ILR APPLICATION - IDENTIFYING APPLICATION DATE

[rajsawa]

Hello Experts,

I'm looking for applying for ILR soon, however I am not able to identify the appropriate dates and need your guidance for the same. Please see the below details

1) I first entered in the UK on 20th October 2009 on tier 2 ICT.
2)traveled back to my home country on 20th Feb 2011.first big gap.
3) Came back to Uk on 6th Oct 2011 and continued till 1st Aug 2013.
4) again came to Uk on 25th Feb 2014 and continuing since then.
5) I got two extensions of my tier 2 visa while being in UK only.

Could u pls help me with below ?

1) Am I eligible to apply for ILR? If so, what will be the best date?
2) If I am considering the application date in October 2016 ,then will take me to October 2011 to cover 5 year and with this I am able to beat the 180 criteria. Will Oct 2016 be the appropriate time to apply ? If so, what will be the "first entered" date ? Will it be 20th October 2009 or 6th October 2011.
If I am giving 20th October 2009 then in the very next section where we need to give travel dates to capture absences, it will capture my first big gap ( 20th Feb 2011 to 6th Oct 2011) which will be much more than 180 days, even though my 5 year continous period will start from Oct 2011. Will this be fine ?
Also should the absence letter from employer should cover the period from 20th Oct 2009 or from 6th Oct 2011?
Thanks

[CR001]

Did you leave in Feb 2011 and return in Oct 2011 with valid leave, i.e you did not apply for a new visa from home country but had consistent leave during the absence period?

[rajsawa]

Hi CR001,

Thanks for your quick attention on this query.

Yes, I had a valid leave (till Nov 2012) when I first left UK in Feb 2011.
Please note, i got my first extension in Aug 2012 itself which was valid till Aug 2015 and then applied for extension again in July 2015 so my current leave is valid till 2018.

Thanks

[rajsawa]

Hi there,

Could you pls advise on above?

Thanks

[rajsawa]

Hi,

Could you pls help me out with this ? Would appreciate any guidance on this.

Thanks
Rajsawa