Indefinite Leave To Enter with an expiry date ????

Hi Guys,

I'll try and keep this post as concise as possible.

I married my American Gfriend in November 2009. We applied for the Spousal Visa and it was issued on December 17th at the British Embassy in Chicago.

The Visa we actually got issued was an Indefinite leave to Enter with the dates December 17th 2009 - March 17th 2011.

Not being immigration experts we figured she had to apply for an ILR visa so completed all the neccesary paperwork and posted March 1st.

This was duly recieved and cheque cashed etc.

Yesterday she recieved her passport back saying that there is no need to apply for an ILR because ILE is essentially the same thing.

The dates on the visa are what's throwing us off. She called the Border Agency earlier who said there was no problem and the date means you have to enter the UK between the two dates for the visa to be valid.

I've read on the UK Border Agency website that an ILE visa should be issued for the expiry date of the passport. I haven't seen anything on the website to confirm what my wife was told on the telephone.

Furthermore there is no mention of the Life in the UK test. She took and passed the test in Feb 2011 to go in with the ILR application. On the ILE Visa it DOES NOT state KOR required.

I don't want a situation to arise where we leave the country and she tries to re-enter and through no fault of our own she is denied entry.

I'm pretty confused so anyone who could provide some clarity on our situation would be great.

I'd be keen to hear if anyone else has the same issue and if they've had any problems getting back in to the UK.

A spouse / civil partner of a settled person / British citizen is eligible for ILE only if at the time of an application:
1. Both of them have been married / been in a civil partnership for at least 4 years, and
2. Both of them have lived outside UK for at least 4 years, and
3. Applicant has passed LITUK test.
4. Both are coming to UK to settle.

If you married your girlfriend in December 2009 and applied for a visa immediately thereafter, she couldn't have been eligible for ILE. And if an ILE endorsement has indeed been placed on the vignette, it is in error.

And, understandably, UKBA wouldn't have bothered to do any background checks on your wife's initial visa application (no reason to suspect that a wrong endorsement was issued), they have returned your wife's settlement application .. stating that since she has ILE, there is no need for ILR.

Thanks for the reply.

Working on the assumption that they've issued the Visa in error what do I do now. UKBA on the phone are very dismissive and are just saying the visa issued is fine.

Should I put something in writing to confirm the validity of the visa ? at least then I have some kind of paper trail.

I would point out that my wife has been in the UK since May 2007, and was issued a work visa in August 2007, since this point she's been working as a secondary school teacher and has acheived full UK qualified teacher status. Would this have affected the type of visa issued in anyway ?

I'm sure I've read somewhere that if intergration in to UK life is obvious then a Knowledge test is not required.

It just seems strange that they've issued this visa when they shouldn't have, it would also appear that I'm not the only one who this has happened to.

Once indefinite leave to enter or remain has been granted it can only be taken away if it was obtained by deception or if the person commits a serious criminal offence.

It sounds like it was granted by mistake however there are no grounds upon which the UKBA can revoke the ILE even though it should not have been granted in the first place under the rules. Decision makers also have discretion to grant more favourable leave if they wish although it is more likely an admin error.

I don't think you need to do anything. You have tried to apply for ILR and been told it is not necessary. Keep a copy of this correspondence for your records.

The only issue you may have is that the entry clearance has an expiry date and therefore some employers or government agencies take this to mean that the ILE 'expires' which is does not. However they make this mistake even when the expiry is the same as the passport. To avoid this your wife could apply for a new passport and get a NTL stamp. Or else is she thinking of applying for British citizenship in the near future?