Extension - from date of decision rather than date of expiry

[eclairs]

Dear senior members

My Tier 1 extension application was approved at PEO Belfast on 25th October. Due to some systems issue, they did not issue my approval letter but told me that the letter will arrive in post and BRP will follow soon.

The lady also confirmed that the extension was granted from the date of expiry, not from the date of application(I had asked her 3 times and she confirmed the same every time).

The letter promptly arrived in two working days, and everything seemed fine. Received my BRP today, and noticed that the extension was given from the date of application, not from the previous leave expiry date.

Is there anything that I could do to get this corrected and get my visa extended from the prev expiry date?

Given that I have no written confirmation from the case worker, and she just confirmed verbally, do I stand a chance to prove that the case worked lied to me and the BRP was issued with a wrong date ?

The reason why I am so worried about this is that I will fall short of 1 week to qualify for ILR and may have to apply another extension, please correct me if I am wrong.

My visa dates:
Initial leave granted on: 01-12-2010
Initial leave expires on: 01-12-2012
New visa issued from 26-10-2012
New visa expires on 25-10-2015
Entered UK on 26-12-2010, and have been living here since then.

I really appreciate your responses ....Thanks

[Jambo]

The policy is that if an extension is made within 28 days before the visa expiry, the extension starts from the expiry date. If you apply earlier than that (as in your case), the issue date is the date of decision/application.

[eclairs]

Thanks Jambo.

I am aware of the 28day policy, but its been mentioned by several folks on this forum that it is in the hands of the case worker to decide.

In my case, I had requested her while giving my documents, and at the end, she confirmed that my extension has been granted from the date of expiry.

[bluebug]

to be honest you don't have any options here . If you will raise this issue with UKBA they will reject your appeal on the grounds that you have made application before 28days of expiry and case workers should follow 28day rule by UKBA regulations .

Unfortunately you will have to do another extension.

[Jambo]

I don't have any practical suggestion how to get it changed but you should be aware that you can avoid another extension by making a postal application for settlement (as it would take more than a week until the application would be allocated to a case worker). Probably not what you wanted to hear but worth remembering in 2015.

[eclairs]

Thanks Jambo, much appreciated. I will keep you suggestion in mind when applying for settlement in 2015.

I still can't believe that case workers lie with applicants, what do they achieve by doing so?? crazyy...!!

[bluebug]

Postal application wont make any difference because case worker consider the date of application posted rather the time it reached to them. So according to UKBA rules once you posted your application recorded delivery which is next day and its been received by UKBA , you are legal to stay in country.

I will be bold and blunt here , dont keep false hopes that posting you application will change anything. Keep your side safe and just for another extension near the time of expiry.

[madhumesh]

Wondering whether this will count as early application and can be rejected as invalid application?

I reckon early applications are allowed for long residency, Do they allow it for 5 year ILR?

Looking forward to some insight

I don't have any practical suggestion how to get it changed but you should be aware that you can avoid another extension by making a postal application for settlement (as it would take more than a week until the application would be allocated to a case worker). Probably not what you wanted to hear but worth remembering in 2015.

[longshift]

Postal application wont make any difference because case worker consider the date of application posted rather the time it reached to them. So according to UKBA rules once you posted your application recorded delivery which is next day and its been received by UKBA , you are legal to stay in country.

I will be bold and blunt here , dont keep false hopes that posting you application will change anything. Keep your side safe and just for another extension near the time of expiry.

This is not correct. While considering the application for settlement, the qualifying period is considered from the start of valid leave till the date the decision is made and not the application date as suggested above. So long your application is posted within the time your current leave expires, you will still have valid leave under section 3c and as I have said earlier, you will be granted full qualifying period till the date of the decision.

[eclairs]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, I got two conflicting answers here...

Can some senior members(sushdmehta or Lucapooka ??) shed some light on this please ??

[Jambo]

See varying from extension to ILR.

[thebionicredneck2003]

Eclairs,

Longshift has given you the correct answer to your question. Bluebug's statement is inaccurate.


Kind Regards

[madhumesh]

Sorry, I think my question is still not answered.

Can UKBA reject these early application and return as Invalid application? The validity of application is checked before taking payments and what I understand Invalid application are not covered under Section 3C.

just for example.

Date of Entry : 01/03/2008
Date Visa valid : 20/01/2013(assuming short of 5 years for some reason)
Date ILR applied: 20/01/2013 (by post)
Application received at HO: 25/01/2013 (Assuming just checked for validity and not assigned to caseworker)

Now would they be accepting the application for consideration or rejecting it as it more than 28 days short of qualifying period?

Thanks

Eclairs,

Longshift has given you the correct answer to your question. Bluebug's statement is inaccurate.


Kind Regards

[Jambo]

Sorry, I think my question is still not answered.

Can UKBA reject these early application and return as Invalid application? The validity of application is checked before taking payments and what I understand Invalid application are not covered under Section 3C.

just for example.

Date of Entry : 01/03/2008
Date Visa valid : 20/01/2013(assuming short of 5 years for some reason)
Date ILR applied: 20/01/2013 (by post)
Application received at HO: 25/01/2013 (Assuming just checked for validity and not assigned to caseworker)

Now would they be accepting the application for consideration or rejecting it as it more than 28 days short of qualifying period?

Thanks

What you do is apply for extension by post, get the section 3C protection and then vary it to settlement once you qualify (assuming a decision was not made yet).