Long residence (10 year route) eligibilty

[Ani1984]

Hi Everyone,
I have applied for an ILR (SET LR) in May 2024 but Home office have refused it saying my previous application during Covid was out of time and that have break my continuous residence.
Details are as Below -
1. I came to UK on Feb 2014 on ICT Short term staff migrant and Left the UK on Dec 2014.
2. I came back to UK on May 2015 on ICT Long Term Staff migrant on May 2015 and continued extending my Visa until May'20 until my 5 years completed and the Gap between these switches was less then 180 days and i left UK with Valid visa and entered again with Valid visa.
3. In April 2020 I applied to switch to As a dependent of my Spouse in Tier 2 General Dependent Visa category and as that was the Covid time my application decision was delayed by Home office due to Covid and have got the email from Atlas that since i have submitted my Application on time hence my current Leave to remain is extended by Section 3C as that was a in time application.
4. In Between in May 2020 my Employer have asked me to submit a CV exceptional extension request as My current BRP which was originally given until Ma was getting expired.
5. AN CV Exceptional Extension application was submitted to Home Office and they have granted that and this extension was automatically extended until July 2020.
6. In Between i kept receiving email from Home office on my Dependent application submitted on April 2020 and stating due to Covid Biometric are taking longer time and we are opening them in slots and you will be notified when you are eligible.
7. In September 2020 i have got the Biometric invitation against my Dependent Visa application submitted on April 2020 and post biometric my application is granted until March 2023 and BRP received.
8. In Jan 2023 i have again submitted the Dependent Visa extension request along as a Toer 2 PBD Dependent and that was granted until March 20206.

I have applied for ILR SET(LR) in April 20204 as 10 yrs continuous residence but Home office have refused saying you have submitted Out of time CV exceptional application in May 2020 and that was again extended in June 2020 and then in July 2020 ( Point 4,5) are in picture.
10. They also mentioned my recent dependent Visa extension application in Jan 2023 which was grated until Mar 2026 was also out of time hence I don't qualify for a 10 yr. Long resident settlement.

Can you Please suggest what is wrong here as i believe i was always Lawful here and i have submitted by Visa application switching to dependent Partner was on Time in April 2020 which was later granted in Oct 2020. Home office have not mentioned anything about this application in rejection.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

[zimba]

If you submitted a visa application in-time and before your visa expiry in April 2020, you had section 3C until that application was decided. This means you did not need to submit ANY other application. There was a Coronavirus Extension Concession Period from 24 January 2020 to 31 July 2020 but you only needed to apply if you have no valid leave. If you had section 3C, you did not even need such an extension at all. So UKVI is wrong to say you had no lawful residence in this period. Also, did you apply before the visa expiry in Jan 2023 ??

Coronavirus extension concession (CEC) and exceptional assurance concession: caseworker guidance

[Ani1984]

Thanks for the response Zimba.

Yes I applied for the extension in Jan 2023 where the previous granted BRP was expiring on March 2023.

Re-CV Extension - My Sponsor have asked me to submit a CV extension request hence i have submitted this. Will this have caused any out of time issue to my Visa application i applied on April 2020 which was Granted on October 2020.

Is it worth going for a PAP to Home office?

Thanks for your help.

[zimba]

Thanks for the response Zimba.

Yes I applied for the extension in Jan 2023 where the previous granted BRP was expiring on March 2023.

Re-CV Extension - My Sponsor have asked me to submit a CV extension request hence i have submitted this. Will this have caused any out of time issue to my Visa application i applied on April 2020 which was Granted on October 2020.

Is it worth going for a PAP to Home office?

Thanks for your help.

What about the application in April 2020 ?? Was that in-time and before visa expiry or not ??

[Ani1984]

Yes the Application Made on April 2020 to switch to my Spouse dependent was made before the expiry of Existing BRP which was due to expire on first week of May 2020.

[zimba]

Then UKVI is wrong to claim you did not have lawful residence. You should challenge their decision

[AmazonianX]

With the clear dates you outlined in your posts, haven made an in time application and having the correspondence from UKVI during the pandemic about delays to biometrics, you are on good grounds for reconsideration and getting this refusal overturned.

[Ani1984]

Many Thanks Zimba and Amazonian.

One Last question as i have got a refusal for ILR , will my exiting leave to remain which is valid till 2026 will still remain be valid and have no impact on that with this refusal?

[zimba]

Many Thanks Zimba and Amazonian.

One Last question as i have got a refusal for ILR , will my exiting leave to remain which is valid till 2026 will still remain be valid and have no impact on that with this refusal?

