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My wife applied for her ILR in early April, 2011; however she used the pre-April 6th SET(M) form and the application has been returned as invalid. The cover letter from the UKBA advises resubmission with the post-April 6th form; however, it also states that her visa expiry date has not been extended and that for an application to be valid it must be prior to her visa's expiration.
The original application arrived at UKBA on 12th April, the UKBA invalidity cover letter is dated 21st April, but the letter and documments were only delivered to our house today, 30th April. My wife's visa runs out tomorrow (1st May). As it's bank holiday weekend I can only resend the application on Tuesday 3rd.
Obviously if the letter and documents had arrived sooner there would be no problem. Does anyone think the UKBA will accept a resubmission but after my wife's visa has expired? I have added a cover letter explaining the situation in preparation for sending the resubmission off. Any comments, suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

Send the application on 3rd May special delivery and keep the receipt of postage. Include the covering letter and the caseworker should use their discretion to issue the visa.

Also note:

vinny wrote:FLR(M) (285) requires valid leave. However, SET(M) (288) apparently doesn't.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll send it off Tuesday 3rd via special delivery and keep my fingers crossed that the case-worker is sympathetic.
Just out of interest, if the response came back negative and UKBA said they couldn't process the ILR application, what would our options be then -local MP, solicitor?
Also, if it came back negative, how long would my wife be able to remain in the UK for - would she have to return home immediately or are UKBA likely to grace us with a period of time to make relocation arrangements as we have two little girls and would have to sell our house, car etc.
Thanks again for any help.

daggsyboy26 wrote:Thanks for the suggestions. I'll send it off Tuesday 3rd via special delivery and keep my fingers crossed that the case-worker is sympathetic.
Just out of interest, if the response came back negative and UKBA said they couldn't process the ILR application, what would our options be then -local MP, solicitor?
Also, if it came back negative, how long would my wife be able to remain in the UK for - would she have to return home immediately or are UKBA likely to grace us with a period of time to make relocation arrangements as we have two little girls and would have to sell our house, car etc.
Thanks again for any help.

if she is refused, she can always just leave the UK and apply from her country of origin. That is the simplest way to do it.

Note that declaring her initial SET(M) as invalid, due to a new form being introduced for less than 21 days, is contrary to 34I.

A refusal solely due to overstaying would be contrary to the (Upper Tribunal's interpretation of) immigration rules and may be unlawful. Cite (11) the unreported determination so that the caseworker is aware of it.

Just thought I'd let you know that my wife's ILR application was successful. I followed your advice by writing a cover letter explaining the situation and the application was processed as standard. Thank you very much for all your help. Hopefully, this thread may help other people who find themselves in a similar situation.

Congratulations. Really pleased to hear the good news and thanks for letting us know. Now...relax!