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Anyone had their ILR rejected for time spent outside UK?

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vic
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Anyone had their ILR rejected for time spent outside UK?

Post by vic » Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:02 pm

Hello,

I apologise in advance, as this question is not a new one.

Has anyone had their ILR rejected purely for being out of UK for over 6 months during the last 5 years ?

If so, how many days had you been out of the country in total ?

I'm just curious to find out how much time, over the allowed 6 months, are the Case Workers willing to ignore as this question seems to keep cropping up on this forum. (Ofcourse, I have my own ineterest here too - I have been out of UK for about 7 months in all over the last 5 years & none of these were employment/ business related).

What do you think - how reasonable are the case workers in Croydon when it comes to calculaitng leave outside UK ?

Many thanks in advance,

Vic

OL7MAX
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Post by OL7MAX » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:29 am

It does indeed come up often so... <bump>
how reasonable are the case workers in Croydon
Unfortunately, I don't believe they'd offer any concessions where they don't need to. My belief, and I could be completely wrong, is that they scan every application for the smallest pretext on which they can throw it out. They may not see it as their job to be reasonable but just to apply existing rules.

rg1
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Post by rg1 » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:25 pm

If you check the "ILR guidance - Annex F" - sticky post on this forum

you'll see that

* gaps upto 3 months are not affected
* 3 to 12 months total gap often depends on discreation of senior officers
* gap over 12 months are difficult
* gap over 24 months will always result in refusal

kariarxy
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Post by kariarxy » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:12 pm

dont worry about it, I think you will be fine. I have called HO several times to ask about the total absence outside UK, but all of them said that there is no time scale on it, it depends on case worker. I am also told that u r allowed to take holiday as long as it is not over 3 months at a time. So, obviously, 3 money on single absence will be the major criteria in judging the absence outside UK. Even in the Annex F, the discretions on the case worker are "6 months in total", but this document is only guideline not "immigration policy", and it is still being updated now (as it is noted on top of Annex F).

Good luck to you if u apply for it very soon, and hope u can come back to share the experience.

vic
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thanks

Post by vic » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:27 am

thanks kariarxy.

Has anyone been in a similar position i.e. had about a months extra leave outside uk than the 6 months entitlement mentioned in the annex F guidance, when applying for ILR ?

would you like to share your experience here ?

vic

kariarxy
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Post by kariarxy » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:51 pm

I have not been eligible to apply for ILR yet. But from this board, I know that one girl was rejected for ILR coz she was absent from UK for continuous 7 months (only for traelling) in a year, but she got the ILR approved after appeal. She also has many absences besides these 7 months. And also, many other applicants have been abroad for significant long periods due to business requirements, and they are approved without any problem. It seems that the caseworker does not count your absences one by one. They only ask if you have any absence over 3 month at a time.

Take it easy.

vic
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new ilr form

Post by vic » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:56 pm

its just that with the new ILR form they now ask you to list all absences abroad, no matter how small the duration (previosly they only asked one to list absences greater than 3 months duration)

this is the reason im nervous now.

my absences have been 7 months in all, the longest one being 2-1/2 months, all for travelling (not business)

Vic

sunnyday
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Post by sunnyday » Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:42 pm

I've just seen the new form and it does ask you to list all the absences.

I'd say the best way is to be honest.

firstime
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Post by firstime » Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:03 am

I am in the same boat. I have done many biz trips for work and of course my 25 days a year holiday entitlements was used in full. If i am to list all my absents it will be a very long list. Despite i never had any single trip outside the UK for more than 3 months all my trips in total must be over 6 months in the last 5 years - what should I do??

There were only stamps when i came in the UK but no stamps when I am out....

champion
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Post by champion » Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:47 pm

3 factor would affect the result
1) whether your wp was valid during that period
2) how you justify your absence.
3) your luck

I got ilr in Nov 04 I had 5 mnths + 7 mnths away from the country (apart from couple of weeks holidays)
My friend got ILr in mid 04 even though he was away for over 1 year

but from 2005 it is getting difficult to convince HO to give u ilr.

you have to play your cards correctly
Good luck

Dawie
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Post by Dawie » Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:29 pm

Remember that it is the cumulative total of days absent per year that is important.

