ILR - Payment Failure

[mel1]

Hi All,

My visa expired on 22/10/2012. I posted my ILR SET (O) Application on 11/10 and received an acknowledgement of receipt letter on 24/10, dated 18/10. This letter advised that if there was an issue with payment that my application would be deemed invalid and returned to me.

I also received a letter from my credit card company advising that they had detected fraud on my account, and soon found that they had declined the payment thinking it was fraudulent.

on 10/11/2012 i received a letter (Letter is dated 8/11/2012) saying my application was invalid due to payment processing issues and advising to reapply. I immediately went on line on Monday to make a booking with the Croydon Office for an appointment to reapply, and was successful in getting an appointment on Wednesday 21/11/2012.

When putting together my new application on the weeekend, i discovered that my Life in the UK Certificate had not been included with the rest of my documentation. I called the Border Agency for advice yesterday (19/11) and when they discovered I had an appointment with the Croydon office, they strongly advised me to cancel it as my application was no longer 'straightfoward' as my current visa has expired and said i should post it instead.

I was told on the call provided i re-applied within 28 days of receiving the letter advising me to reapply, I could make a new application.

Today (20/11/2012) I am going to post my application, and in this i have included a cover letter stating;

- That my initial payment failed as my Credit Card Company thought it was fraudulent
- That i am re-applying using postal orders to ensure this issue does not occur again
- That my Life In The UK Certificate was not included in the pack I received back and so i had enclosed a photocopy and hope that this, in combination with the electronic notification they had received regarding my results satisfy that i have met this requirement.

It is now 29 days since my visa expired, however it is only 12 days since the letter i received advising to reapply and how to send through a correct payment.

Based on the above, can anyone advise if this will this constitute a refusal of my ILR application?

Timeline:
Initial Application Sent: 11/10/2012
Date of acknowledgement: 22/10/2012
Visa Expiry: 22/10/2012
Date of Letter Stating Payment Failed: 8/11/2012
Date of re-apply: 20/11/2012

Thank you in advance for any help and advise you can provide!

Mel

[geriatrix]

It is also important to note the following statement included in HC 194:

Where an applicant submits an application before their previous period of leave to enter or remain expires, but the application is rejected as invalid after their leave expires, the 28-day window in which the application may be submitted as an overstayer will start from the date on which the application was rejected, rather than when leave expired.

So, if you make an out-of-time application before 06-Dec-12, you should be okay. Just make sure that your application is completely error-free this time around because if this out-of-time application is refused / deemed invalid, you will not get a right of appeal / be able to apply again.

[mel1]

Thanks for the advice.

Another question, i posted my application yesterday, within the 28 days. Do i still have the right to work?

[geriatrix]

No, overstayers cannot work until their leave to remain application is approved.