5-year continuous period start date for ILR Set(O)

[90mer]

I'm applying for ILR Set(O) and one of the requirements according to https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... riod-in-uk is to calculate the 5-year continuous period in the UK, but it's not explained clearly enough there.

In particular, I'm struggling to understand what counts as the beginning of my 5-year period as I transitioned from Tier 4 to Tier 2 back in 2017. Here are my key dates:

• 18 Aug 2014 - I first entered the UK with a Tier 4 visa for a PhD
• 15 Sep 2017 - I finished PhD and started working and being paid as a researcher at the same Uni, while Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) was in preparation. It was a transition from Tier 4 to Tier 2 that Unis do, or at least used to do back then, HR handled this whole process.
• 6 Nov 2017 - My CoS was issued
• 7 Nov 2017 - Tier 2 visa application is submitted. I have a letter as a proof
• 13 Nov 2017 - CoS has this as the "Work start", even though I was already working at this point. (BTW, my Tier 4 was valid for the entire transition period.)
• 6 Dec 2017 - Tier 2 visa application approved. I have a letter as a proof of this date
• 22 Dec 2017 - "Date of issue" on my first BRP card

I guess it's either the 6th or 22nd of December 2017. (The reason I want to clarify it is that I would like to apply asap and don't wait until the very end of my current visa.)

[contorted_svy]

Your qualifying date should be your visa approval date, 6 Dec 2017, so you can apply 28 days before then. They would use a date that is favourable to you to consider your qualifying period.

[zimba]

The application date or COS start date is not relevant. As you have been advised, it is from first visa issue date

[90mer]

Thank you contorted_svy and Zimba!

The thing is that both of you suggest different dates:
- visa approval date, 6 December, OR
- visa issue date, 22 December

I understand the second one is a safer option, but it became a matter of principle to understand what the guidance implies as it's very vague.

[contorted_svy]

We both suggested the 6th December, when your visa was approved. 22 Dec is when your BRP was issued, not your visa.

[90mer]

Thank you for clarifying!! Yeah, BRP became synonymous to visa in my mind and I forgot that they are not the same thing.