90 days per year gives you 450 days or 15 months to play with over a five year period. But that doesn't mean you can take 15 straight months off, you have to make sure that you don't exceed 90 days CUMULATIVE in any given year starting from your date of original entry.
vic wrote:Has anyone had their ILR rejected purely for being out of UK for over 6 months during the last 5 years ?
Vic, there should be absolutely no problem with this as long as you weren't out of the UK for longer than 90 days per year. If you took those 6 months in one go then you could be in for a bit of a problem.

What I did when I applied for ILR was draw myself a timeline from the date I first entered to the UK until the date I intended to apply for ILR. I then marked off each year in intervals starting from the entry date. I then marked off each absence on this timeline and it was very easy to see whether or not the cumaltive absences for each year period exceed 90 days.
In a few years time we'll look back on immigration control like we look back on American prohibition in the thirties - futile and counter-productive.

firstime
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Post by firstime » Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:58 pm

Who has the latest Annex F, the version after 4-5 change?

vic
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Annex F

Post by vic » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:25 pm

Hi firsttime,

Click here for Annex F.

& the following is the response I obtained from IND, under my Freedom of Information enquiry, in November last year:
Thank you for your emails of 16 November, 17 November 10:17 and 10:20. I have responded below to your most recent email.

1. Prior to March 2006 when the qualifying period for ILR for work permit holders was 4 years, they were permitted short absences abroad provided that these absences did not exceed 3 months duration, and they did not amount to more than 6 months in all. In light of the recent increase in the qualifying period for ILR for Work Permit holders from 4 to 5 years, what is the total duration of absences abroad that are now allowed in this 5 year qualifying period?

A: The total duration of absences abroad that are allowed in the 5 year qualifying period have remained the same as under the 4 year qualifying period. That is the total duration of absences abroad that are allowed in the 5 year qualifying period for ILR for Work Permit holders is 6 months. Please note that absences should not exceed 3 months at a time and should not amount to more than 6 months in all.

2. The current Annex F refers to the old 4 year qualifying period for ILR and has, obviously, not been updated in light of the recent change in the qualifying period earlier this year. What is the new Home Office formula for caseworkers for calculating the 'Five year continuous stay' requirement for eligibility for Settlement/ ILR for work permit holders ?

A: Please note that Annex F, Paragraph 3 - Calculation of the Four Year Period for settlement - whilst referring to the 4 year qualifying period is also currently applicable to the 5 year qualifying period.
Vic

firstime
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Post by firstime » Tue May 01, 2007 8:37 am

Thank you very much Vic-

May I ask is the 6 month in total for each year or for all the 5 years?


If it is for all the 5 years- it is so easy just be 6 months absence.. for example, annul holidays is around 25 days each year and if you took all this overseas, you got alomost 5 months already ( because of weekends )!!

vic
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hi

Post by vic » Tue May 01, 2007 9:07 am

hi firsttime,

i did interpret this to mean 6 months overall in 5 years - i know what u mean by this not being fair .... as for most people paid annual leave itself is about 1.5 months per year - so the 6 months in all might have been allright when the qualifying period was 4 years (4 x 1.5 = 6) but now that the qualifying period is 5 years, the paid annual leave (which is another criteria for checking continuity of stay in uk, as mentioned in annex F) does amount to 7.5 months. But as you will notice from the IND response to my enquiry, the allowed period abroad has remained 6 months !!

i'm no expert & am hoping one of the senior members will help out here but i would have thought the 6 months applies to all of 5 years, not per year.

Dawie
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Post by Dawie » Tue May 01, 2007 9:10 am

Dawie wrote:Remember that it is the cumulative total of days absent per year that is important.

90 days per year gives you 450 days or 15 months to play with over a five year period. But that doesn't mean you can take 15 straight months off, you have to make sure that you don't exceed 90 days CUMULATIVE in any given year starting from your date of original entry.

vic wrote:
Has anyone had their ILR rejected purely for being out of UK for over 6 months during the last 5 years ?


Vic, there should be absolutely no problem with this as long as you weren't out of the UK for longer than 90 days per year. If you took those 6 months in one go then you could be in for a bit of a problem.

