Employer letter for work trip

[ammaralvi]

Hi everyone,

I am a Tier-1 (General) migrant with initial application application date 13 October 2008. My Visa was stamped on 29 May 2009 and I entered the UK on 18 October 2009. I have successfully extended my stay earlier this year and was granted stay until 17 July 2014. I will be due for ILR in October 2014 and understand that I will be required to extend once more before applying for that.

I have following breakdown of my periods of absences from the UK:

28 August 2010 to 2 October 2010 Paid leave
25 December 2010 to 15 January 2011 Paid leave
22 April 2011 to 7 May 2011 unpaid leave
7 December 2011 to 9 January 2012 paid leave
26 September 2012 to 13 October 2012 unpaid leave
15 October 2012 to 12 January 2013 work trip

This makes a total of 204 days (146 paid leaves, 30 unpaid leaves, 88 work trip days) and considering that I will need to visit couple of times more to see my family, I may need to add 60 days to make it approximately 264 days in total by the time I complete my five years and become eligible for ILR.

I have joined a new employer in October 2012 and I am currently working with them in the UAE. However, because of various reasons (one of them being they want me to visit the UAE more frequently) I may not continue my employment with them after arriving in the UK on 12 January 2013. In case I resign they may not give me the letter stating that this is a business trip and critical for the company. However, my employment contract states that first three months of my job are required to be in the UAE. I am still being paid in the UK by them.

Considering the above scenario, my questions as below:

1. Is my employment contract enough proof that my employer required me for this trip and my absence was due to work?

2. If the answer to question one is yes, what additional proofs do I need to attach with my I LR application (e.g. bank statement with salary transfer, salary slips, P60s, etc.)?

3. Is it worth that I wait the overspent 84 days (considering the additional 60 days I will still spend out of the country) before launching my ILR application? For example, instead of applying on or after 18 October 2014 I apply around 10 January 2015?

Look forward to your thoughtful responses.

Thanks, Ammar.

[wpilr_nov12]

1. In UKBA world, oct14 is a long way.

2. While you are still with your current employer, it might be a good idea to gather as much documents (emails, travel arrangements etc) that have taken place. Also see if you can get a letter that could be used for ILR purpose(be warned requirements may change in 2014).

[ammaralvi]

Thanks wpilr, appreciate your response.

I was just thinking from today's requirements. Obviously requirements can change and we can't predict them at this point.

Is my employment contract any worth at all in this situation? I'm already keeping the ticket and copy of visa both of them stating employer's name. Additionally, I have started an email thread with them over official email address that I Bcc to my personal email address asking for the letter for which the employer has replied they will before my departure to UK. However, I just thought to take experts' opinion on the matter keeping in view the worst case scenario considering their attitude up until now.

Thanks in advance for your further guidance.

[ammaralvi]

In addition to the dates provided above I now have another unpaid leave trip out of the UK from 20 March 2013 to 20 April 2013. This was during changing my employment.

I have been reading through various boards and had discussion with a friend who stated that any UNPAID LEAVE out of the UK will reset the counter for the 5 years continuous period count to the day when you return to the UK. She has been in discussion with a solicitor who has pointed her to the the UKBA's guide pages 19-21 (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary).

I've tried searching through the forum but couldn't find particularly strong evidence that clarifies what's the correct understanding. Please can this be elaborated considering the dates I have mentioned and if this is going to cause me any issues with my ILR application in October 2014?

Look forward to a prompt reply.