ILE to ILR

[lucyliupenang]

I, a Malaysian citizen, was granted Indefinite leave to enter (ILE) in June 2005 as a wife of British Citizen (married and lived outside UK for more than 4 years) and in September 2005 I entered UK to “activateâ€

[Christophe]

[quote="lucyliupenang"]I, a Malaysian citizen, was granted Indefinite leave to enter (ILE) in June 2005 as a wife of British Citizen (married and lived outside UK for more than 4 years) and in September 2005 I entered UK to “activateâ€

[John]

However, the ILE is only valid until the last day of my passport which is in July 2009.

Not so. You are not the first to be confused by the "expiry date" on an ILE visa, and I am sure you will not be the last.

Having entered the UK before that stated date you really do have indefinite leave. The visa remains valid even after that date, which is merely the last possible date that the visa can be used to first enter the UK using that visa. Having done so the date can be totally ignored.

[lucyliupenang]

Thank you so much for the advice.........

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

However, the ILE is only valid until the last day of my passport which is in July 2009.

Not so. You are not the first to be confused by the "expiry date" on an ILE visa, and I am sure you will not be the last.

Having entered the UK before that stated date you really do have indefinite leave. The visa remains valid even after that date, which is merely the last possible date that the visa can be used to first enter the UK using that visa. Having done so the date can be totally ignored.

This confusion can actually be a real problem! I know of somebody who was (3 weeks ago) refused boarding on a flight to the UK because of the already “expiredâ€

[Dawie]

It's quite alarming at how much airline check-in desks are starting to become immigration checkpoints. Immigration checks should be left to the experts and those employed to do them, i.e. immigration officers, not surly sour-faced check-in staff who have absolutely no knowledge about immigration matters. Leave that to the equally surly sour-faced immigration officers.

When I used to just have South African citizenship and travelled with my South African passport I would sometimes encounter arrogant check-in staff when flying to countries from the UK that did not require visas from South Africans. The staff would just automatically assume that I needed a visa for that country just because I had an "African" passport. At least it didn't happen too often...there aren't too many countries these days that don't require visas from South Africans.