Immigrationboards.com

Hi all,
I am planning to apply for ILR (long residence) this August. I’d appreciate any clarification on two issues:

A. Cancelled application:

• I had a valid Student visa in the UK that was due to expire in Jan 2023.

• In October 2021, I finished my course and submitted an application for Graduate visa

• I then decided to cancel (withdraw) that application (as I entered my passport number wrong).

• After that, I immediately submitted a new application and got approved eventually

• SAR document record I requested shows the cancelled application as "Withdrawn".

B. Changed course:

I also had a change of course in 2017. But my University immigration compliance team emailed me that since the courses were in the same department, with same length and same level, I did not need to apply for new student visa. I can also see one (and only) record on my SAR document saying "Sponsor notification - change of circumstance (Notification recorded)" (outcome: Notification recorded). Nothing related to the visa curtailment.

My question:
Will this withdrawn application and the change of course in my case affect my continuous lawful residence (and ILR application under 10 year long residence)?

Many thank in advance!

There are no issues but I assume you applied again before visa expiry in 2023 after you cancelled your first application

zimba wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 12, 2025 2:43 pm

There are no issues but I assume you applied again before visa expiry in 2023 after you cancelled your first application

Thanks! Zimba. Yes I indeed made both (cancelled and successful) Graduate applications well before the end of student visa. That's comforting!

Can I follow up with another question in a similar situation please: I withdrew my first skilled worker visa, when switching from the Graduate visa. And then I re-applied using the priority service.

What I found in my SAR report (immigration history page) - there is a block called "Case reconsideration - withdraw" after the withdrawn skilled worker application. Again, both applications were made before the existing visa expired. Will this have any impact? Please see the screenshot here: https://ibb.co/dsJTzjzQ

Many thanks!

None of these have any impact

zimba wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:25 pm

None of these have any impact

Thanks Zimba!!! Much appreciated!

zimba wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 12, 2025 5:25 pm

None of these have any impact

Hi Zimba! Sorry for bothering you again. I am a bit confused about the starting date of my 10-year period for long residence.

My first visa was student visa, the date of issue for the visa is 05 Aug 2015;
The vignette (sticker) on my passport allowed me to enter from 14 Sep 2015;
The BRP showed date of issue 11 Sep 2015,
I physically entered on 21 Sep 2015.

So which date I should use as the grant of entry clearance (as the start of my 10 year period) please?

Many thanks!!

Note that the qualifying period is counted backwards and you cannot rely on the historical 10 years. You count it from the date of ILR decision and backwards until you get to the very first visa issue date (the BRP issue date)

Learn more here: Lawful and continuous residence changes to Long Residence route from 11 April 2024

Also see: Applicants can benefit from the date of the ILR decision

zimba wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 15, 2025 2:09 am

Note that the qualifying period is counted backwards and you cannot rely on the historical 10 years. You count it from the date of ILR decision and backwards until you get to the very first visa issue date (the BRP issue date)

Learn more here: Lawful and continuous residence changes to Long Residence route from 11 April 2024

Also see: Applicants can benefit from the date of the ILR decision

Sorry Zimba - forgive my ignorance. I am a bit confused by your answer. You are saying it is counted backwards from the decision date to my BRP issue date (11 Sep 2015). So that means I can apply 11 Sep 2015 +10 years - 28 days, which is 14th August 2015?

(I thought the date of first visa issue (05 Aug 2015) was going to be the start of my 10 year period)...

zimba wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 15, 2025 2:09 am

Note that the qualifying period is counted backwards and you cannot rely on the historical 10 years. You count it from the date of ILR decision and backwards until you get to the very first visa issue date (the BRP issue date)

Learn more here: Lawful and continuous residence changes to Long Residence route from 11 April 2024

Also see: Applicants can benefit from the date of the ILR decision

oh I see what you meant: there might be some delay before the casework makes the decision. I am thinking about using super priority service. So if I can use 05 Aug 2015 as the start, then I can apply for ILR right away. But I am just unsure whether 05 Aug (issue of visa date on my SAR) or 11 Sep (valid date on my BRP) is the date of grant of entry clearance...

According to what you said, the earliest date of eligibility is (05 Aug 2015 + 10 years - 28 days). So you are already eligible as you are beyond that point. As per the rules only the most recent period will be considered, that is why the so-called starting point is now not that relevant. Apply now

zimba wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 15, 2025 3:59 am

According to what you said, the earliest date of eligibility is (05 Aug 2015 + 10 years - 28 days). So you are already eligible as you are beyond that point. As per the rules only the most recent period will be considered, that is why the so-called starting point is now not that relevant. Apply now

Thanks Zimba! Just for the ease of my mind... I saw entry clearance vignette valid from date is same as the visa issue date in quite a lot of other cases - but in my case, the difference is about 1 and half months.

Here is the date of issue for my first visa from my SAR report: https://ibb.co/qLT4yd4x (Issue of Visa - 05 Aug 2015),

while the entry clearance is valid from 14 Sep 2015, here is the screenshot: https://ibb.co/jPwZC17h

Which date constitute the date of grant of entry clearance?

as per "The time between the grant of entry clearance and the date of arrival is a period during which they had permission on that route and should be treated as aperiod of lawful residence. In these instances, you must establish the date the applicant entered the UK. The time between the grant of entry clearance and the date they entered the UK counts towards the total of absences."

Much appreciated!

While your visa was approved, you still needed a sticker to enter the UK and that was issued at a later date. A visa sticker cannot be backdated, so the sticker bears a date it was physically printed which was a later date. That does not mean your visa was necessarily approved on that date. For calculating the qualifying period for ILR, the date of approval is all that matters.

Hi zimba! Thank you so much for your advice and patience!! I submitted online application yesterday (17th Aug 2025) using super priority service and booked my biometric today (18th Aug) at 9:15 am - I just got my ILR approved (4:30pm) after 7 hours!

Here I can also confirm the date of entry does not matter. Days between the first visa issue (or at least the valid date) and your physical entrance can be counted as legal residence but also need to be counted toward total absence.

Hope it helps!

Congratulations

All advice given was based on the immigration rules

tonyflyingt wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 18, 2025 4:58 pm

Hi zimba! Thank you so much for your advice and patience!! I submitted online application yesterday (17th Aug 2025) using super priority service and booked my biometric today (18th Aug) at 9:15 am - I just got my ILR approved (4:30pm) after 7 hours!

Here I can also confirm the date of entry does not matter. Days between the first visa issue (or at least the valid date) and your physical entrance can be counted as legal residence but also need to be counted toward total absence.

Hope it helps!

Congratulations.
I am in similar situation. My sticker states - 14 sept 2015 as visa date and my BRP is 8 sept 2015. i am applying for long residence ILR and really worried what my entry date was, as I entered on 19th sept. But after Zimba's advice and your recent post I am confident that 28 days concession is really helpful and works.
Question:
Did you submit any additional documents to support the application?