10-14 year resident with problems. Please advise.

[stephenmozza]

Hi all,

A friend of mine is in a quandary. He came to the UK from Sri Lanka 17 years ago and has worked well for most of that time. He has always meant to resolve his status.

He lost his job several months ago and has been living in a hostel with financial support from friends since.

He has no funds to pay for an ILR application and cannot claim Jobseekers / Housing Benefit while his immigration status is not resolved.

JSA / HB have said they would pay if this issue was resolved.

He considered asking to be repatriated but the Refugee Action people suggested by Croydon for repatriation have said they take 6-8 weeks to repatriate.

He does not have funds to survive that long.

Any suggestions would be welcome as he is struggling to workout a way to survive

Thanks

[cs95tdg]

You state "He has no funds to pay for an ILR application and cannot claim Jobseekers / Housing Benefit while his immigration status is not resolved.", however have not mentioned anything about his immigration history. Additional information would be necessary for anyone to be able to comment. E.g. How did he enter the UK? Did he apply for EC? If so under what category and when did that leave expire? I presume he is an overstayer, based on what you had stated, but more information will be necessary for anyone to be able to provide meaningful input.

[stephenmozza]

Sorry for the missing info.

He arrived in the country on a normal tourist visa and overstayed.

He never applied for any residency.

Please let me know if you need any further information