an ILR question with lots of info

Hello.

I have a convuluted situation with my work permit.

I entered the UK in August 2000 as a visitor (as a student abroad actually). I left on December 20 2000 and returned on December 29 2000 with a BUNAC (6 month) work permit. I got a job with that in February 2001 (as a temporary worker) and was hired permanently in June 2001 (at the same company). My employers applied for a work permit previous to employing me, but due to many fumbles with the HO (losing my application, etc.), I didn't actually receive the letter confirming I had a work permit until nearly September 2001

During this time, I was told that my 6 month work permit was extended and I was definitely legally in the country, and I could continue working, etc. etc.

I've always just assumed this to be correct, meaning that as of December 1 2004 I could apply for ILR (i.e. December 29 - 28 days), but I was just wondering if anyone had any idea/experience with BUNAC/situations like this - i.e. will the extension that I got be on their system as a verified extension? And am I eligible to apply from December or is it not until my other work permit went through - do the two permits get aggregated into one lump of time?

Any help would be appreciated.

You can only apply for ILR after 4 years consecutively on a full work permit. You do not have to work for one employer during this period. The 4 years starts from the date your passport was endorsed with leave to remain as a WP holder - I assume this to be no earlier than September 2001 given this is when the WP letter came through. Any time spent on the bunac scheme is not counted towards the WP clock counter - its a concessionary category operating outside the rules. You may apply for ILR on or around August 2005 subject to having maintained the 4 years on a WP criteria.