Some urgent advice needed please!

Please could you help with this;

I am the work permit holder and husband and 2 children are dependants on my permit. We came over from Dublin when I received my job offer in the UK. The day before we came over we visited the UK embassy in Dublin to obtain leave to remain. I received an approval letter for a workpermit on the 01/08/2003. We took this letter with us and on the basis of that letter my husband and daughter received their dependency visas and leave to remain on that date. However, looking back at my passport I did not receive any leave to remain at that stage and can’t remember why. We came into the country via a ferry, so our passport weren’t checked at any passport control or anything. That was 08/08/2003

I received a letter from my emplyers stating my starting date will be 18/08/2003. Everything was arranged through an employment agency. My passport was sent away by my work and I received an endorsement of my workpermit and leave to remain dated the 23rd of September. However according to my employers I was legally able to work in August. This was verbally confirmed by immigration in a telephone call and documented in my file with HR.

We are now in process of applying for permanent residence, after 5 years. However, due to this difference in the dates of our leave to remain in our passports, my husband and daughter’s visas will expire before I am allowed to apply for permanent leave.

I have spoken to people in immigration and they said that we have to apply for an extension of their leave to remain (2/3weeks). Two applications, costing us £ 1300!!!

Any advice would be highly appreciated

It costs a bomb but I don't think there is any way around it. Think of it as a cost for their PR (because if they become overstayers, there's a significant risk that they won't get PR with you).

In a case like this, can the dependents leave the country before their visas expire, go hang out in Ireland for a few weeks to let the OP's visa catch up, then the OP can apply for PR with her dependents at the right time???

Am purely curious. I don't have any evidence to back this up. Just a thought.