When does ILR begin, after grant or on 5 year anniversary?

My wife was granted her "settled" status (ILR) on July 12th. Her 5-year arrival anniversary was though on Jan 27th. The processing times are long. She is a student nurse and now entitled both to a maintenance loan and the £5,000 per annum grant. With "pre-settled" status she was refused both.

She can apply for her 21/22 study year, but we are unsure if she can apply for the 20/21 one, which is about to end. She is permitted to apply up to 9 months in arrears during a study year, but that passed in June, before her leave was granted.

So my question is whether her status retrospectively applies back to 27th Jan 2021 or only from 12th July 2021? If the former, she has a case for special exemption, as she was only unable to apply within the 9-month period because of the Home Office.

There is a lot of money at stake here, so any advice will be appreciated.

Based in your previous posts, your wife never had "pre settled status" which is a route specifically under the EU withdrawal agreement for family of EU citizens and EU citizens.

She appears to have applied for ILR on form SET M which is under the domestic UK immigration rules.

Her ILR is only effective from the date it was granted and no sooner, so she cannot claim anything prior to the ILR issue date, so the current academic year is likely irrelevant to her. When her 5 years was reached is also irrelevant,it is specifically only the date ILR is granted that applies.

With the exception of some (not all) immigration statuses under the EEA Regulations before 2020, all immigration statuses in the UK start from the date of their grant by the Home Office.

They are not automatically acquired by passage of time (i.e. after five years of residing in the UK on certain visas).

After the passage of the specified time, the applicant is eligible to apply for a change in their status, but they only acquire that status when it is granted by the Home Office.

If the application is made while the applicant had valid leave, that (limited) leave is extended automatically by Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. So, if your wife was on a spousal visa, as @CR001 stated above, that spousal visa would have continued till the date of grant of the ILR, provided the ILR application was made before the end of her earlier leave.

Also, be careful of the term "Settled Status", which has two possible meanings. "Settled Status" is nowadays generally only used to refer to the status given by the Home Office to qualifying applicants who meet specific requirements under Appendix EU of the UK Immigration Rules. Earlier, it used to refer to all statuses that were the equivalent of being able to reside in the UK without immigration restrictions, such as ILR or PR. So, when using that phrase, be careful to state which meaning you intend to use.

By contrast. "Pre-settled status" has never been used for anything other than the status given by the Home Office to people who qualified under Appendix EU of the UK Immigration Rules.

So, if your wife had a spousal visa before her ILR, she did not have "pre-settled status" as that is a very specific visa type, with its own requirements, and not a general term.

Thanks for the replies, which make sense to me.

Regarding the use of the terms, "settled" and "pre-settled" status, I think someone needs to explain this to the officials as I was told that these terms had replaced "ILR" and "FLR" and should be used in the future. Hence me using them.

Thanks for the replies, which make sense to me.

Regarding the use of the terms, "settled" and "pre-settled" status, I think someone needs to explain this to the officials as I was told that these terms had replaced "ILR" and "FLR" and should be used in the future. Hence me using them.

davidnhouse wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:27 pm

Thanks for the replies, which make sense to me.

Regarding the use of the terms, "settled" and "pre-settled" status, I think someone needs to explain this to the officials as I was told that these terms had replaced "ILR" and "FLR" and should be used in the future. Hence me using them.

You have been told incorrectly by whoever told you this.

FLR and ILR is correct based on the route your spouse followed under the UK immigration rules.

Pre settled and settled status is applicable to EU citizens (non British) and their family under the Brexit EU withdrawal agreement.

I think the confusion over the use of "settled" and "pre-settled" status arises because for the purposes of the Student Loan Company my wife is regarded as an EU student. Which appears totally illogical as she has never set foot in an EU country. It is because when she started her course we were still in the EU, and she was married to an EU citizen. Me! Now she has her BRP she becomes a Home student.

davidnhouse wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:45 am

It is because when she started her course we were still in the EU, and she was married to an EU citizen. Me!

Are you a solely British citizen or a dual British/other-EEA-country citizen?

Solely British citizens, with very few exceptions, were not considered EU citizens for purposes such as immigration, student loans, etc, even when the UK was in the EU.

Even dual British/other-EEA-country citizens had to meet specific requirements for their family members to benefit from EU law.

Is your wife herself an EEA citizen?

Keep in mind that if the SLC did consider her the family member of an EEA citizen, that conferred almost all the same benefits for the purposes of student loans as ILR.

