Offloaded, due to over 2 year out of UK stay without ILR

[KAMI747]

Subject: Travel permission barred, confirmed by UK Immig. & Liaison officer e-mail, while I was travelling back to UK with valid visa with over two year out of UK stay & not holding ILR

Dear Sir,

I was not allowed to travel back / offloaded to UK from Karachi Pakistan by Pakistani Immigration Authorities, At the time of Offloading no stamp was made on my passport, no letter was given. As per Airline letter they offloaded me on Verbal instruction of Pakistani Immigration Authorities, reason not known to them.

I was travelling one day before the visa expire date holding valid travel documents & Airline Boarding pass with the intention to settle in UK and for submitting my first extension application of UK- Tier 1, General Visa.

Please note after the issuance of Tier 1 General visa that was issued with delay, initially for three years. I spend few weeks in UK on same visa and travel to Pakistan / (stayed out of UK for over two years -02 years), due to serious compelling & Compassionate reasons.

This is also important to note that, I am travelling back to UK within the validity of the (first three years) visa, and I am also not holding any ILR stamp on passport. I was also holding all relevant true documents to justify the reason of my two year absence from UK and to present the same before the UK immigration officer in London. Which Pakistan Immigration refuse to accept.

Following is the reply received after over 15 days from The Immigration Liaison Officer Home British High Commission in Pakistan on,

"Pakistani National holding a valid UK Visa cannot leave the UK for more that two years, their visa is no longer valid. There for Pax, XXXXXXX, would be required to apply for a new visa to travel to the UK"

Following are my UK Visa and related important circumstances details when I was travelling back to UK from Overseas Airport.

• Place of issuance : Islamabad, Pakistan
• Visa valid from date : 26/03/2012
• Visa expiree date : 26/03/2015
• Offloading / travelling date : 25/03/2015
• No ILR Stamp on Passport
• Did not complete 05 year stay in UK
• 2 year Out of UK Stay reason : Compelling and Compassionate circumstances.
• Reason of travel : To submit first Tier 1 General, extension application

My Observation,

Please note,That my above important visa details

• My related all above details including compelling and compassionate reasons was not considered / Knowing important and relevant in e-mail reply of, Immigration Liaison Officer British High Commissioner.

• Both Authorities did not consider important to check ILR stamp in Passport.

• UKVisarequirement / Published document was not referred, followed or understood.


Further, Home office - PAP Reply important points
• "…has no claim to admission as a Returning resident"

• "…he had remained outside the UK for a continuous period of more that two years. Therefore, in line with Paragraph 20 of te immigration Rules, his leave had lapsed as of 1 July 2014… ……………..….Immigration office advise which was reasonable, correct and in accordance with the Immigration Rules.

• "Your client therefore has no right of appeal in this regard"

I appreciate if you please share your input/ experience / feedback on following,

 How UK / Home office consider me as a "Returning Resident". Whereas I am not holding ILR stamp on passport and didn’t completed 05 year stay in UK.
 What items and relief I can claim
 Can I claim damages, from Home office, on misleading e-mail. / under U.K Data Protection Act 1998.
 How can I apply for extension of Tier -1 General Visa.
 How can Home office, re-consider my case, as the situation is exceptional / beyond my control.
 Time duration in which I have to reply, any time limitation.
 With above travel circumstances can any third country /overseas immigration officer or Airline can barred / offload a passenger who is traveling UK with Valid travel documents
 What are the Published SOP/Rules/Guidance available to handle above situation by following two, especially offloading on verbal instruction,

a) Immigration Authorities and
b) Carriers / Airline.

Where they are allowed to offload a passenger who is also holding valid travel documents, Visa and return ticket.

Your kind and prompt input / feedback is much appreciated.

Thank You,

S.K

[vinny]

They were correct to state that you had no claim as a Returning resident. Without ILR, that status was never applicable anyway.

However, I think you were cutting it too close for comfort, for there not to be any red flags.