Refusal has no effect on your current leave. It remains valid until expiry

[Ani1984]

Thanks Zimba your help is highly appreciated.

While i was applying for review to Home office i have got one more doubt as below.

Details are as Below -
In My Immigration history in this post i was entered in UK on Business Visa between January 2015 till Feb 2015 for 28 days and as per the new rules post April 2024 any entry in Visit visa will break the continuous Residence will that be the case applicable for me as well.

I was eligible for 10 years ILR route in January 2024 (28 days before the 10yrs) so not sure whether this new rule will impact my review or not sure what were the original rule for Continuous residence before April 2024.

You have cleared all my doubt on other concerns and i am good to go on those but this bit is something which just made my attention today.

Appreciate your response.

[zimba]

Any time spent under any visitor route will not count and also breaks the continuous residence under the long residence:

Treatment of time spent in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, and seasonal worker
Any periods of time with permission in any of the following routes, are not counted in the qualifying period for the purposes of long residence and will break continuous residence for the purposes of the qualifying period for long residence:

•any category of visitor granted under ‘Appendix V: Visitor’ of the Immigration Rules
•short-term student granted under ‘Appendix Short-term Student’ of the Immigration Rules
•seasonal worker granted under ‘Appendix Temporary work – Seasonal Worker’ of the Immigration Rules

Time spent with entry clearance or permission as a visitor does not count in the qualifying period. This includes time granted under Appendix V: Visitor (the current visitor rules) and any previous visitor rules (such as paragraph 40 of Part 2 of the Immigration Rules).

Furthermore, you cannot rely on a historic 10-year qualifying period you built up in the past anymore:

Paragraph CR 6.1. of Appendix Continuous Residence sets out that the continuous residence periods will be calculated by counting back from the relevant date. This means that an applicant cannot rely on a historic 10-year qualifying period, outside of the limits defined in CR 6.1. See more detail in the Continuous residence guidance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... accessible

[Ani1984]

Thanks Zimba. Does that mean this Visit Visa rule was always there in home office guidance and considered as break of Continuous residence and not introduced as part of April 2024 change.

So if Visit visa breaks continuous residence then does that mean i will only be eligible for 10 yrs route next year around April 2025 as my 10 yr. continuous residence will start from May 2015 when i entered UK in ICT Long term in May 2015.

Also is is still wise to still go ahead with PAP and ask HO to review their refusal decision and Overturned these statement where they have mentioned Out of time application where as it was all in time application and SAR also capturing those to make sure when i apply for ILR next year it's all good and clean.

[zimba]

The rule that excludes the visitor visa periods was introduced a year ago.

Lawful and continuous residence changes to Long Residence route from 11 April 2024

Given the above, you will qualify in 2025. You did not mention your visitor visa before, so I guess even if they accept that you had section 3C in 2020, you still will fail the requirement. So I guess there is no point in challenging it now. I suggest applying for SAR and then in 2025, attaching this with a cover letter explaining that you had section 3C in 2020

[Ani1984]

Thanks Zimba Much appreciated.

[Ani1984]

Hi Zimba/All,

I am applying for my SET(LR) basis on my 10 years continuous residence and i have got a questions in Application form whether you previously have any visa refused/rejected by UK or any other country.

I applied for 10 yrs ILR last year but they offered me FLR as i was not eligible for 10 yr settlement due to a break in my immigration at the very first year of 10 yr route. At that time I have not opted for FLR as i was having the existing visa valid which is still valid till next year. More details of that post is as above in case any history needed.

My questions is basis on above ILR application which was not granted last year do i need to mention this as a visa rejection in my current application form with clear details.

In my last ILR decision letter i have been told my Home office that i have accrued 9 yr 3 month lawful residence till Aug last year.

Appreciate your response on this.

[zimba]

If you withdrew the application, then there was no refusal.

[Ani1984]

Thanks for the response Zimba. I didn’t understand what do you mean by withdrawing the application?

I didn’t withdrew my ILr application last year just didn’t choose to pay IHS charges for Limited Leave to remain application for 30 months which home office have offered to me.

Below is the extract of the consideration on my last application -

Once you have paid the immigration health surcharge, your application will be treated as a valid application for limited leave to remain and you will be granted 30 months’ limited leave to remain in the UK.
It is noted that you hold extant leave until xx xx 2026 as a T2 SW - Dep Partner if you choose to stay on this route and not pay the IHS fee your application will be rejected and the fee you paid for your settlement application will not be refunded.

On the above basis what should I choose in the latest ILR application form on visa refusal question?

[zimba]

Just say it was rejected then. This has no effect

[Ani1984]

Thanks Zimba