ILR application deferred due to long gap (116 days)

Hello everyone!

I have HSMP + Tier 1 Visa (2 + 3 years) and I have gone to Croydon PEO today but unfortunately they kept my passport and all the required docs with them and said they need to make some queries.

Actually, I have two absences out of UK in the last 5 years, 1st absence was for 7 days within Europe on a personal holiday. 2nd one was the long one of 116 days to India. The second one was a business trip and I was working at our company's offshore site in India in Chennai. All together I had 123 days of absence in these 5-years.

I have also provided home office with my payslips, bank statements covering the absence period to prove that I was paid in UK currency deducting Tax & NI and also a letter from my employer covering the absence period.

But still they held my application with them giving this reason. These are the exact words they mentioned in the letter that they gave me. "Your application is valid but there are further enquiries that need to be made and as such your application has been passed to an enquiries team"

Also, the officer verbally said to me that there are three options
1) I can be given a visa between 3 to 6 months and I will be given the option to apply ILR after that period (or)
2) I will be given a fresh start of 5-years from the date of last entry (or)
3) Refuse ILR

Has someone passed through similar kind of a situation. Please share your experiences.

Thanks[/b]

When is your current leave expiring ? Seems very close.

How can you say that it is the 116 day long gap causing a problem ?

What were the entry clearance and the actual entry dates ? is there a long gap there also ?


regards
SKT

I also have a relevant question here:

If someone's HSMP visa expiry date is lets say 30 Sep 2011 and person makes postal ILR application on 20 Sep 2011 and ILR application is refused by UKBA on 20 Oct 2011.

Does UKBA give option to make HSMP extension application at this point? OR the only option left is appeal? What should be the most suitable approach at this point?

@ skt1977

Hello skt1977

Initial HSMP Visa issued on: 14 September 2006 (issued in Chennai, India)
Extension to Tier 1 (General): 5 September 2008 (issued in UK)
Visa valid until: 14 September 2011

I said 116 days out of the country is causing problem because immigration rules say that you cannot be more than 90 days out of UK at a single stretch.

But there are exceptions for compassionate circumstances and/or business trips, provided you have sufficient evidence to prove yourself.

As mine was a business trip, I have provided evidence like Payslips, Bank Statements covering the absence period which prove that I was paid in UK currency deducting PAYE Tax and NI and also supported by a letter from my company which says that I was working from our company's offshore site in India.

My bad luck is, they didn't decide anything on the same day but issued a letter saying that they need to make more queries on my case.

Don't know how long they are going to take and what would be their decision.

SG

@ skt1977

Hello skt1977

Forgot to answer entry and exit dates.

Initial entry to UK on HSMP was on 3 Oct 206 (visa issued in Chennai, India on 14 sept 2006)
Extension to Tier 1(General): 5 Sept 2008 (Visa issued in UK)
Went to India on 6 October 2008 (Entry stamp at Hyderabad airport)
Returned back on 28 January 2009 (arrival stamp at Heathrow airport)
The above is 116 days in total including entry & exit days.

Apart from above, I have another 7 days absence which was within Europe.

So all together it was 123 days absence in the last 5-years.

Thank you all for your replies
SG

When did you enter UK after your entry clearance was stamped in Sep 2006 ?

My understanding is - If you were paid all that while in the UK and you have submitted all documents including employer letter stating that.

I strongly believe, you should come out of all this smiling.

I share your concerns on how long they might take ? I do not have an answer to that. I understand the agony you must be going through. Have patience. lets hope for the best.

regards
SKT

@ skt1977

Hello skt1977

As I said in my last post, my initial entry into UK was on 3 Oct 2006 (19 days after the visa was stamped)

Thanks for your concern and yes I am hoping for the best.

Thank for your reply
SG

santoshganpath wrote:@ skt1977

Hello skt1977

As I said in my last post, my initial entry into UK was on 3 Oct 2006 (19 days after the visa was stamped)

Thanks for your concern and yes I am hoping for the best.

Thank for your reply
SG

IMHO you would get the ILR. There have been several cases like yours reported on this forum and in the end everyone has got the ILR, provided the documents were complete which in your case are.

@ mk357

Hello mk357

I hope so, thank you very much for replying.

Regards...
SG

Have u got refusal or or still under consideration? because I have also got same letter from croydon PEO. and its now I am on 4th week.

@niravm

Hello niravm

I just got the letter saying the my application is valid and passed on to an enquiries team. That's what they said in the letter.

Please let me know if you receive your decision first. As yours is now 4th week you will receive your decision sooner than mine anyway.

Thanks for replying.

Regards...
SG

Don't you think that the fact you got a letter that your application is valid means that having more than 90 days away from UK is not a problem.

May be there is something else they want to confirm and hence given you this letter

santoshganpath wrote:I just got the letter saying the my application is valid and passed on to an enquiries team. That's what they said in the letter.

Then why does the subject title states "refused"?

Changed!

@sushdmehta

Hello Sush

Thanks for changing the title.

I was just going by the words what the case worker has told me verbally across the counter but the letter she gave says that my application is sent to an enquiries team. Bit confusing as she said refused verbally but the letter says "sent to enquiries team".

Also, if they refuse the application, normally they need to give me a letter giving the reason for refusal and return all documents and passports to me. But this didn't happen.