Which authority initially made you offload?

Why have you waited over a year to pursue this?

[noajthan]

UKVI is clarifying that you are not a 'returning resident' and have not been / cannot be considered as such.

What has DPA got to do with this?
Compensation on what grounds?

You would have to follow up questions on 3rd party governments' procedures and 3rd party (airline) procedures with each of those 3rd parties.
Worth noting that no such visa comes with a cast-iron guarantee of entry into a country.

Clearly your course of action is to apply for any new visa you may qualify for.

[Casa]

Unless I've missed something within the Regulations for a Tier 1G visa issued before July 2012, it's no longer possible to extend under this category.

If reapplying, the Tier 1G route is now closed.

[KAMI747]

Thank you, for the reply, following are the additional details and series of events.
Please note, after the issuance of Boarding pass valid till London. I proceed to Immigration counter where office stress that I stayed 2 year out of UK and their for I am not allowed to Travel back to UK.
I replied with all valid answer but immig. office refuse to listen me and ask me to contact Airline again. Where they cancel my Boarding pass, and on my request they issued a Letter with reason of my offloading was "Due to Immigration"
Later, Pakistani Immigration Authority, shifted the burden of offloading to Airline. As mention in their report submitted in Pakistani Ombudsman. Where as Airline confirm me in another Letter, That they did the same on the Verbal Instruction received from Pakistani Immigration Authorities.

1) NO Stamp was made on Passport
2) No Written Reason was shared
3) Where as Airline Issued A letter stating offloading reason "Due to Immigration"

I made complain to,

A) Pakistani Ombudsman and also
B) Write an e-mail / complain to UKVI to know is their any travel restriction on me, I got following reply from UKVI

" If you think that you missed the opportunity to extend your Tier 1 General Visa due to mistake made by Pakistani Immigration, Please request them to write us for a consideration."
Where as Pakistani Immigration Submitted, reply received from British Immigration Liaison Officer, in their finding to Ombudsman stating that

"Pakistani National holding a Valid UK Visa cannot leave the UK for more than two years, there visa is no longer valid. therefore,Pax XXXXX would be required to apply for a new visa to travel to the UK"

Note :
Pakistani Immigration did not interview me properly and never taken my consent before sending this email for necessary guidance and also ignore to share following specific details on e-mail that,
1) My Visa issuance date
2) That I do not have (ILR) - Stamp on Passport
3) That I did not completed my 05 year stay in UK, (Obviously that is not possible)
4) That I am travelling within the validity of Visa in the initial three year of the Tier 1 General Visa
5) That I am travelling with documents, ready for examination that supporting my serious compelling reasons.due to illness of my close family member.

I strongly believe that the British Immigration Liaison officer e-mail was incorrect,
and the content become the basis on which the Pakistani Immigration now refuses to provide a letter stating that a mistake was made at their end. It also seems attempt to protect Pakistani Immigration Authority wrong action.

Also this e-mail reply was also violation of following few basic principals of UK Data Protection Rules
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/gu ... rinciples/

"Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless –
se or those purposes.
`
Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.

Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.

Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.

Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.."
As the British Liaison officer's e-mail, not translate my correct / true circumstances and specific details that appear on my passport. simple details (for e.g. I do not hold ILR - Stamp on my passport) it is also reviled that the proper passport examination was not done by Pakistani Immigration officer, more over this communication was done with the gap of over 15 days after offloading.

Actually they missed jugged my case and imposed incorrect rule that is applicable on those visa holders/ passengers who are called Returning resident, mean they also have ILR Stamp on Passport and stayed 05 year in UK. both conditions are not true in my case

I also submitted PAP and Got the reply that,
a) I have no wright to appeal
b) They treated me as a "Returning resident" and once again impose wrong rule

Additional information,
1) My Tier 1 General visa was initially rejected by British High commission.
2) The same visa was issued on challenging their wrong visa refusal/decisions with the delay of over 15 months, I got the same visa issued i.e. in March 2012 from Pakistan.