What I did when I applied for ILR was draw myself a timeline from the date I first entered to the UK until the date I intended to apply for ILR. I then marked off each year in intervals starting from the entry date. I then marked off each absence on this timeline and it was very easy to see whether or not the cumaltive absences for each year period exceed 90 days.
In a few years time we'll look back on immigration control like we look back on American prohibition in the thirties - futile and counter-productive.

vic
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Location: Reading

thanks

Post by vic » Tue May 01, 2007 9:19 am

Thanks Dawie,

i understand that u clearly have said upto 3 months per year should be fine but then why do IND keep stressing on the 6 month thing ?

its all a little bit confusing to me.

vic

Christophe
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Re: thanks

Post by Christophe » Tue May 01, 2007 10:28 am

vic wrote:Thanks Dawie,

i understand that u clearly have said upto 3 months per year should be fine but then why do IND keep stressing on the 6 month thing ?

its all a little bit confusing to me.

vic
They're two separate (albeit related) criteria - 3 months maximum in any one year and 6 months maximum in total over the whole five-year period. It would be easily possible to fulfil one criterion but not the other, which is why both are important.

firstime
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Post by firstime » Tue May 01, 2007 12:45 pm

Thank you all for the reply which is helpful.

I understand that in overall it is 6 months- even this is all business related and would it be ok?

May I ask how do the HO know how long you are away for? There is only one stamp when you come into the UK. Of course they will ask you in Heathrow Airport for how long you been away for, but i doubt if they will write it down? ( or they did ?)


Also do you need to submit all your old passports? Anyone have been to the one day service in any PEO would you mind to help??

jes2jes
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Post by jes2jes » Tue May 01, 2007 1:24 pm

firstime wrote:Thank you all for the reply which is helpful.

I understand that in overall it is 6 months- even this is all business related and would it be ok?

May I ask how do the HO know how long you are away for? There is only one stamp when you come into the UK. Of course they will ask you in Heathrow Airport for how long you been away for, but i doubt if they will write it down? ( or they did ?)


Also do you need to submit all your old passports? Anyone have been to the one day service in any PEO would you mind to help??
Don't forget all the Landing Cards you fill in are filed away on your record and contains all such information. It is also recorded on IND Computers by data entry clerks. Don't underestimate the HO. They can be thorough and can be ignorant too sometimes.
Praise The Lord!!!!

firstime
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Post by firstime » Tue May 01, 2007 2:13 pm

Thanks but the landing card did not contain any information about how long you were away for...

Also you could not keep a copy of them

Dawie
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Post by Dawie » Tue May 01, 2007 2:19 pm

The truth of the matter is that the Home Office has no way of knowing when you left the country. They might be able to figure it out roughly by looking at your entry stamps from other countries but even this is not foolproof because not all countries stamp passports on entry, even for those requiring visas.
In a few years time we'll look back on immigration control like we look back on American prohibition in the thirties - futile and counter-productive.

jes2jes
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Post by jes2jes » Tue May 01, 2007 2:50 pm

Dawie wrote:The truth of the matter is that the Home Office has no way of knowing when you left the country. They might be able to figure it out roughly by looking at your entry stamps from other countries but even this is not foolproof because not all countries stamp passports on entry, even for those requiring visas.
Dawie:
I am not talking about the HO knowing when you left but I am just saying that they record some of the information you give them during the brief whisk through Immigration Control on the landing card. Therefore If you told them I went to country X on holiday, they record it and one of their famous questions have been: How long have you being way for? ("Apart from where are you flying from today")

I saw most of the Q&A I have had at IC being recorded on my landing cards.
Praise The Lord!!!!

SYH
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Post by SYH » Tue May 01, 2007 2:55 pm

Yeah jes but that doesnt mean, it is input in some kind of systems for the HO to cross check.
For all you know, they put those cards in storage for just in case you are red flagged as a terrorist, not for immigration naturalisaiton issues

firstime
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Post by firstime » Tue May 01, 2007 3:31 pm

what about old passports? Do they really collect all your old passports? what if they are just lost or stolen?

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