applied 8 Dec, rules changed 5th Dec re: business travel

Congrats Girly, must say you scared the crap out of me, but am happy for you now!
I'm in the same boat as, chrams. I have 193 business trip and 107 paid vacations (totalling 300 days). No single trip over 90 days. I have a letter from my employer endorsing each and every trip. My PEO appointment in Croydon is on 05-jan-12. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Just wanted to follow up on our situation. My boyfriend had exactly the same problem yesterday and went back to the home office today to pick up his passport as we have holidays booked.

We have filled a complaint with UKBA, our local MPs and the Home Secretary, Theresa May.

The issue here is that when applying for this service, it is clear that a decision might not be made on the day, however in this case there was absolutely no chance for a decision to be made on the day and my boyfriend should have been told about that before applying. It is a new rule from the Home Office that says that ALL cases that involve more than 180 days outside the country for whatever reason need to be reviewed by a senior officer and cannot be processed on the same day. So my boyfriend was allowed to pay for a service that he wasn't entitled to in the first place and this should be been made clear when the staff checks the documentation before directing people to the payment counter.

We have filled a complaint so that he can apply again in January without having to pay the fee considering that this time they didn't spend more than 10 minutes reviewing the case - so he basically paid £1,350 only to get an immigration officer to spend 10 minutes going through the documents and say that the application would need to be reviewed by a senior officer and there is no estimate as to when a decision would be made.


So the reason I am posting this here is: if someone is having the same problem, please make sure you file a complaint as I believe the more complaints they receive about the same issue, the more chances we all have to get a better outcome.

Agreed Kiki

Just one thing, as people are (perhaps rightfully) touchy about saying the rules have changed... they have always had the discretion to refer a case to a senior officer, but the premise normally was that "business travel was not counted" in the 180 days and usually you could get a decision that same day. not my words or misinterpretation, but the exact words from the UKBA 0870 helpline. so if you go on that premise, be aware that, per the article I posted that was in the general forum, they are no longer excercising discretion in overlooking business travel - ANY travel counts and your in person application WILL go to a senior manager for review.

I would also consider copying in the Parliamentary Ombudsman, as they review poor service of government agencies like the UKBA. I forgot to mention that I copied them in as well. Especially, Kiki if you're a Brit, I firmly believe if Brits complain and/or are affected, they respond. Just a theory, but it has worked in every case that my husband has complained on OUR behalf (can't just be you for him, as you're not the "customer")

Again, just some observations in my dealings with the UKBA

Good luck you and your BF, Kiki.

Thanks for the congrats, guys - believe me, I am SOOOO relieved. Like I said, I will only believe it when I see it!! I'll confirm tomorrow lol

Hi all,

I've been following this thread since my application on 7 Dec 2011 and my case is similar in all contents and nature and was issued a letter that states further enquiries were needed. The only difference is that I have exceeded by 8 days, ie 188 days of which 25 days I was on business trip (got sent out of UK) for 26 days in 2008. I was asked if I have an employer letter but unfortunately my previous employer was taking time to process one for me, which I finally received on 12 Dec 2011, days after my visit on the 7 Dec.

Anyway, just for the benefit of other readers, I opted to go ahead without the employer letter as I would have thought that the caseworker will be using their discretion, also this was supported by my P60 and employer history from HMRC at the time these business trip was taken. Well, obviously I would have been employed and paid in the UK for that reason. If anyone wants to argue on the business trip, then fine, you can call that an annual leave/ business regardless, but the point is that I was still employed in the UK on those dates.

Hence, on that day, I was told that I would receive my documents back in the next 'couple of days' and issued me with the letter. I was also told my case was a straightforward one and that the officer has a good feeling that it will be fine. I was not told anything more than that I have exceeded the 180 days and this needs looking into (shock horror!)

Also I would like to add, that this was left out from mentioning, is that the test for the 180days is none other than proving continuous residence and tie in the UK. Lets not forget this fundemental point. Now I have a house in morgage and a job at the moment, so I wonder how this can be looked over.

