ILR Application Under Appendix FM - Advice Needed

[suthaharat]

Hi everyone,

I recently received a ILR refusal letter from the Home Office regarding my ILR application. Here are the details:

• My husband started his T2 General visa in January 2019 and obtained his ILR in December 2023.
  My son (8 years old) and I joined him as PBS (T2 Skilled Worker) dependents in November 2019 and extended our visas as ILR dependents from January 2024.
  We have completed 5 years as T2 dependents.
  We applied for ILR in April 2025.

However, the Home Office has informed us that we have not completed enough time under the requisite route of Appendix FM to qualify for ILR. They mentioned that we need to have completed at least 60 months under D-LTRP.1.1, as stated in section E-ILRP.1.3 of Appendix FM.

Could someone please advise on the best course of action? Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[secret.simon]

PBS dependent and ILR Dependent are two separate routes to ILR and you can't add the times across multiple routes towards a 5 year pathway to ILR.

Till when are your current visas valid?

[lolo2]

Is this the case of the wrong form used e.g. form SET(M) instead of SET(O)?

There is no ILR dependent route - the dependents remain as Skilled Worker dependants after ILR of the lead applicant, which I think make some people to confuse the forms.

[suthaharat]

Dear people,

Thanks for responding.

Some of your replies are a bit reassuring, while others, like Simon's, are haunting us. Since I obtained ILR, we extended my partner's and child's visas. I vaguely remember how we extended them, but I am sure it was an extension application. We chose to do the extension in 2024 when they were short by 8 months to complete the 5 years. After Simon's reply, I looked at my partner's & child's BRP, comparing the old and new ones. The old one reads as PBS dependent, and the extended one (which we think of as extended) reads` DEPENDANT PARTNER LEAVE TO REMAIN` and DEPENDENT CHILD LEAVE TO REMAIN. I am worried now whether their clock to ILR reset from 2024 when I changed to ILR, and they extended/ issued as ILR dependents. We thought it was an extension, but actually, they somehow got shifted to a new visa category!

[lolo2]

I am worried now whether their clock to ILR reset from 2024 when I changed to ILR, and they extended/ issued as ILR dependents. We thought it was an extension, but actually, they somehow got shifted to a new visa category!

This is explaining your situation.

You should have extended your visa as Skilled Worker dependent, not under the family route. It doesn't matter that the lead applicant had ILR, the immigration rules make possible for dependents to extend their leave under the previous route of the main applicant.

Due to this mistake, your clock was reset so UKVI's decision is correct. Now you might be eligible for ILR in 2028/2029 provided the rules remain the same.

[suthaharat]

Thanks for your time and response.

I had a review and looked at my old application and decisions, and confirmed that my extension was issued in the same category as a Tier 2 Skilled Worker dependent. The mistake I made was using the wrong form, Set(M), which appears to be incorrect. I should have applied under Set(O).

I got the answers I needed from you, good people - hence closing the thread. Thanks both.