5 year period start and absences - Eligibility for the ILR

Hi all,
I am writing regarding my wife's application for ILR.

She got her spouse visa in 2013 and moved here in June 2013. At that time I was already a naturalised British citizen.

We applied for her FLR(M) in 2016 and the visa was refused on the basis of financials which was completely outrageous as the HO representative did not look at my statements and payslips properly. Anyways I was furious and to cut the long story short, I appealed against it, went to the tribunal. The decision was overturned but the HO put her on a 10 year route. Again I was furious on this decision that would mean it would take her 5 extra years to become a British Citizen. Anyways, I was clutching at the straws so as a last resort I wrote an email to the HO with my complaint and completely forgot about it.

6-9 months down the road they sent us a letter apologising for their mistake and said they are going to put my wife back on a 5 year route.

Anyways now the issue is because all the guidance and rules and the UKBA has been removed and everything is dealt with on www.gov.uk I feel not fully in control to understand what rules apply to her. I only believe in written/documentary evidence so I am looking for any rules that are online that I could use, should the HO create more problems for my wife for the ILR application.

Secondly, what I am not able to find is the rule for absences and I am not sure when can I apply for her ILR. Her extension is expiring in March 2020 and would really like to know if we can apply in Jan/Feb 2020?

Here are her entries/exits.



UK Exit UK Entry No of Days Notes
21/06/2013 First Entry
22/10/2013 07/12/2014 411.00 Does this absence mean the 5 year period would be reset?
25/01/2015 25/07/2015 181.00 If the travel days (that are half days) are discounted this is exactly 180 days, so I believe based on this the 5 year period will start from 07-12-2014?

16/11/2017 24/12/2017 38.00
28/02/2018 10/03/2018 10.00
15/06/2019 13/07/2019 28.00


Please could anyone confirm the following:
1) We can go for the ILR application in Jan 2020 or later?
2) What would be the entry date that should be considered for counting the 5 years for the ILR application?
2) The absences above in the table are acceptable and will not create an issue for the ILR application to be accepted.

Cheers

ILR under SET(M) requires 5 years of lawful residence strictly under 5 year partner route. You said HO will put her under 5 year route but from when ?? Are they going to back date it ??! Time spent under the 5 year and 10 year route cannot be combined for ILR.
Also there is no absence limit under the spouse route so the absences are not even relevant

Hi Zimba,
Many thanks for responding promptly.

Please see below the excerpt from the letter from the home office. I hope this answers your queries.



Would appreciate if you could confirm that my understanding of start of 5 year period from 07-12-2014 is correct and that we can apply for the ILR now?

Cheers

The answer is in the second last paragraph..
Ur wife has been eligible to apply for ILR since June 2018..

Sorry a couple more items:

1) My wife's first visa expired on 24-02-2016 and we applied for the extension/FLR(M) on 12-02-2016 as a result of which we got the refusal in 05-2016 which was then overturned by tribunal around march 2017 and then home office sent us the BRP on 10 year route valid from 25-09-2017. So I believe what the HO is trying to say there is that the gap between the expiry of the first visa (24-02-2016) and the backdated letter of 25th of September 2017 was covered by clause 3c and therefore there is no break in the lawful 5 year residence period.

2) Secondly please could you advise if it is best to apply the ILR through the window/counter where we can clarify any confusions or queries from home office or for our case the application is straightforward/strong enough and we should save some money and apply via post?

Thanks very much in anticipation.

1) My wife's first visa expired on 24-02-2016 and we applied for the extension/FLR(M) on 12-02-2016 as a result of which we got the refusal in 05-2016 which was then overturned by tribunal around march 2017 and then home office sent us the BRP on 10 year route valid from 25-09-2017. So I believe what the HO is trying to say there is that the gap between the expiry of the first visa (24-02-2016) and the backdated letter of 25th of September 2017 was covered by clause 3c and therefore there is no break in the lawful 5 year residence period.

