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ILR Long Residence : Date of UK Departure = Date of Next Country Entry Stamp?

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:50 am
by ponponman
Hi all,

Would very much appreciate advice on the below from the moderators.

I am looking to apply for an ILR based on 10 years long residence. My immigration history in the UK is composed of 8 years' worth of study on Tier 4 visas between September 2007 to September 2015, followed by working on Tier 2 visas between September 2015 up until now.

I hope to be eligible to apply in April 2020. My main concern is fulfilling the 540 days of absences criteria. As the UK does not do exit stamps, I have been assuming in my calculations of absences that my date of departure from the UK is the same date as my date of arrival (entry stamp) to the next country. If I go by this assumption, then my absences add up to 534 days. However, if I assume that my flights were overnight flights and I actually left the UK the day before my entry stamp to the destination country, then my absences total 543 days.

I have scoured all my emails and messages, however I could not find any historical tickets. We are talking about 9 flights (hence 9 days) between 2010 and 2013 from UK to Almaty, Kazakhstan. These flights are about 7-8 hrs and the time difference is 5-6 hrs (depending on whether it's summer time or not). So overall, 12-14 hrs : giving it just under a 50/50 chance of being same day flights (as opposed to overnight flights).

I know that I may be eligible later in the year for both, a safer long residence ILR and a 5 year Tier 2 ILR, however I would really prefer to get this done ASAP in April for many personal reasons.

If anyone has any insight as to whether my assumptions are OK or, even if not, whether the Home Office is likely to apply discretion and whether I would still be successful in my application, I would be very thankful!

Re: ILR Long Residence : Date of UK Departure = Date of Next Country Entry Stamp?

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:58 am
by seagul
ponponman wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:50 am


I know that I may be eligible later in the year for both, a safer long residence ILR and a 5 year Tier 2 ILR, however I would really prefer to get this done ASAP in April for many personal reasons.
ILR via tier 2 is more better because your dependants can continue to extend under same route otherwise if you will proceed to long residence then their clock towards ILR will reset to zero.

Re: ILR Long Residence : Date of UK Departure = Date of Next Country Entry Stamp?

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 6:03 am
by ponponman
seagul wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:58 am
ponponman wrote:
Thu Jan 02, 2020 5:50 am

ILR via tier 2 is more better because your dependants can continue to extend under same route otherwise if you will proceed to long residence then their clock towards ILR will reset to zero.
ILR via tier 2 is more better because your dependants can continue to extend under same route otherwise if you will proceed to long residence then their clock towards ILR will reset to zero.
Thank you, but my question isn't which ILR route is better, but rather whether the assumption I outlined in the original post is correct (also I have no dependants)

Re: ILR Long Residence : Date of UK Departure = Date of Next Country Entry Stamp?

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:59 pm
by ponponman
Can anyone advise, please?

Re: ILR Long Residence : Date of UK Departure = Date of Next Country Entry Stamp?

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 6:53 pm
by zimba
Remember that the days you left or entered the UK are NOT counted for absence calculations. Only full days are counted. Also being few days over the limit may lead to discretion being applied in your favour