Absence Confirmation Letter - Previous employer

[FaeLLe]

Can someone confirm how absences can be confirmed to Home Office when applying for ILR under Tier 2 General rules?

If a person changed employers twice,
- First employer: TIer 2 general with some absences (residency not broken)
- Second employer: Tier 2 General Different SOC code (residency not broken)

Does he still need to get the first employer to certify the absences (days physically out of UK) in their letterhead? Will a plain paper with passport entry and exist stamps be sufficient to prove residency?

The second employer will of course confirm that they are an employee with XYZ soc code and earning £ABC and is still required for employment.

TLDR: Is certification of absence outside UK required by all employers?

Appreciate your help.

[geriatrix]

245AAA and 245HH(B).
Covering every sponsor in the qualifying 5 year period.

[FaeLLe]

Thanks sush, so basically before you leave an employer you need to make sure you get a letter from them certifying absences otherwise the person is basically in trouble then!
Very interesting that no other provision has been made to cater for scenarios where the employer is not willing to provide these documents...

Also is it safe to assume that the below clause means a period of 180 days absence is allowed in any 12 months for five years before the application?

Am I right to think the date of entry and entry to the UK does not count as an absence as it is not a full day away.

(i) the applicant has been absent from the UK for a period of 180 days or less in any of the five consecutive 12 month periods preceding the date of the application for leave to remain, except that any absence from the UK for the purpose of assisting with the Ebola crisis which began in West Africa in 2014 shall not count towards the 180 days, if the applicant provides evidence that this was the purpose of the absence(s) and that his Sponsor agreed to the absence(s);

[FaeLLe]

Hi folks,

Just wanted to get your interpretation of the below line from the Calculation of Absences document - Page 20 of 33 Guidance –ILR – calculating continuous period in the UK – v12.0 Published for Home Office staff on 9 April 2015 ( https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... .0_EXT.pdf )

180 whole days absence

No more than 180 whole days absence are allowed in any of the five, four, three or two consecutive 12 month periods, depending on the category, preceding the date of the application for indefinite leave to remain (ILR).
As above, you must only count whole days as absences in this calculation.

Does this mean 180 days of absence should not be seen in any of the following periods - five, four, three, two or 12 month periods. So even in 5 years I should have no absence from UK?

How are half days out of UK counted (date of entry & leaving UK), is that counted as an absence?

Thanks just wanted to validate my assumption.

[CR001]

No more than 180 days absence per 12 month cycle (depends on when you apply for ILR on how cycle is calculated), so absence allowed is 180 days per year.

Date of departure and date of arrival are excluded from the absence calculation.

[FaeLLe]

If you can provide Home Office with residency proof through passport stamps but the previous days out of UK certification letter through previous Tier 2 General employer is lost will it cause issues during ILR application?

Current employer will be willing to provide certification of days out of UK and confirm employment for the dates while they employed my friend.

Will this be enough to get ILR through In Person Application?

[Destiny66]

Hi FaeLLe,
Can you please provide you experience.
I am in the same situation as yourself.
Did you get your ILR?
My Previous employer with whom I have worked for over 2 years is not willing to provide me an absence letter.
I only have an Email conversation which they have stated that they do not have records confirming my absence.
Can you please advice what you have done to resolve this issue?
Can you please help?

thanks.

[FaeLLe]

My Previous employer with whom I have worked for over 2 years is not willing to provide me an absence letter.
I only have an Email conversation which they have stated that they do not have records confirming my absence.

Email is useless for Home Office, it is the Secretary of State's decision whether to reject your application as incomplete.

Can you please advice what you have done to resolve this issue?
Can you please help?
thanks.

Some options,
- Get subject access request from Home Office confirming your travel history details they maintain to confirm your stay out of UK (this way you can prove to them the days you were out)
- Present original boarding passes, if you are missing any get a original letter from the airline or duplicate boarding cards

Just submitting a photocopy of immigration stamps will not help and application could be treated incomplete.


Why did you leave your employer before getting the letter, you should never have resigned without getting the letter as now your ILR changes are a gamble.

Get a proper lawyer and dont go after saving money.... find the best you can!

[Destiny66]

Hi FaeLLe,
Thanks for your prompt reply and your advice based on my status.
I am planning to apply for the Subject Access request on a fastrack basis.
I do have all the boarding passes covering all my previous travels.
Can you please advice if I provide a self certifying letter with all the above proofs (including Immigration stamps and Email conversations as reference) will be sufficient?

thanks in advance..

[FaeLLe]

Hi FaeLLe,
Thanks for your prompt reply and your advice based on my status.
I am planning to apply for the Subject Access request on a fastrack basis.
I do have all the boarding passes covering all my previous travels.
Can you please advice if I provide a self certifying letter with all the above proofs (including Immigration stamps and Email conversations as reference) will be sufficient?

thanks in advance..

I would include the covering letter too as well yes.

Look at this in detail - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ds-v13.pdf

Interim caseworker action – missing evidence
If an applicant is required to provide specified documents from their employer explaining
their absences and fails to do this, and the absences do not exceed 30 working days plus
statutory public holidays per annum (for example, such absences are likely to be consistent
with paid annual leave), you can choose, having regard to all the circumstances of the case,
to consider the application without this documentation.
You still need evidence where the absences in a 12 month period (as defined above)
exceed 30 working days plus statutory public holidays.

[Destiny66]

Hi FaeLLe,
Thanks for your advice.
I am now in a bit of confidence now.
I have applied for the Subject access request and will keep you posted.

thanks.