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Hi All,

I am in a tricky situaion here.. I have a mix of Student+WHM+PSW so far..

I came to UK on student visa on 22 sep 2002 [visa validity :17/09/2002--30/09/2003] got extension of 1 yr [validity : till 31/10/2004] during this period I finished my taught Masters course but I got extension for submiting my Dissertation..

then I got Working Holiday Maker Visa [ validity : 01/10/2004--01/10/2006 ]

I worked according to rules during this period. before my WHM visa expired I again applied for Further Leave to Remain to finish my pending dissertation for which the letter was provided from University.. This application was in time, HO received application before my current WHM expired.. it turns out I was misguided here as one cant switch from WHM to Studnet Visa.. to do that one needs to get out of country first.. Got Refusal letter from HO stating "your right to appeal is limited"

a week after receiving this letter in nov 2006 I left UK.

I then applied for Student visa from my home County and got the Visa [validiy : 09/02/2007--31/10/2008] came back to UK on 1st March 2007

before this student visa expired I applied for Post Study Work visa and got it for 2 years. [valididy : 25/11/2008--25/11/2010]

Now my question is I am nearly at the end of 8 years continuos legal stay here (atleast I think so apart from the home visit of 4 month in 2006) If I spend 2 more years and make a long residnece of 10 years will I be qualified to file for ILR under 10 year LONG RESIDENCE rule?

all the visa application were made in time.. and total stay out of country is so far is 190 days in in 8 years and in 2 breaks of 3 months approximate.. [ in 2006 and in 2009 ]

the only thing concerns me is that my FLR in 2006 was refused and i had to leave the country.. i came back again on student visa in less than 4 months time.. did I break the legal continuous stay here? or is there any chance of Section 3C coming into effect as the application was in time? ( WHM visa was valid when I sent the application, it expired during the HO application processing period) or is it like the visa is still valid while HO considers the application and I wait for the outcome? I left the UK a week after receiving the refusal to vary leave. did I overstay and broke the continuous long residence here? is the clock of long residence reset after that?

Please help all the Gurus and Veterans of this forum.

Many Thanks.

Kind Regards.

I think it would be helpful if you downloaded this UKBA document. Having done so in particular read the top of page 6, which states :-

Continuous residence is defined in Paragraph 276A(a) of the immigration rules:

Continuous residence means residence in the United Kingdom for an unbroken period, and for these purposes a period shall not be considered to have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided that the applicant in question has existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return.

So bearing that in mind, let's look at your facts. When you left in November 2006 you were legally in the UK, thanks to Section 3C, and when you arrived back in February 2007, again you were here legally, and finally it is clearly less than 6 months between those months.

And again in 2009, when you spent 3 months outside the UK, all three parts of the test are clearly met.

So as regards a possible 10-year Long Residence application .... looking good thus far.

In November 2006 when you received the refusal letter, what end date was given to you to submit an appeal? Did you leave UK before that given date, or after?


regards

sushdmehta wrote:In November 2006 when you received the refusal letter, what end date was given to you to submit an appeal? Did you leave UK before that given date, or after?


regards

First of all, I thank you all for your help and support..

There was no mention of any date..

It was written " your application is therefore refused becasue you dont have a particular immigration document [section 88(2)(b)] therefore, your right to appeal this descision under section 82(1) of the nationality , immigration and asylum act 2002 is limited by operation of section 88 of this act."

then in the next paragraph I was asked to infrom them about any other alternate reason for allowing me to stay..

after that paragraph I was asked to leave UK ASAP if I did not have any other reasons to allow me to stay.

after receiving this letter I left within a week.. Does that mean I was illegal for that one week duration here in UK? Please help..

Thanks a lot.

Regards.

Even though your right of appeal was said to be limited, your so-called Section 3C protection would still have been in play until you left the UK. That is, because the visa application was made prior to the expiry of the previous visa, but the application had not been decided by the stated expiry date of the old visa, that old visa was "treating as continuing" until the application was decided, and as that decision was a rejection, until such time as your right of appeal (limited as it was) was time-expired.

Accordingly, based upon what you have told us, your WHM visa was "treated as continuing" until you left the UK in November 2006, so you were in the UK as an overstayer .... you were still "legal".