HO recognised their mistake and changed the visa correctly. As you applied in-time, she had section 3C throughout the court proceedings which counts as lawful residence. Additionally as section 3C extends the conditions of her previous visa, this means that she had lawful leave under FLR(M) until 25-09-2017 when she was moved to FLR(FP) by mistake. As the HO corrected this, she has been eligible for ILR under SET(M) since June 2018

2) Secondly please could you advise if it is best to apply the ILR through the window/counter where we can clarify any confusions or queries from home office or for our case the application is straightforward/strong enough and we should save some money and apply via post?

There is no postal route anymore. There is no premium/window service. All applicants must apply online now, pay the fees online, submit their application and then book an appointment with UKVCAS to enrol their biometrics in person. All documents are now scanned and uploaded to UKVI. You may choose a super priority service (extra £800) to get a decision in 24 hours after attending the appointment.

Premium visa centers are closed: indefinite-leave-to-remain/online-appli ... l#p1717065
SET(M) online application: https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/set-m

Zimba wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:15 pm

1) My wife's first visa expired on 24-02-2016 and we applied for the extension/FLR(M) on 12-02-2016 as a result of which we got the refusal in 05-2016 which was then overturned by tribunal around march 2017 and then home office sent us the BRP on 10 year route valid from 25-09-2017. So I believe what the HO is trying to say there is that the gap between the expiry of the first visa (24-02-2016) and the backdated letter of 25th of September 2017 was covered by clause 3c and therefore there is no break in the lawful 5 year residence period.

HO recognised their mistake and changed the visa correctly. As you applied in-time, she had section 3C throughout the court proceedings which counts as lawful residence. Additionally as section 3C extends the conditions of her previous visa, this means that she had lawful leave under FLR(M) until 25-09-2017 when she was moved to FLR(FP) by mistake. As the HO corrected this, she has been eligible for ILR under SET(M) since June 2018

2) Secondly please could you advise if it is best to apply the ILR through the window/counter where we can clarify any confusions or queries from home office or for our case the application is straightforward/strong enough and we should save some money and apply via post?

There is no postal route anymore. There is no premium/window service. All applicants must apply online now, pay the fees online, submit their application and then book an appointment with UKVCAS to enrol their biometrics in person. All documents are now scanned and uploaded to UKVI. You may choose a super priority service (extra £800) to get a decision in 24 hours after attending the appointment.

Premium visa centers are closed: indefinite-leave-to-remain/online-appli ... l#p1717065
SET(M) online application: https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/set-m

Hi Zimba,
Many thanks really appreciate your help. I guess I was still living in 2013 before I read your message so am a little surprised on changes. I had already started the application online but didn't know the full process and perhaps still don't know the details of the application process. The information on gov.uk website is quite limited and not as detailed as it used to be on UKBA with all the rules and pdf guidance notes etc.

The main reason why I wanted to go for (Window) or premium service was to avoid them holding my wife's passport & BRP as the life literally stops if the passport/BRP is not in our hand and we cannot go anywhere for holidays or visit family abroad in case of emergency etc.

what I don't see in those links is a full process of how the documents are transferred and how long do they keep the originals specially the passport & the BRP with them in case of normal/non-premium online application.

Please could you advise if there is a link that would explain the full process of the SET(M) application?

All documents are scanned and uploaded to the UKCVAS Sopra Steria website after you have submitted your application. No originals are sent to HO anymore.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 13, 2019 10:52 am

All documents are scanned and uploaded to the UKCVAS Sopra Steria website after you have submitted your application. No originals are sent to HO anymore.

Thanks, so to be absolutely sure, the passport and BRP will always stay with us throughout the application process and we can travel for short term if required?

P.S. I understand that HO advise that the applicant shall be in the UK during the ILR application.

Thanks, so to be absolutely sure, the passport and BRP will always stay with us throughout the application process and we can travel for short term if required?

P.S. I understand that HO advise that the applicant shall be in the UK during the ILR application.

Yes, but you cannot travel out of the UK while an application is pending.

what I don't see in those links is a full process of how the documents are transferred and how long do they keep the originals specially the passport & the BRP with them in case of normal/non-premium online application.

The first link I shared with you clearly mentions that NO original document is sent to UKVI anymore. All is now digitally scanned and no original is taken. You keep you documents until a decision is made. You cannot however leave the UK as long as you have a pending application as your application will be withdrawn