Tier 2 to ILR advise

Hi all,

I applied for 5 years and was granted a valid date from 24 Dec 2017 until 14 Jan 2023, the same for my partner and my son.

The visa sticker on our passport is valid from 24 Dec 2017 to 23 Jan 2018. Initially, we were planning to come together but after some consideration, I came first to get the house rented and settle before they come. Thus I came to the UK on 18 Jan 2018 (stamped on my visa sticker). My partner and my son's initial visa sticker are being crossed by the visa centre and issued a new sticker as they are coming on 22 Mar 2018.






I was reading online on the day count toward 5 years. It seems I can apply ILR 28 days before based on the day entry clearance is issued. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Reading from the latest "Indefinite leave to remain: calculating continuous period in UK"
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 2.0ext.pdf

Period between the issue of entry clearance and entering the UK
The period between entry clearance being issued and the applicant entering the UK may be counted toward the qualifying period. Any absences between the date of issue and entry to the UK count towards the 180 days allowable absence in the continuous 12-month period. The applicant does not need to provide evidence to demonstrate the reason for delayed entry. If the delay is more than 180 days, you can only include time after the applicant entered the UK in the continuous period calculation.


Question:
1) Can I start applying ILR for all of us 28 days before 24 Dec 2017 which is the date of entry clearance being issued? Does it mean I can start to apply on 26 Nov 2022 (28 days before)?

If the answer is NO for Q1:
2) I should be able to apply for my ILR on 21 Dec 2022 (28 days before I enter the UK), how about my partner and son, this is because their visa is expired on 14 Jan 2023 which is not yet 5 years according to 28 days before the day they enter (22 Feb2023). Does it mean they have to extend tier 2 dependent visa and apply for ILR after another month?

Not sure if I miss anything, also I couldn't find how much financial evidence support need to provide to apply ILR and also documents.
-life in the UK test
-English prove for my partner as she does not graduate from UK university
-Do I still need to provide marriage cert and birth cert?
-financial support proof (how much for how long?)

I'm posting on the tier 2 section too, please remove one because I'm not sure should post in which section.

1. Yes. Use date of very first visa issue date

You must provide a letter from your sponsor, your latest payslip, and a bank statement showing the salary deposit.
See: indefinite-leave-to-remain/ilr-question ... l#p2090242

Your dependant needs to provide two years of cohabitation evidence. Your dependant does NOT have to show any financial requirements. A marriage certificate is not needed.

Hi Zimba,

Thanks for your reply. For the payslip and statement, does it need to be past 6 months or show how long I have specific amount in my bank account, the reason because my money in my investment, does it help if I provide my investment, LISA and pension statement?

Your dependant needs to provide two years of cohabitation evidence. For my wife, is council tax bill, water bill and bank statement good enough to prove this, does it mean I have to provide for the past 2 years at least? For my son, do I need to prepare birth cert? My original marriage cert and birth cert in home country now, if they are not required then it would be easier for me.

Overall, does it mean for whole application for 3 of us, I need to provide document:
1) Employee letter
2) payslip and bank statement
3) council tax, water bills, bank statement to prove we live in the same property
4) Life in the UK test.
5) English test for my wife

Any document do I miss? Thanks for your help.

No you do not need evidence from the last 6 months at all. Do not add irrelevant evidence. A marriage certificate is not needed again. ANY evidence can be used for cohabitation

Hi Zimba,

Sorry about asking the question again here, I am aware if the application failed then I would need to re-apply with the same fees, thus I wish to make sure I am getting it right in the first place.

As a tier 2 applicant for ILR,
1) Employer letter
2) payslip and bank statement
3) Council tax, water bills, bank statement to prove we live in the same property, I am trying to get GP to write letter to prove we register under the same address as well
4) life in the UK test
5) english test for my wife
6) How about my son? if without birth cert, how can I prove this?
7) I am filling online application, on the section "Evidence of your absence from the UK and Crown Dependencies", do I need to provide any evidence for my 5 days holiday to Spain and back to home country 3 Dec 2019 - 18 Dec 2019 (15 days), is the flight ticket and passport good enough?
8) There is a section asking to enter all the countries residing regardless of the length and also home country, I do not remember the date and duration of my travel, do I need to enter one by one because every question has from and to date, also if I visited a county multiple time, do I need to enter all the break, for example, I visited Australia 3 times a year on 2015 for work, staying 1-2 weeks, based on the section, I need to enter separately and put in the date too, but I do not remember exactly the duration.