John wrote:Even though your right of appeal was said to be limited, your so-called Section 3C protection would still have been in play until you left the UK. That is, because the visa application was made prior to the expiry of the previous visa, but the application had not been decided by the stated expiry date of the old visa, that old visa was "treating as continuing" until the application was decided, and as that decision was a rejection, until such time as your right of appeal (limited as it was) was time-expired.

Accordingly, based upon what you have told us, your WHM visa was "treated as continuing" until you left the UK in November 2006, so you were in the UK as an overstayer .... you were still "legal".

Hi John,

Thanks for prompt reply but I cant clearly understand the last line of your reply..

Was I an overstayer in the last one week? yes /no.. If yes then "still legal"?? Is is possible?

Further, How does that fit into the overall scenario of 10 year legal long residence case? did it break the continuous long residece? If in future I apply for ILR would that affect my chances of getting ILR?

please reply.

Thanks.

Regards.

Was I an overstayer in the last one week? yes /no

No, you still had Section 3C protection.

Accordingly other questions seem superfluous.

Thanks everyone for all your help and support, especially John and Sushdmehta you guys are Great..

Hello,

As I am getting nearer to my 10 year ILR, I was checking everything again and just found out that I received the Refusal letter on 23rd of October 2006 and I booked ticket back home the same day but it was for 9th November 2006. which makes the travel date 21 days away from the date I received the refusal letter. I have just checked this from my e-ticket and boarding pass.

I am desperately seeking help from John and sushdmehta after this new development in my case. could you please confirm that things will be ok for my 10 Year ILR path?

John wrote:I think it would be helpful if you downloaded this UKBA document. Having done so in particular read the top of page 6, which states :-

Continuous residence is defined in Paragraph 276A(a) of the immigration rules:

Continuous residence means residence in the United Kingdom for an unbroken period, and for these purposes a period shall not be considered to have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided that the applicant in question has existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return.

So bearing that in mind, let's look at your facts. When you left in November 2006 you were legally in the UK, thanks to Section 3C, and when you arrived back in February 2007, again you were here legally, and finally it is clearly less than 6 months between those months.

And again in 2009, when you spent 3 months outside the UK, all three parts of the test are clearly met.

So as regards a possible 10-year Long Residence application .... looking good thus far.

Assuming that you were given the standard 10 days time to submit an appeal against the refusal (23-Oct-06), you had section 3C leave until 02-Nov-06 (7. Time limit for appeal). You were an overstayer from 03-Nov-06 until the date of exit.

Now, read example 1 (page 16/52).

thanks a lot sushdmehta for your prompt reply.

I am shocked to know that my chances are not that good. I wish that I would have asked for expert advise earlier or even better if I would have found this forum in 2006

I was also wondering that how would UKBA find out that I left UK within 10 days? or within 28 days etc? they dont stamp the passport when you leave UK. only stamp the passport on arrival.

just wondering what are my options after missing the boat by 11 days.

thanks.

sushdmehta wrote:Assuming that you were given the standard 10 days time to submit an appeal against the refusal (23-Oct-06), you had section 3C leave until 02-Nov-06 (7. Time limit for appeal). You were an overstayer from 03-Nov-06 until the date of exit.

Now, read example 1 (page 16/52).

I have just found out that I was not given the right to appeal at all. here is the quote from the letter received from UKBA.

" your application is therefore refused becasue you dont have a particular immigration document [section 88(2)(b)] therefore, your right to appeal this descision under section 82(1) of the nationality , immigration and asylum act 2002 is limited by operation of section 88 of this act."

Now section 88(2)(b) does not allow me to appeal.

Now I am really confused that I was not allowed to make appeal and was required to leave ASAP. In this case was my section 3c still applicable? if yes then for how long? I received the refusal letter on 23rd Oct 2006 and left Country on 9th Nov. 2006.

John please help.

thanks.

John wrote:Even though your right of appeal was said to be limited, your so-called Section 3C protection would still have been in play until you left the UK. That is, because the visa application was made prior to the expiry of the previous visa, but the application had not been decided by the stated expiry date of the old visa, that old visa was "treating as continuing" until the application was decided, and as that decision was a rejection, until such time as your right of appeal (limited as it was) was time-expired.

Accordingly, based upon what you have told us, your WHM visa was "treated as continuing" until you left the UK in November 2006, so you were in the UK as an overstayer .... you were still "legal".