Please share your input, feedback or experience if any one fall in this situation.

A) I am interested to know the way forwarded , available options and
Relevant Rules / Powers, Mandate given to exercise in 3rd Country by
"immigration Authorities" or to "Airline/Career" to justify .
Where Immigration Authorities / Airline -Career, Can offload a passenger, especially on verbal instruction, who is travelling with valid travel documents, Return ticket and Valid boarding pass.

And

B) Is their any travel restriction to enter in UK who are Tier 1 General Visa holder
And stay out of UK for over 2 years (Without holding ILR Stamp on passport) due to serious compelling and compassionate reasons

Thank You
S.K

[Casa]

If your current Tier 1 General visa was due to expire the day after your arrival in the UK, what did you intend to apply for in order to remain?

" With effect from 6 April 2015, Tier 1 (General) will close and applications to extend leave will no
longer be accepted. Applicants who are currently in the UK and who wish to apply to extend their
stay must submit an application on or before 5 April 2015."

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 4_2015.pdf

[CR001]

If your current Tier 1 General visa was due to expire the day after your arrival in the UK, what did you intend to apply for in order to remain?

I think OP, as I understand his first post, was travelling to arrive in the UK on the date his visa expired.

• Visa expiree date : 26/03/2015
• Offloading / travelling date : 25/03/2015

I spend few weeks in UK on same visa and travel to Pakistan / (stayed out of UK for over two years -02 years), due to serious compelling & Compassionate reasons.

Given that the OP had not been a resident or worker in the UK for most of the visa validity, I don't think has anything to back up a fight with HO, he was not ordinarily resident and his absence was the bulk of his visa validity. Seems he only left PK to get to the UK before visa expired and to submit a Tier 1 G extension application, though not sure how this would have been possible with no UK residence proof, no UK work etc.

[Casa]

Char, is there some concession for extension of Tier 1G I've missed due to the 2012 issue date?

[CR001]

Char, is there some concession for extension of Tier 1G I've missed due to the 2012 issue date?

No, there is not. No new applications or extension applications are possible anymore. The OP has well and truly missed the boat on this category.

[Casa]

Char, is there some concession for extension of Tier 1G I've missed due to the 2012 issue date?

No, there is not. No new applications or extension applications are possible anymore. The OP has well and truly missed the boat on this category.

Thanks, that confirms my understanding. In which case if the OP had been permitted to travel, it would have been a wasted journey.

[KAMI747]

Please celebrate how this can be called as "wasted journey." ?

a) if the Tier 1 General Visa holder is travelling to UK with the complete set of document ready to Post on same day of his arrival in UK. in case last day of visa validity / and arrival in UK
under the light of following lines taken from Guidance of Tier -1 General.

"Pg. 10
....Date of application
37. The date of application will be taken to be the following:
• Where the application form is sent by post, the date of posting; or
• Where the application form is sent by courier, the date on which it is delivered to the Home Office of the Home Office"

b) If any Tier- 1, General visa holder is travelling back to UK with all document ready for inspection / to present before the UK port of entry Immigration office, reflecting the reason of serious compelling and compassionate reason e.g. illness of close family member

c) With over two year absence from UK due to same reason as mention in above {b}

d) Travelling back to UK within three year of the visa issuance and within it validity

e) Travelling back to UK for the submission of first Tier -1, General extension application

f) Not holding ILR Stamp / and also not completed 05 year stay in UK due to reason as mention above
or reason beyond his control that also come is exceptional circumstances

"pg 12
40. Applications for further leave to remain under the Points Based System will fall for refusal if you have overstayed for more than 28 days, unless there were exceptional circumstances which prevented you from applying within the 28 day period. The 28 day period of overstaying is calculated from the latest of"

"........If there are exceptional circumstances which prevented you from applying in time you must submit evidence of the exceptional circumstances with your application. The threshold for what constitutes ‘exceptional circumstances’ is high and will depend on the individual circumstances of the case, but for example may include delays resulting from unexpected or unforeseeable circumstances such as the following:
• serious illness which meant that you or your representative were unable to submit the application in time (where supported by appropriate medical documentation)

•travel or postal delays which meant that you or your representative were unable to submit the application in time....."