Thanks.

If any other evidence is required, you will be asked to submit it. You are not going to be refused for simply lack of documents.
A birth certificate is not needed as a passport will do. Evidence of absences is simply passport stamps in your passport. You do NOT need to specify countries you visited for a question on the countries you LIVED in.

Thanks, Zimba, apologies for all the questions, I hope this is the last one, it is regarding the cohabitation evidence, I found a few solicitor websites online that suggested 6 items to prove this.

Weblinks removed by moderator

Currently, I have:
1) Council tax on both name
2) GP letter stated we registered since 2018 on the same address.
3) Water bills on the both name.
4) Bank account on single name (one of each of us)
5) credit card statement on a single name (one of each of us)
6) NI letter from HMRC (one of each of us)

I have mortgage statement on my own name, hope this will not be a problem because I'm the only name submit when apply for mortgage. Also for those item above, I asssume I just have to provide the latest one because all my banks or bills are paperless and the latest I can print online is only up to 6 months but not past few years.

Thanks.

The cohabitation document requirement does not even show up in the immigration rules. There is no specific requirement at all. ANY evidence can be used

Hi Zimba,

I am starting to fill in the application form online and now I am the section for my wife, there is a question asking this:

Leave granted on or after 11 January 2018
Does the period of stay on which this application was based include any leave granted since 11 January 2018?
-After I answer Yes to this, the subsequent question appears.

Have you had any absences from the UK during any leave granted since 11 January 2018?
(Required)
This includes all absences however short. Do not include travel to Crown Dependencies.
- Yes again

https://ibb.co/vwR9Bhh

The next question is which country you travel?
Date you leave UK:
Date you return UK:

https://ibb.co/JvkTwyg

For my wife and son's scenario, they first granted the visa sticker same as me 24 Dec 2017, I come to UK to rent the house first then they come on 22 Mar 2018.

Should I answer YES for both questions above?
If yes, the date that leave UK what should I put because they didn't leave UK, just they arrive later, and according to the gov website "The period between entry clearance being issued and the applicant entering the UK may be counted toward the qualifying period. Any absences between the date of issue and entry to the UK count towards the 180 days allowable absence in the continuous 12-month period. The applicant does not need to provide evidence to demonstrate the reason for delayed entry. "

Thanks again, apologies if this is confusing and I can explain further.

Have you had any absences from the UK during any leave granted since 11 January 2018?

You must ONLY answer yes if the visa was GRANTED after 11 Jan 2018.

Hi Zimba,

My wife visa sticker was first granted 24 Dec 2017. Does it mean the first is YES and the second answer is NO? Apologies because I am really confused about both of these questions.

The section title is:
Leave granted on or after 11 January 2018
Technically the visa sticker is granted 24 Dec 2017 and although she came after 11 Jan 2018, I would think this section is not applicable to her (Correct me if I'm wrong)

Then the first question:
Does the period of stay on which this application was based include any leave granted since 11 January 2018?
Does it mean this question is belonging to some other people who have 2 different visas, this is the second visa and hence they need to take the previous visa (leave) days into consideration. So my wife case would be NO for the first question and does not need to answer the second question since it only appear if YES on the first question?

I'm confused here because she did have some absence from 24 Dec 2017 - 22 Mar 2018 (the day she first entered UK) 87 days of absence, so I thought initially need to answer as a 'yes'. Really need help on this.

Evidence in the form of a letter from the employer which sets out the reasons for the
absences, including annual leave, must be provided. Where short visits outside the
UK, on weekends or other non-working days have taken place, evidence from the
employer should be provided to confirm the applicant’s normal working pattern and
show the absences occurred during a non-working period.


Another section above from the "Indefinite leave to remain - calculating continuous leave"
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 2.0ext.pdf
I understand as I do need employer's letter including my personal holiday that I used as my annual leave? I only requested employer letter on a business trip, I do have a few days visit to Spain and 2 weeks holidays back to home country, does it mean I need employer to write another letter to confirm I am on holiday with my annual leave?

The answer is NO to that question. The leave was granted before 11 Jan 2018.
Employer letter: indefinite-leave-to-remain/ilr-question ... l#p2090242