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ILR Granted at Solihull PEO - Absence > 90 days

Only for queries regarding Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Please use the EU Settlement Scheme forum for queries about settled status under Appendix EU

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Struggler
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ILR Granted at Solihull PEO - Absence > 90 days

Post by Struggler » Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:49 pm

Hello everyone,‎

I had an absence of over 90 days in a single trip to my home country and my ‎ILR application was approved on the same day at Solihull. I was on WP and then Tier 1.‎

I got all information for my application from this forum so it’s only fair to share my experience and ‎help fellow members.‎

I had already decided to make an in-person application and I was prepared to lose the extra fees. I ‎had prepared my application like a postal application including covering letters and even attached a ‎self addressed envelope in case my application was turned into a postal application.‎

As many posts have discussed the usual straight forward application process, I am only going to ‎concentrate on the below 2 issues with my application:‎

‎1) I had 283 days absence in total and 144 days of medical absence.
2) Absence of 5 months in a single trip due to medical reasons
‎3) Traffic offence‎

Here goes - ‎

After I handed over my application to the case worker, the first thing he did was look at the ‎absence page. He commented that I had too many absences. To which I said that this was because ‎of medical reasons.‎
He then asked me for 12 months payslip, 12 months bank statement and Life in the UK test ‎certificate (he didn’t tell me my score and I forgot to ask).‎

He did his calculations and made notes. ‎

He then excused himself and went to discuss something with his senior.‎

He came back after 10 mins and asked me for medical documents. I had with me many medical ‎documents but I only gave him 2 letters:‎

Letter 1 was from my GP which confirmed that I had "no choice" but to leave the UK for medical ‎treatment. Please note the key word "no choice"‎

Letter 2 was from the specialist at the NHS which confirmed that my stay at home during my ‎medical absence was "necessary". Again please note the key word "necessary"‎

He took these 2 letters and again discussed with his senior. He came back after 15 mins and asked ‎me if I had medical documents from my home country. I then gave him 2 medical certificates from ‎my doctors back home, my hospital discharge summary sheet and my MRI scan report. The reason ‎I gave them my MRI scan report was because I wanted them to read and understand the severity ‎of my medical problem.‎

After 10 mins the senior case worker came to speak with me. He said that he looked at my medical ‎documents and that he was using his discretion to ignore my medical absence as the evidence I ‎provided was very strong. I thanked him.

The senior case worker also mentioned that my employer had not specifically mentioned that they ‎need me in the future. The letter only said that the company understands that I am applying for ‎ILR. I replied saying that if they didn’t need me in the future, they would have asked me to go ‎home right now and not even given me this letter. I’d like to believe I convinced him even though ‎there was no reaction from him to my answer. I thought Tier 1 applications did not need this kind ‎of confirmation about their job continuity. Maybe I was wrong.‎

The case worker came after the senior left and said that everything else is fine and asked me to ‎pay. He said that I will get my ILR today subject to criminal checks. To that I said that I had a traffic ‎offence in 2005 but it is spent. I have a Basic Disclosure certificate if he needed that. He said that ‎they would do their own checks.‎

Please note that I had ticked "yes" in the criminal conviction section and the case worker agreed ‎that it is always a good idea to do this even though my conviction was spent.‎

I paid and went and sat in the waiting area. I did not leave the building as I was not feeling too well. ‎Waited for a long time (4 hours I think) before I got my passport back.

Please let me know if you guys have any questions and I will be happy to answer them.‎

I saw a couple of posts from Solihull from the 27th July – I am the guy with a huge black bag. I had ‎taken 5 years of my life in that bag all the way from London to Solihull.‎
Last edited by Struggler on Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

shimu
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Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:14 pm

absent days

Post by shimu » Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:51 pm

hi

congrats on the success... please can you tell me the total days out of UK you had in last 5 yrs.

regards

Angela Jiang
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Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:46 pm

Post by Angela Jiang » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:52 pm

BIG CONGRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Such a good news for all of us who has a single trip for over 90 days, I have been waiting for soooooooooooo long to hear this positive feedback.I knew it, yes, as long as the evidence is stong strong enough, they will let you pass. Great Job! well done, thank you for sharing with us, guys, all the questions they asked have to be paid attention!

Just one question, any particular reason that you choose this PEO for your case?

Struggler
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Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:24 pm

Post by Struggler » Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:27 pm

shimu -Thanks. I had 283 days in total and 144 days of medical absence.

Angela Jiang - Thanks again. The nearest PEO to me is Croydon but I sensed that it is a very busy PEO. I wanted a PEO where I would be heard properly. So I went to Solihull after reading reviews about it. And I was right - the list only had max 20 names on it for the day.

jami
Member of Standing
Posts: 270
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:06 pm
Location: Lahore

Post by jami » Fri Jul 29, 2011 8:15 pm

Blew is UKBA guidance on longer absences:
• "There have been longer absences abroad, provided the absences were for compelling grounds either of a compassionate nature or for reasons related to the applicant’s employment or business in the UK. Where continuous residence has been broken, periods may be aggregated or shortfalls disregarded only with the approval of an SEO or Grade 7."

Above guidance were further explained by UKBA in an email to me as under:

"No formal time limit has been put on these type of cases in the guidance and each is decided on a case by case basis. I would expect that many of the situations you describe would fall into this category. In all cases, it is recommended that migrants provide sufficient evidence at the time and include supporting evidence why they were required to undertake the travel from employers &/or medical practitioners, when they apply for settlement. "


From combined reading of above extracts and this success story of "Struggler" of 5 months absence at a time fallowing conclusions can be drawn:

1- There is no upper limit of absences - either at a time or over the period of 5 years.
2- Where there are longer absences same day service is preferable as one can explain face to face.
3- Even smaller PEO like Solihull have SEO/Grade 7 officers to give approval of longer absence.
4. It is the evidence that counts.

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