I will be sending my application for PR to the HO within the next week or so, but there is an issue which is really causing me a lot of stress. I have done so much research into this I actually feel like my head is going to explode lol, but I still have doubts about my situation.
So my issue is that for the first 3.5 years after I arrived in the UK, I worked as a temp for an agency. I am really worried about whether or not the Home Office will accept that I was a ‘worker’ during these years. Like I said I have done so much research into this, and I understand that the work has to be genuine and effective, and I have also read that a judge has ruled that agency work is acceptable as long as the agency regularly finds work for you and it is not separated by long periods in between assignments.
What really concerns me is that I have read about the minimum of 10/12 hours work per week ‘rule’. I assume that this would relate more to someone who works ‘fixed hours’? Anyone who has experience with temp work will surely understand that when you are temping there are times when the agency has no work for you, and you can occasionally go 1 to 2 weeks without having work. However, there are other times when you work every single day for weeks or even months at a time if the agency gives you a long-term assignment. I would say that on average, I worked between two to three days a week. BUT that is on average. There were times that I worked only one day per week (which is obviously less than 10/12 hours), and very occasionally the agency had no work for me for 2 to 3 weeks.
I decided that the best way to prove that I worked regularly would be to make a list of ALL the assignments I ever did for the agency, and ask the agency to print this off for me on an official letter. My solicitor also thinks this is a good idea.
The only thing I worry about, if I do the above, is that the HO might have a problem with the periods where I wasn’t working. Common sense would tell me that they will look at the entire 3.5 year period, and realise that ON AVERAGE I worked 2-3 days per week, and hopefully they will take into consideration the nature of agency work- that sometimes there just is no work and there are no fixed hours.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? I would really appreciate your opinions on this – it is causing me so much stress. Thank you so much!!!!
