ILR after 5 year refugee. do I have to be in jobcentre?

[kingroach]

Hello, and thanks in advance for reading.

I had been in the UK as a Tier 4 student from 2010 until 2015
then had refugee status from late 2015. My wife is with me (married before first application but she joined 1 year after me) and we have 3 children all born in the UK.

In 1 year I have to apply for refugee settlement ILR. There is a chance I could also look into applying for long residence if that applies to me.

However I have a question about what the Home Office requires to see. I have been looking at what is happening to my European friends, so looked into some requirements and I don't know whether I fit the bill or not. It has to do with proving you are qualified as either "a worker, job-seeker, self-sufficient, etc."

From the time I had refugee status, I never applied for jobseekers and pretty much never had a lot in my bank account either. However, I have been recieving housing benefits, child benefit, and child tax credit. I have been doing small part-time jobs, but none of it is on contract or includes payslips or tax forms (for example, a 0 hour interpretation agency, some charity run projects, community centres, or other employment in which the employer stupidly only provides a letter of engagement rather than a contract). I was always trying to secure a job somewhere but I never landed one, and this hope/limbo kept me away from the jobcentre. I always paid my council taxes and claimed in my tax forms my annual income which was little, and I'm afraid it does not support or prove that I'm an active member, specifically because I have not applied for jobseeker or employment support.

Do you know if the Home Office would require me to be in "official" employment or hooked to their jobseeker system to recognise my working/economical status throughout the period of temporary leave to remain for either ILR applications above.

And does the refugee 5 year add up to the previous student visa to make a 10 year stay, or do all 10 years need to be in other migration stati?


I hope this was not confusing to read. Thanks a lot in advance.

[zimba]

You must ignore what is required from your European friends. They have to apply under EEA regulations which are completely separate from the UK immigration rules that apply to non-EEA citizens. ILR has no employment requirement for refugees. The 10 year rule for long residence ILR can include all visas as long as you had the required lawful residence

[kingroach]

You must ignore what is required from your European friends. They have to apply under EEA regulations which are completely separate from the UK immigration rules that apply to non-EEA citizens. ILR has no employment requirement for refugees. The 10 year rule for long residence ILR can include all visas as long as you had the required lawful residence

Many thanks. This is a reassuring starting point. I'll get on this soon and do a full research on the forms to fill and what documents to compile, maybe from January to be ready. It is not easy to find reliable information when one is asking around (the gov.uk website doesn't answer all questions). I'm glad I found this forum.

Good luck to everyone.