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Hi,

Does exceptional assurance count when calculating the 5-year period of continuous stay to be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain? I have been on a skilled worker visa for the last year and I was under the Tier 2 visa for 4 years before that but I have a gap of about 3 months under exceptional assurance where I didn't have a worker-type visa (but I was in the UK legally). Does it mean that I have to wait for another 5 years because of that "exceptional assurance" gap?

Any informed guidance will be appreciated.

Best wishes,

I cannot find a definite answer to this but the Gov.UK website says this:

‘Exceptional assurance’ does not grant you leave. It is a means to protect those who are unable to leave the UK due to COVID-19 restrictions and not to facilitate travel, other than to return home.

It also says this:

If you intend to stay in the UK
In order to remain in the UK, you will need to apply for the relevant permission to stay. Where eligible, you’ll be able to submit a permission to stay application form from within the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... -residents

My own interpretation based on the above is that there was nothing that stopped you from extending your leave as normal but you did NOT apply for a new leave as you did not qualify to stay. You applied for 'Exceptional assurance' knowing that you were expected to leave the UK before visa expiry but could not as your country was on the red list. This means the time spent under the Exceptional assurance period may not count towards the qualifying period for ILR. Please note that this interpretation could be wrong but for now sounds reasonable to me.

Thank you Zimba for your answer. It is quite vague whether exceptional assurance counts or not because, in a sense, it is like a visa extension because I could work with it and have the same rights as guaranteed by the Tier 2 visa that I had before.

Thanks again.

The UKVI tells you it is not a visa extension though

janitor13 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:18 am

Thank you Zimba for your answer. It is quite vague whether exceptional assurance counts or not because, in a sense, it is like a visa extension because I could work with it and have the same rights as guaranteed by the Tier 2 visa that I had before.

Thanks again.

Out of interest, why did you apply for exceptional assurance instead of an extension in the usual way to avoid these difficulties? Did you not have a sponsor or had you left your previous sponsor and were just trying to buy some time to get a new CoS?

It is useful to explain the circumstances so that members offering advice have a full understanding of your circumstances.

Janitor13
Can you please update me whether you managed to find out the exceptional assurance can be counted towards the continious residency or not?