So if she was not given the same treatment as a person holding ILR, I suspect that she was not treated as a person holding pre-settled status as a family member of an EEA citizen (again, a very specific status that does not apply to spouses of British citizens).

I am solely a British citizen. We had a difficult experience with the SLC, who first told us she was entitled to both tuition fee and maintenance loans and then, when she applied, refused them. After a review, they told her she was an EU student because she was married to me, and entitled to a tuition fee loan, but not a maintenance loan, which we accepted as her course was about to start.

However, this had the knock on effect of her being refused the £5,000 per year grant announced by the Government in 2019 for ALL student nurses. I am still fighting that. Unless you are in receipt of a maintenance loan they refuse the grant payment. ALL has a strange meaning in Government!

Now she has her ILR she gets transferred to being a home student entitled to both a maintenance loan, and the grant, at least for her final year. In principle anyway and according to what the officials have said. I don't trust it until the money arrives!

Many student nurses, both from the EU and elsewhere, have been caught out by this. They expected to get the grant, but were refused. No-one seems to care though.

davidnhouse wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:53 am

I am solely a British citizen.
...
After a review, they told her she was an EU student because she was married to me

Are you sure that in the application form that you submitted for the relevant grants, etc, you did not state that you were an EU citizen? If you stated as such, that can have implications, such as your wife becoming eligible for fundings, etc, that she would not be if she were married to a solely British citizen.

davidnhouse wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:53 am

ALL has a strange meaning in Government!

Most legislation have a section on "Interpretation", which defines in precise terms the terminology of words used in the law. So, while as a British citizen, you were indeed an EU citizen, that did not apply to specific laws, such as immigration, benefits, etc. The term EU citizen was defined as a citizen of an EU country other than the UK, for many years, decades even, before Brexit. And you can see that that changes the situation of your wife completely.

To confuse matters further, different definitions can apply to different laws. For instance, in the Immigration Act 1971, the UK is defined as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. But in the British Nationality Act 1981, it is defined as the above + the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

So, read the fine print and definitions very carefully before submitting application forms. It could come back and bite you years into the future (she could be charged with deception, for instance).

davidnhouse wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:53 am

Now she has her ILR she gets transferred to being a home student entitled to both a maintenance loan, and the grant, at least for her final year. In principle anyway and according to what the officials have said. I don't trust it until the money arrives!

I would be cautious until the money arrives, and probably even after, as she can be asked to repay it if it was issued in error.

To the best of my knowledge, the requirement for Home Student status generally (i.e. this may not apply in the specific case of student nurses and the government may have made special, separate provisions for them, of which I am unaware) is that ILR must be held on the first day of the first year of the course. Subsequent acquisition of ILR part-way through the course does not matter.

The UKCISA website is a resource for you to draw on for questions regarding government support for international students.

Just to quickly clarify, in point 1 of that website, "England: Settled Status and living in the UK or Islands", the status is not Settled Status under Appendix EU (the newer, narrower interpretation of that term), but holding either ILR or Settled Status or being free from immigration restrictions under any other route (such as having Right of Abode in the UK under pre-1983 legislation).

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be settled in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) on the first day of the first academic year of the course you must be ordinarily resident in England; and

...

Notes:
...
If you are granted settled status after the first day of the first academic year of your course, or if you can show three years' ordinary residence in the UK and Islands only after that date, you will not become eligible for Student Support. This is because you must meet all requirements of this category on the first day of the first academic year of your course. If you think you are going to be able to meet all the requirements after the first day of the first academic year of a course you have not yet started, you might want to consider deferring your place until a later date.

I have massively abridged the relevant paragraph. Do read the UKCISA link above for a much fuller understanding of the requirements.

The financial impact of ILR on student finance is not really the forte of these forums and so I would steer you towards other forums or resources that may have better understanding in that field.

You may want to consult the Citizens Advice Bureau in your area for more guidance. Another forum to consult on matters relating to student finance is The Student Room.

I have read the advice on the UKCISA website in full and it is clear that the term "EU student" is a generic one which applies both to EU citizens, and their family members, and relevant family members of GB citizens. The latter category was why my wife was granted a tuition fee only loan. It seems watertight.

I would not have put EU citizen on the application, but it doesn't matter. She qualifies anyway.

My understanding is that the Education department have changed the rules on obtaining "settled" status, or ILR, during a course. Previously, your status at the start applied throughout, but now if it changes so does your ability to apply for maintenance loans and the grant.

I agree though that this is beyond the scope of these boards. I just wanted to post what I knew and had been told.