late application indefinate leave to remain

[IbbyLFC]

Hi folks first post so be gentle

a friend of mine has a problem and I was wondering if anyone on this board would have any knowledge as to the likely outcome.

He married his wife in Dec 07 and she arrived on a 2 year spouse visa on 2 March 08 - the visa expiring on 7 Feb 2010 (he was not 100% sure of this date and it becomes more important when you continue reading below).

Before he was about to apply for her application for permanent leave to remain in the UK they could not find her passport (he had all the necessary documents for the application and even spoke to immigration regarding this). Eventually he located the passport and found that the visa expired on 7 Feb 2010, yet when they found the passport it was 15 Feb 2010.

He rang the immigration offices and they advised that he write a covering letter with the application telling of the problem and oversight regarding the date - they did inform him that it was not an automatic refusal as they would need to see the application first (he is a professional person with a very good job and his wife has been going to college to complete the esol courses and continues to attend college for the higher level course). He then sent the application with the necessary paperwork including his bank statements etc along with pay slips on the very day (15 Feb 2010).

I was wondering what your experiences are when such issues arise as my friend has been getting mixed messages from different people (ie it being only around 7 days late and it being a potentially strong application) quite understandably he is stressing a bit as he is worried that after 2 years of living in this country his wife might have to go back to her country of origin!!

Many thanks for any replies

[khankhattak]

Hi folks first post so be gentle

a friend of mine has a problem and I was wondering if anyone on this board would have any knowledge as to the likely outcome.

He married his wife in Dec 07 and she arrived on a 2 year spouse visa on 2 March 08 - the visa expiring on 7 Feb 2010 (he was not 100% sure of this date and it becomes more important when you continue reading below).

Before he was about to apply for her application for permanent leave to remain in the UK they could not find her passport (he had all the necessary documents for the application and even spoke to immigration regarding this). Eventually he located the passport and found that the visa expired on 7 Feb 2010, yet when they found the passport it was 15 Feb 2010.


He rang the immigration offices and they advised that he write a covering letter with the application telling of the problem and oversight regarding the date - they did inform him that it was not an automatic refusal as they would need to see the application first (he is a professional person with a very good job and his wife has been going to college to complete the esol courses and continues to attend college for the higher level course). He then sent the application with the necessary paperwork including his bank statements etc along with pay slips on the very day (15 Feb 2010).

I was wondering what your experiences are when such issues arise as my friend has been getting mixed messages from different people (ie it being only around 7 days late and it being a potentially strong application) quite understandably he is stressing a bit as he is worried that after 2 years of living in this country his wife might have to go back to her country of origin!!

Many thanks for any replies

its very hard to say what outcome of this app will come but as u stated that she is overstayed and now it will take a lot of time to be decided or may be she will not see her passport for years but u should posted such like this app through a solcitor cos solicitor can help in this

[IbbyLFC]

i know what you mean but ironically my friend is a solicitor, just not an immigration one (he works for the government as a solicitor and mentioned this in the covering letter that he sent). I suppose they may take this into account in his favour in that it is not a fraudulent application.

He is aware I think that anything can happen but i dont suppose it will be a blanket refusal due to being out of time it may be they are called for an interview is that uncommon?

[khankhattak]

i know what you mean but ironically my friend is a solicitor, just not an immigration one (he works for the government as a solicitor and mentioned this in the covering letter that he sent). I suppose they may take this into account in his favour in that it is not a fraudulent application.

He is aware I think that anything can happen but i dont suppose it will be a blanket refusal due to being out of time it may be they are called for an interview is that uncommon?

so its fine then why worring if ho send ur passport back within six so ok otherwise call them every week after that six months and keep safe every letter,bills,payslips within app pending time they can ask for ur recent last three months evidence after u call them best of luck

[IbbyLFC]

i know what you mean but ironically my friend is a solicitor, just not an immigration one (he works for the government as a solicitor and mentioned this in the covering letter that he sent). I suppose they may take this into account in his favour in that it is not a fraudulent application.

He is aware I think that anything can happen but i dont suppose it will be a blanket refusal due to being out of time it may be they are called for an interview is that uncommon?

so its fine then why worring if ho send ur passport back within six so ok otherwise call them every week after that six months and keep safe every letter,bills,payslips within app pending time they can ask for ur recent last three months evidence after u call them best of luck

i know what you mean i told him the same thing but he is still very worried as technically she overstayed by 7/8 days

i will of course post on here what happens!

[mochyn]

I understand the tension as the application has been made outside the normal rules and is now late but in my opinion from the information you have given then nothing will be done regarding the overstaying.
Contrary to what some believe the Home Office is there to help British Citizens.
They will just have to wait but it should be solved very quickly.
There is no way the Home Office will send the wife back to her country

[Casa]

Although this is at the discretion of the Home Office, similar cases have been successful.

[IbbyLFC]

thought i would post an update regarding this matter in case similar circumstances occur to someone else who visits the forum.

In the end it was all good news as my friend's wife did get the ILR - you could also say in record time as the response was received in the beginning of March (i believe right on 4 weeks or even just a few days before).

My friend would like to thank those on this site for their advice and words of encouragement. I think it goes to show that if you are honest with your application and provide all the necessary evidence and provide a covering letter if any issues of this nature occur the UK Border Agency will take matters into account and wont just dismiss them offhand.

[John]

IbbyLFC, thanks for posting about that happy outcome.

The even better news, that they might not even have thought about, is that in practice UKBA will overlook her few days of being an "illegal" ..... when she applies for her Naturalisation ... sometime on or after 02.03.11. Given change of Naturalisation law in July next year, she would be well advised to apply soon after she is time-qualified to apply.

The passport could not be found? Suggest they now keep it is a safe place ... indeed in a safe! Even just a cheap safe from the likes of B&Q is a better place to keep documents such as passports, rather than letting important documents go "walkabout".

A small fireproof safe would be even better.