lie as this will cause even greater problems and I don't know what information will be held on the UKBA system for your entry dates...I assume entered by border control from your landing cards.
It's regrettable that you were given incorrect information on the time allowed outside of the country.

Yes, I suppose I have been lucky. Or more likely, given only a quick once over on account of my white skin, anglo-saxon name and Canadian passport...

I certainly have no intention of lying at this point. Although I do have every part of my body crossed, hoping that through some miracle my bag is turned in at the public transport lost and found.

I guess I'm going to have to apply for a Returning Resident visa and hope they give it to me.

The government website says:

You need a Returning Resident visa to come back to live in the UK if you were previously settled (given ‘indefinite leave to remain’) and you’ve been away for more than 2 years.

You must:

plan to return to live in the UK permanently
have been settled in the UK when you last left
have been away for more than 2 years
not have been given public funds to help you leave the UK

If you don’t meet all of these requirements you must prove you’ve strong ties to the UK, for example you’ve:

- got strong family ties to the UK
- lived in the UK most of your life

On my reading, this says you can only apply for a Returning Resident visa if you have been away for more than two years.

Also, surely my British-born, British-raised husband counts as strong family ties in the UK?

EDIT to add: And all of my British-born, living-in-the-UK inlaws?

Thanks for your responses, by the way.

Just in case you don't post again but in the worst case scenario are refused the Returning Resident you can avoid applying for a new spouse settlement visa by taking the 'Surinder Singh' route. (Google it and you'll see the full explanation). Currently a spouse visa application under UK rules would require you and your husband to have been earning the equivalent of £18,600 per annum in Germany and your husband to have a confirmed job offer starting within 3 months of arrival in the UK with an annual salary of £18,600. The route to ILR would be 5 years (an initial 2.5 years with an extension of a further 2.5 years). The visa fees would be considerable.
However, as 'the centre of your life' has been in Germany for 3 years you can apply for a Family Permit - EEA2, under EEA regulations in Germany. This will give the same 5 year route to permanent residency for a processing fee of £52 and no further visa fees.
I hope this helps and that it all works out well for you. You should, by the way, report the loss of your passport to the police if you haven't already done so and mention this in the additional information on your Returning Resident application.

That's very useful, thank you.

Police report comes tomorrow. And a lot of anxious phone calls to the lost and found office for the next few days...

I hope it turns up. I should also have mentioned that a spouse visa under UK rules (as opposed to the EEA route) would require savings of £62,500 if no income is available.

No luck with it turning up yet.

Luckily, we have the necessary income under the new immigration rules, if it comes to getting a new spouse visa.

However, I'm feeling relatively confident (knock on wood) that we'll get the Returning Resident visa. Strong family ties is listed as one of the exceptions and it will be straightforward to show that. My spouse and I are returning to the UK together, we've been back several times to visit his family, he has a good job offer, we should have a flat rental contract before I make the application, I will soon be listed as the director of a business in the UK which I will be working with on my return, I have been a charitable trustee with a UK charity the whole time I've been gone, etc.

It's crucial that you're not admitted into the UK as a visitor. Bear in mind that the Returning Resident visa must be applied for outside of the UK.