I'm still pondering on the 'next couple of days' now and wondering what I should do next. Similar to Girly, I have my trips planned this weekend to travel out of the country but would have to shelved the plan.

Frustration is eating into me day by day on what was supposed to be a straightforward day out. I paid the premium service for a reason,... that it is premium service amongst others, that you get waht you pay for and that my expectation was that a decision would be made on the spot.

and reasonably so to expect that - from everything everyone is told, including provisos and caveats, "business travel doesn't count". they would have taken it away for review and not decided on the spot, with or without your letter from your employer. it's just how they're doing it now, just a couple of weeks before nearly every ex-pat leaves for holidays. very fishy...

i would call the help line and ask what's what, and see if maybe they can get it done ASAP. call now!

I wouldn't worry too much about 188 days.

The same caseworker's guidance that originally mentioned business days discretion also mentioned discretion on 190 / 200 personal days with authorization 1 / 2 levels up from the caseworker.

At least you got in early with this new policy. One can only imagine the queues that will be building in the near future!

malepiscean wrote:Congrats Girly, must say you scared the crap out of me, but am happy for you now!
I'm in the same boat as, chrams. I have 193 business trip and 107 paid vacations (totalling 300 days). No single trip over 90 days. I have a letter from my employer endorsing each and every trip. My PEO appointment in Croydon is on 05-jan-12. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi All,
one of my 2 business trips is just crossed the 90 day rule by exactly 1 day. I left the country on 30th April 2008 and came back on 31st July 2008. It is clearly listedout in my employers letter, I was full paid in the UK, rent, council tax, utility bills what not everything I had paid here.

Technically i am not more than 3 months but days wise its 91 days.

Do you see is this an big issue members?

chrams wrote:

malepiscean wrote:Congrats Girly, must say you scared the crap out of me, but am happy for you now!
I'm in the same boat as, chrams. I have 193 business trip and 107 paid vacations (totalling 300 days). No single trip over 90 days. I have a letter from my employer endorsing each and every trip. My PEO appointment in Croydon is on 05-jan-12. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi All,
one of my 2 business trips is just crossed the 90 day rule by exactly 1 day. I left the country on 30th April 2008 and came back on 31st July 2008. It is clearly listedout in my employers letter, I was full paid in the UK, rent, council tax, utility bills what not everything I had paid here.

Technically i am not more than 3 months but days wise its 91 days.

Do you see is this an big issue members?

Chrams- based on what that has been written across the forum, there is no certainty as to how UKBA works, they can choose to be harsh or practice leniency, no one knows.

As bitter I am to say this, my 2 cents, either consult a lawyer on this or if you have an appointment at PEO, ask them before you make any payment, I have a friend that travelled to croydon, ask before making the payment but it was an outright refusal.

If you are fine with risking the payment and putting up wif the frustration of having your docs taken for consideration and never knowing when you will get things back (well, its a 50:50 chance), then its worth a shot. It's your call.

Hi all,

You will not believe my excitement when I opened my letter box today. All the wait was finally over with ILR granted after my initial application last week.

Special thanks to Jami and other experienced members who have contributed to this forum, your knowledge sharing and invaluable advice have really helped me through these times of waiting and kept my spirit high.

I will be following these forum occasionally for updates and contribute on my experience. Best of luck to all, do not give up hope. =)

it's true - i really did get it - have my passport back, with ILR stamp and all is well!! i'm thinking that they must have felt some sense of obligation to complete these applications as a result of the unfairness of revising the policy application and putting us all in this ridiculous position.

going home for Christmas!! thanks to everyone again for their help and encouragement!!

Hello,

Just wanted to give a heads up on my boyfriend's ILR.

He withdrew his application in December after being told that they couldn't process it on the same day because of this 'new rule'.

We filled a complaint with the UKBA on the same day and got our PM involved as well. The complaint got escalated twice within the UKBA and we finally got a full refund a couple of weeks ago.

He then went to the Croydon PEO on the 17th February and got his ILR.

The service they provide is very very poor and thank god we won't have to deal with them again. At the end we got the money from the first application back and the ILR so all good.