2. Checking the residence requirements wrote:We should assess whether the applicant has met the residence
requirements from checking the following:
• original passport(s) or travel document(s) which have been
endorsed to show arrival in and departure from the United
Kingdom; or
•
Home Office records; or
failing these, any other evidence (e.g. employer's letters, a
Seaman's Record Book, tax and
National Insurance letters)
NB. Passports will not necessarily be stamped to show embarkation
from the United Kingdom. In these and other circumstances (e.g.
involving lost or stolen passports), applicants should be given the
benefit of any doubt where claimed absences cannot be otherwise
verified but are within the limits we would normally allow and there are
no grounds to doubt the accuracy of the claim. Doctors' letters, on
their own, are not normally acceptable proof of residence. However, if
nothing else is available and the
doctors can confirm that they have
seen the applicant on a regular basis during the period concerned
these may be accepted. A Seaman's Record Book may be accepted
as evidence that there have been no excess absences, but it is not
conclusive proof that there have been excess absences, since it only
contains dates of the seaman's joining and discharge from a ship
rather than dates of the ship's sailing from and arrival in United
Kingdom ports. Letters from shipping companies, listing sailing and
arrival dates, may need to be requested in suspected excess absence
cases involving seamen.
If there are gaps in a person’s evidence of residence and it is clear
from the information available that they could not have travelled, we
may proceed. Examples of this might include a refugee who has no
means of travel or where immigration records confirm continuous
residence.