180 days absence due to covid and visa expiry

[Nkhurana25]

Hi All,

Hope you are safe.

I’d be really grateful if someone can let me know if i got any chance for my ILr case.


I had come to india in march20 to see my father who had contracted corona. Soon after my arrival, indian borders got closed and i could not travel back to uk before expiry of my visa in may.

As a result, i could not travel back to uk due to corona travel restrictions and my leave expired. My employer had submitted an extension application online before expiry of my visa so i could continue working but could not travel back to submit my boometrics.
I raised this to home office who first advised to apply for visa waiver but then did not approve and then asked me to wait because they are considering concessions for migrants unable to get back to uk to extend the leave.
I was hopeful something will come as advised by CIH team- however, they gave the same response since july for months and no guidance is released as of now( i still get that the reply that they are actively working on concession) .
I did try to convince my employer to submit the application from india with cover letter explaining the situation. However, they did not want to do that legally as cooling off applies and its not the rules.
I was lucky to keep my uk extension application open and i kept on emailing CIH to provide guidance without which i cannot travel back and was advised to keep waiting.
Given no update until now, My employer is now submitting a new application from india under Skilled worked visa as there is nomore cooling off with an attempt to continue my employment period without any break.

I was earlier eligible to apply for my ILR in may21.
However, now my absence has been more than 180 days mainly due to covid restrictions and my visa getting expired as a result. I have evidence of govt circulars as well as correspondence with HO where they advised me to wait saying they are working on guidance for migrants unable to return and renew their leave in UK and legally i could not submit an application from india until now due to cooling off.
Will that hold enough evidence to justify my absence? I tried everything but could not come back due to cooling off and HO not releasing any guidance for the same.

Any help will be appreciated as this is something i couldnt control but not sure if home office will take that into consideration in discretion.

[zimba]

Few points:

-You cannot apply for an extension online when you leave the UK. That is not a valid application. If you leave the UK, you must apply for an entry clearance which is subject to a cooling-off period of 12 months under Tier 2.

-To maintain your continuous residence, you must apply for a new visa after 14 days of previous visa expiry. You failed to do that

-You travelled after COVID was declared a global pandemic on 11 March. You travelled knowing that. Also, no concessions were in place to extend visas of people who left the UK. The concessions applied only to migrants inside the UK

You may have to come back and start your 5 years from scratch

[Nkhurana25]

-You cannot apply for an extension online when you leave the UK. That is not a valid application. If you leave the UK, you must apply for an entry clearance which is subject to a cooling-off period of 12 months under Tier 2.

Thank you very much for your comments.

(Yes- i’m aware. However- it was due to covid restrictions that i was unable to come back to UK to give my biometrics for appointment so we submitted the application online to be on 3c leave and waited for guidance in case HO released it for cases like those who got stuck abroad.)

-To maintain your continuous residence, you must apply for a new visa after 14 days of previous visa expiry. You failed to do that

(please correct me if i’m wrong- but my extension application was submitted online before BRP expiry which will now be varied to a new tier 2 EC application under Skiled worked visa so that cooling off is not applicable- would it still be broken given it will be dated before my expiry of visa? I understand it is anyway broken due to more than 180 days absence i presume?)

-You travelled after COVID was declared a global pandemic on 11 March. You travelled knowing that. Also, no concessions were in place to extend visas of people who left the UK. The concessions applied only to migrants inside the UK
(Yes- i had to travel to take care of my dad who had the virus but i presume home office won’t care about it.
I am aware no concessions yet for migrants abroad. However, i had emails from cih mails that they were/are working on migrant unable to return to extend their leave from UK-though nothing released formally.

You may have to come back and start your 5 years from scratch
( yes- i’m coming back but was thinking to try ilr once if its worth it or would be a waste of money- seems like my chances are less)

[CR001]

Section 3c ONLY applies if you are IN the UK. If you are not in the UK, it does not apply to you and is an invalid application. It is also an invalid application if you did not enroll biometrics within the given timeframe.

You cannot apply within the UK for a visa extension if you are abroad.

You cannot vary and invalid application made in thee UK while you were outside the UK to a new entry clearance visa. It doesn't work like that.

Your continuity of residence is broken. There is no loophole for you here.

Ilr will be refused, you don't qualify.

[zimba]

-You cannot apply for an extension online when you leave the UK. That is not a valid application. If you leave the UK, you must apply for an entry clearance which is subject to a cooling-off period of 12 months under Tier 2.

Thank you very much for your comments.

(Yes- i’m aware. However- it was due to covid restrictions that i was unable to come back to UK to give my biometrics for appointment so we submitted the application online to be on 3c leave and waited for guidance in case HO released it for cases like those who got stuck abroad.)

-To maintain your continuous residence, you must apply for a new visa after 14 days of previous visa expiry. You failed to do that

(please correct me if i’m wrong- but my extension application was submitted online before BRP expiry which will now be varied to a new tier 2 EC application under Skiled worked visa so that cooling off is not applicable- would it still be broken given it will be dated before my expiry of visa? I understand it is anyway broken due to more than 180 days absence i presume?)

-You travelled after COVID was declared a global pandemic on 11 March. You travelled knowing that. Also, no concessions were in place to extend visas of people who left the UK. The concessions applied only to migrants inside the UK
(Yes- i had to travel to take care of my dad who had the virus but i presume home office won’t care about it.
I am aware no concessions yet for migrants abroad. However, i had emails from cih mails that they were/are working on migrant unable to return to extend their leave from UK-though nothing released formally.

You may have to come back and start your 5 years from scratch
( yes- i’m coming back but was thinking to try ilr once if its worth it or would be a waste of money- seems like my chances are less)

You cannot make up your own interpretations of how things work. If you leave the UK, you CANNOT apply for a new visa online as that is an INVALID application. You MUST be inside the UK to apply. Your visa expiry is irrelevant. When you leave the UK, you must apply for a new entry clearance if your visa runs out.

Even If you apply online and then leave the UK, your application will still be considered withdrawn. There is no loophole