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Hi all,

I'm applying for SET(LR) soon and have a question/dilemma. I travelled to Republic of Ireland 3 times and when you reenter UK there is no immigration control i.e. no stamp on passport. But they do stamp upon entry to ROI so only one way control.

Now how do I prove I came back into UK in time if the next trip abroad was many months later? Will return air ticket bookings be sufficient?

Thanks

@cyborg001
I believe just booking won't be enough but you have to prove that journey was completed means you have an exit in U.K each time. I am not sure if you can get these information off the airlines but they must have in their record if actually the person has travelled or not. I think before getting through security queue they put your details on the system. Contact the airline and see if they cam help.

legalkhan wrote:@cyborg001
I believe just booking won't be enough but you have to prove that journey was completed means you have an exit in U.K each time. I am not sure if you can get these information off the airlines but they must have in their record if actually the person has travelled or not. I think before getting through security queue they put your details on the system. Contact the airline and see if they cam help.

Hmm exit from UK is not the issue as Ireland stamps passport upon entry and UK has no exit checks. The issue is that when I came back to UK it is UK who doesn't do any immigration checks as common travel area. Also for same reason airlines don't do checks either.

So how do I prove re-entry into UK as this is an unnecessary issue because it is UK authorities who don't want to check/stamp while Ireland does?

Why do you have to prove you came back? Why not list it as "came back from Ireland on <date> via <airport/port>" if they have doubts they will ask?

(to clarify I am really asking if this is the way to do it)

seasky wrote:Why do you have to prove you came back? Why not list it as "came back from Ireland on <date> via <airport/port>" if they have doubts they will ask?

(to clarify I am really asking if this is the way to do it)

Well we have to show that we were back in the country and the only way is immigration stamps or airline reports etc. But they don't stamp while returning from ROI so could be they say I went straight to next country from ROI many months later and add up more days to my time outside UK.

I'm just going to write my known dates and also take my return flight bookings for those trips and hope they don't ask/think about this too much. I've been out a total of 131 days over 10 years anyway.

@cyborg001
I have lived in northern Ireland for 8 years, and that true when you land to the Mainland they don't record your arrival for domestic flights. That why I told you that only the aitrlines have the information if that journey was completed, means you actually travelled physically on the aircraft. Ofcourse they have your record on the system, now its another issue if their policy is not to share any data with their customers. But asking them wouldn't make any harm.

@cyborg001
What about your bank statements of that time??? you must have used the cash mashines in U.k/London in those days. Send thata as a proof of your existence in U.K for the time in question.

legalkhan, I'm not talking about Northern Ireland (capital Belfast) which is part of UK so no stamps either side.

I'm talking about Republic of Ireland (capital Dublin) which is an independent country and does check and stamp passports upon entry. Issue is UK doesn't stamp when you return from ROI as common travel area so you end up with date left UK but no return entry.

My application is in 5 days and airlines also don't check visas when flying back to UK from ROI. I think it should be OK as it is the decision of UK authorities.

And yeah I could take bank statements showing activity here in UK on those dates. Plus I realised even if they added extra outside UK periods I still am under the 540 day limit haha

Update for benefit of others:

I successfully got my ILR today at PEO Croydon and this wasn't an issue at all. I didn't bring this to attention and simply gave my passports and an excel calculations sheet showing all my travel dates over past 10 years. No questions were asked so this mustn't have been an issue for them