So don't know whats going to happen, fingers crossed. Hoping for the best.

Regards...
SG

Santosh,

They may carry out such checks if they suspect some/all of the documents you have submitted may not be genuine.

This is a routine process and If all your documents are indeed correct and verifiable, you should come out smiling.

Best of luck

@krthk.s

Hello krthk.s

Thanks for your reply. Even I too thought the same.

But I don't understand the reason for them to suspect the documents because I have given evidences from two different sources. Employer's Letter & Payslips as first source and Bank Statements as the second for the absence period and also they have all my 5-years P-60's with them.

They can easily cross check the pay that I received in my UK bank account in UK currency during the absence period and corroborate that with my payslips. My employer's letter also says that during my time in India, I was still on UK payroll receiving my UK salary into UK bank account.

Anyway, I have done my best and I hope for the best.

Thanks once again for your reply.

Regards...
SG

UKBA has refused my application citing that I had long absence of more than 90 days with a right of Appeal. I have appealed against this decision and my hearing is scheduled in the next two weeks.

Cannot understand why they have refused, despite submitting all the evidences like Payslips, bank statements for the absence period supported by the employer's letter. Further in the refusal letter they just mentioned that they are refusing my application because of this absence. They have not mentioned why any of my evidences taken (or not taken) into consideration. I have submitted original payslips, original bank statements covering the total absence period along with the employer's letter (original).

Rest of my documents were all fine, submitted 5-years p-60's, enough balance in my bank account, my house mortgage documents etc.

Wondering what else need to be taken to the court ? All that I had, I have submitted to UKBA.

Can anyone suggest what more documents should be taken to court apart from the latest payslips, bank statements.

Regards...
Santosh

Refusal is unusual and appeal should be accepted.For ILR where qualifying period is 5 years there is no definition of expression “a continuous period of 5 years lawfully in the UKâ€

Thanks Jami

I do not have an employment contract that states a foreign assignment. The reason I was sent to work off-shore was for knowledge transfer and train the new staff as per our company's requirement. This was only one-off assignment and not only me, many of colleagues were sent in different times to the same place to train and assist the new staff joined off-shore.

I have explained what I did, why I was sent off-shore in my witness statement.

Further, what kind of evidence should be provided to show UK ties during the absence period. I have already provided payslips and bank statements. All my bank statements show, I was my paying my bills in UK (mostly direct debits), the rent was paid to my landlord online from my bank which is reflected in the bank statements.

Guidance is contained in tribunal order:

"But his earnings were all paid into his bank account in England, he paid UK tax and national insurance, he enrolled onto the company’s UK pension plan, and indeed bought a house of his own in Wolverhampton"

"He is domiciled here for tax purposes, and would seem to have established a domicile of choice for other purposes. He has clearly made this country his home"

Expand above as per your facts/evidence
- whether you have family and they remained in UK in that time?
- whether you continued to maintain home in Uk?
- whether you owned car and continued paying insurance etc?
- any other direct debit in that period?
- bank balance at that time?

I feel, if you provided more evidence such as Bills paid during your absense, the chances are bigger. have you submitted the morgage payment statement or highlight on the bank statement that what they are for?

I think just employer's letters and bank statements are a little weak to prove you are connected with UK life.

I have the same case, but I am planning to provide bills such as coucil tax statements, mobile phone bills, car insurance, which i believe can give case worker a impression that my life in the UK still goes on when i am abroad. this is what i feel, fingers crossed, of course, a long reference letter from boss is a must, better indicating that the reason for you to stay is absolute nessessary.

fingers crossed! but i am scared!

see ukba's reply about >90 days trip

My email to UKBA:

I would like to ask a question for my SET(O) application.

I am currently on Tier1 ( HSMP before November7th 2006).I had a
108days leave at one stretch for a business trip, my employer is willing
to provide a letter to prove the long stay is absolute necessary and
unavoidable(to save company from losing orders). I believe this letter
is one of the important evidences to prove to Caseworker on my
application that this is a special circumstance that can be aggregated.

Through out studying the policy on UKBA website, I understood I also
need to prove my connection to the UK during my long absence. My
question is, what documents or statement case worker expect to see in
order to know my connection to the UK. Some say bills paid, some say
letters from partner, can you please give some examples of documents for this "connection to the UK"?

Regards

UKBA's reply:Thank you for your enquiry.

Please be advised that when assessing if an applicant has met the criteria for five years continuous residence in the UK, short absences abroad may be disregarded, provided the applicant has clearly continued to be based in the UK. For example:

* holidays (consistent with annual paid leave), or
* business trips (consistent with maintaining employment or
self-employment in the UK).

You will need to provide documentary evidence from your employer confirming the absence from the UK necessary due to business commitments and any business contracts. For the indefinite leave to remain application you do not have to show your connection to the UK.

I hope that this information will be of assistance to you.

Yours sincerely,

For "santoshganpath"

As per your posts you applied ILR on 7 Sep 2011 at PEO and your application was sent to refusal team due to a longer absence. On refusal you filed appeal and hearing was scheduled around 10 th Nov.


Any up date?

All,

My appeal has been allowed by the First-Tier tribunal. Took nearly 3-weeks after the hearing. Just wanted to share this in the forum.

Thanks to this forum which has helped me get valuable inputs. Especially from Jami and Sushdmehta.

Thanks once again to one and all.