ILR (continuous period of 4 years??)

[manishnigam77]

Hi,

I'm confused about the tere "continuous period of 4 years".
Following is my case:
I came here in UK on 2nd Nov, 2001 and had been here in Work Permit until 9th May, 2003. I, then, got back to India. During this period i was getting salary in India and getting allowances here in UK. So i was not paying any tax and NI in this period. Can this period be added in when cosidering for ILR? Note my WP was valid until 10 Aug, 2003.

I came again back to UK in 10th Sep, 2003 in WP, this time i got UK employer who has offered me WP. Till then i'm here in UK.

Point ot be Noted
1. I was in India from 9th May, 2003 to 10 Sep, 2003 which is almost 4 months.
2. My old WP expires on 10th Aug, 2003.
3. And my new WP started on 10th Sep, 2003.

My questions are:
1. Will my old WP period be taken into consideration in ILR? Please consider that i was in india for 4 months in between. and there is a 1 month gap between two WP.
2. Is it necessary that you have to pay Tax and NI for entire 4 yrs to apply for ILR?

I'm afraid of lossing my previous 2 yrs period due to 4 months gap.

Please suggest.

Regards,
Manish

[Cosmopol]

Unfortunately, it seems, you lost continuity after your first WP expired...

In some instances of being absent for months there is an argument that it doesn't break continuity for the purposes of ILR because the applicant was away on bona fide buisness for the UK employer, all the while paying UK taxes and maintaining other ties (e.g., keeping the rental flat, paying utility and credit card bills).

In your case, not only you seem to have had no tangible ties to the UK, your actual WP expired at some point. I.e., if you wanted to travel to the UK before your second WP got through you'd be denied entry. I think that did reset your ILR clock to zero from any angle, and so it had to start again.

Perhaps someone knows other angles to this situations - please share...