URGENT: Tier-1 (General) Extension - Mother Died

Hi Gurus:

This is kind of a complex query and would need your attention if you could guide in this respect.

My Tier-1 (General) expired on 29th May 2012. My wife and two kids have travelled for the first time to the UK on 27th April 2012. We applied for our extension together, the application was received at UKBA on 3rd May 2012 and I received the letter of receipt of application dated 18th May 2012. We are now awaiting letter for our biometric registration which should be due in a few days time.

However, my mother-in-law passed away on 30th May 2012. This indeed was a shocking news and we wanted to travel back to Pakistan as soon as we could but were caught up in this situation. I contacted Pakistan High Commission in London and they informed they can produce a travel document that can be used to travel back however we will require a visa to re-enter the UK which obviously would be a problem in our scenario with our original passports already sitting with UKBA. I then contacted the UKBA customer services who informed that they can only help in case I send them the death certificate of the relative as well as a cover letter stating the reference number, requesting to speed-up the application process. They also informed that the cover letter must also mention our willingness to withdraw our application in case its not feasible to speed the process up. Their understanding was that because we still haven't given our biometrics so more chances are that the UKBA will simply withdraw our application. This obviously puts us in a bad shape with us already being over stayers as our visas expired on 29th May 2012.

I still plan to send my wife and two kids back home as soon as possible to help other family members in the situation however it seems to be impossible until I get my application dealt with. Please can you guys suggest the best route to take from here.

Look forward to see guidance as soon as possible.

Thanks, Ammar.

Option 1:
Withdraw your dependants' applications (only) but let your own application be assessed (Make sure this is made explicitly clear in your cover letter).
When their documents are returned, make sure that they travel ASAP and definitely within 28 days of the withdrawal request (assuming their passports are returned within 28 days of withdrawal request).
Once your application is approved, the dependants can apply for entry clearance again to return to UK.

Request return of documents on priority citing the reason for withdrawal and the need to travel without delay.

Option 2:
Write to UKBA to assess (all) the applications on priority citing the unfortunate incident and the need to travel urgently. Include copy of death certificate.



Note: Do not withdraw your (own) application under any circumstances.

Thanks very much for your valuable response sushdmehta.

With regards to Option 2, the discussion I had with UKBA customer services representative suggests that they will simply withdraw our applications (including mine) as we haven't even given the biometrics and she thought its too early to be put on priority basis even under these circumstances. So, may eventually not be the route to take.

I've got a few more questions with regards to Option 1 and would like your thoughts in case you have anything to say, would obviously highly appreciate that:

1. In case UKBA still pursues with my application, would we get a refund for the dependants' applications or is that not possible? My understanding is that as we haven't yet given biometrics so processing of our application hasn't yet started in technical terms; am I correct in my understanding?

2. As suggested in my previous message everything happened after the actual expiry of our original visa (i.e. after 29th May 2012), in case my dependants get their applications withdrawn, will they be considered over-stayers as they didn't depart before expiry of their visa? Is there anything that UKBA would do when they are leaving the country on an airport, e.g. mark them as over-stayers?

3. Do we have any idea of how long it normally takes to complete this process of withdrawing dependants applications? I understand there can't be any service standard for this type of thing but any previous experiences/knowledge would obviously guide us better to go this route or not.

4. If everything goes fine and my dependants get back to Pakistan, I get my extension here, will they be able to get their visas again from Pakistan?

Any help on these questions would really help us making a decision. Thanks in advance for your guidance.

The reason option 2 is not an option is that if you withdraw your application and leave the UK you will not be able to come back to the as a tier 1 general migrant as it is not possible to apply for entry clearance in this capacity.

1. No you will lose the fees.
2.they are currently not overstaying as they have submitted in time applications. They will overstay from when their applications are formally treated as withdrawn hence why they should leave within 28 days of this date as overstaying for less than 28 days is generally disregarded.
3. They currently say 20 working days so you may wish to involve your mp or consider getting them emergency travel documents instead.
4. Yes as long as your application wife in particular leaves within 28 days of the application being treated as withdrawn (children who overstay for more than 28 days are not subject to mandatory bans)

Thanks for your guidance guys, really appreciate this!