a lost passport with the ILR stamp

[asgoodasitgets]

I entered the UK in 1999 and that when I was issued indefinite leave to remain. I've been here since then and never really left the country for any period of time. I was encouraged recently to apply for for British citizenship but I delayed it for one reason or another. until recently I was looking for my passport, my Yemeni passport where I have the ILR stamp. that's when I found that I've lost it. I reported my passport lost to obtain a reference number required by the home office when I rang to ask what I should do. applying for a new Yemeni passport is fairly straight forward.... but when I went to see a citizen advice bureau and explained the situation. my concern was how would I get ILR stamp in my new passport, see its a bit tricky as I don't have the letter that proves that I was issued one 8 years ago in the first place... Don't have a photo copy of my old passport...

I was told that I have to fill a form called NTLTOC found here http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... tionforms/
I can't fill the form until I have my new Yemeni passport and I've already send the form yesterday.

this alone is going to take sometime add to that the 4 -12 weeks processing the NTLTOC form. this is a really big concern for me. I am unemployed at the moment ( it will also be quite an issue to find the fees to send with the documents).. and I don't know how I would support myself during this period while waiting for my application to be processed. ( I can't work with out a proof that I can work in the UK. every employer I had asks for a proof that I am allowed to work in the UK, which what my indefinite leave to remain provides)

what should I do? I am unaware of my rights .. am I qualify for legal aid? how do I find out? is there away to speed things up? any suggestions? a month with out work is really quite impossible because I support myself. this situation feels rather discouraging and I really have no clue what to do)

[JAJ]

You have a right under the Data Protection Act to demand a copy of all information the BIA hold about you:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/naviga ... /foi_guide

They must reply within 40 days and are in breach of the law if they don't.

[stedman]

What do you need legal aid for? If you were given ILR 8 years ago, the home office will have a record of it. For a tenner you can get all your files from them (called a subject access request) under the freedom of information/data protection act, as mentioned above, and the information there should be enough to transfer the stamp to your new passport.

[asgoodasitgets]

I was completely unaware of what both of you pointed out, thank you, I'll look into this and see what happens next