How can I prove I was physically present here 5 years ago?

I'm just finishing up my AN application, but one of the requirements is to show that you were physically present 5 years ago, i.e. this time in 2011. The only thing I have showing my presence during that time is a letter from my landlord saying I had a valid contract up to the end of the month, which they accepted for my PR application. Do you think this will be enough? I don't know how stringent they are with this sort of evidence. My contract ended on the 31st of July, and I put that as the beginning of an absence period (as I went home for a summer break after that), but I'm not even sure if that is completely correct as I don't have any plane tickets or anything left.

Any suggestions?

Note: I'm an EU citizen and get no stamps on my passport either, so no evidence of when I went in or out except when I went to Brazil and the US for a bit. Does the Home office have any info when I left/entered the UK at airports?

How have you been exercising your treaty rights in the UK?

I was a student 2008-2014 and then working full time. I already have a permanent residence document.

According to the HO guidance, the caseworker should give applicants the benefit of the doubt and assume they were not absent unless there is proof to the contrary. Plus you have some supporting evidence, so should be all good!

LilyLalilu wrote:According to the HO guidance, the caseworker should give applicants the benefit of the doubt and assume they were not absent unless there is proof to the contrary. Plus you have some supporting evidence, so should be all good!

Awesome! Thank you, are these caseworker guidelines public somewhere?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_18_B.pdf

p.2

If you weren't absent, you should be fine. It's all the more difficult for HO to check EEA citizens presence, as passport entry/exit are not routinely logged. When I did a SAR to HO for my travel history, it came back saying they had no records of me leaving or entering the country!

If they do doubt you were physically present 5 years ago on the day, I'm sure they will contact you for proof that you were.

ohara wrote:If you weren't absent, you should be fine. It's all the more difficult for HO to check EEA citizens presence, as passport entry/exit are not routinely logged. When I did a SAR to HO for my travel history, it came back saying they had no records of me leaving or entering the country!

If they do doubt you were physically present 5 years ago on the day, I'm sure they will contact you for proof that you were.

I hope they won't as I have genuinely no other proof from that period aside from my landlord letter. :S And I had finished my degree by this point and was just waiting around to go back home.

Did you use a debit/credit card in the UK on that day? Take any photos with your phone etc?

Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll be fine. Unless HO has strong reason to believe you were not in the country, they won't ask you. Considering you were actually present, it's extremely unlikely they will think otherwise.

Thanks everyone, I just had one more question, which I see pops up all the time but I can't find clear answer whatsoever.

What counts as my date of application? If I mail my application to the UKVI and it arrive the next day, is that the application date? Or will they potentially take weeks to start on it and then consider that as the application date? I'm just worried in that case it will run into the period I put as an absence, starting at the end of this month 5 years ago.

If you apply by post, the date HO receives it is the date of application. If you use NCS, the date of your appointment is the date of application.