Please comment and share your feedback that can help me

[noajthan]

If your current Tier 1 General visa was due to expire the day after your arrival in the UK, what did you intend to apply for in order to remain?

" With effect from 6 April 2015, Tier 1 (General) will close and applications to extend leave will no
longer be accepted. Applicants who are currently in the UK and who wish to apply to extend their
stay must submit an application on or before 5 April 2015."

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 4_2015.pdf

Unfortunately you still had to get into the country.
And in the meantime the goalposts were being shifted.

Travelling with some time in hand may have gone some way to reduce the risk of what happened in the end.

[Casa]

If your current Tier 1 General visa was due to expire the day after your arrival in the UK, what did you intend to apply for in order to remain?

With effect from 6 April 2015, Tier 1 (General) will close and applications to extend leave will no
longer be accepted. Applicants who are currently in the UK and who wish to apply to extend their
stay must submit an application on or before 5 April 2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 4_2015.pdf

Edit: Beaten by noajthan

[vinny]

• Visa expiree date : 26/03/2015
• Offloading / travelling date : 25/03/2015

I believe that the OP was trying to extend prior to the closure date.

[Casa]

Ah! I had missed the fact that the OP is only raising the issue of being offloaded from a flight nearly 2 years ago

[KAMI747]

Hello ever one,

I find out following two documents from my research , that seems relevant and cover my situation.
As I claim that my offloading and the procedure adopted is not correct

A) Ref. taken from document : [Charging_Guide_Nov_2014_Version_7.pdf]

"1.5 What is expected of a carrier?
You do not need to satisfy your self that the person will be acceptable to the United Kingdom authorities on arrival. That Judgment can only be exercised by a Border Force office.
How ever, you are expected to make sure that: every passenger has a valid passport or travel document which is acceptable in the UK;
the person is the rightful holder;
the document is valid; and
if the person need a visa; it is of the required kind and is valid for the holder and any other accompanying person named in the passport.
The responsibility for deciding whether to carry the person rest with you as the carrying company in every case.

4.4 What will the Port Inspector/Senior Officer have considered?
service of Notification of a Potential Liability to a Charge From IS80B), will indicate that the Office had decided that a charge under the Act might be pushed. He will already have examined the case in detail, and will have taken account of all the issues, such as the standard of falsity, if a false document was presented or any exceptional circumstances.....Advice given on the authenticity of an individual document cannot always be regarded as definitive, particularly if advice is sought by telephone, and the Uk Boarder force has been unable to examine the document concerned. In addition, it is incumbent on you when seeking advice, to provide full and accurate information as to why you have doubts over the particular passenger's documentation.

Where there are compelling compassionate reasons or other compelling circumstances of an exceptional nature which would justify waiving of the charge."

As per another additional document that also seems related to my case ,

B) Ref. of document
[UK VISA REQUIREMENTS, Produced by Carriers Liaison Section, UKBA...
…………..The information on this poster was correct : 03-04-12 ]
"PASSENGER PREVIOUSLY IN THE UK
A visa national, whose visa is still valid or who has been granted permission to stay in the UK for a period exceeding 6 months which has not expired does not required a new visa. if a passenger claims not to need a visa because their extension of leave had not expired but it was granted for six months or less, please seek advice....''
&
"if a visa national wishes to UK............., or if you have any enquiry about a passenger's eligibility to travel to the UK please contact your local Immigration Liaison Manager or the UKBA port of arrival in the UK prior to boarding the passenger ".

I conclude following important findings and Please correct, comment and guide me as per my understanding taken from above A) and B)

a) Airline and 3rd Country's Immigration authority
have no Right to offload a UK bound passenger, if he is travelling with following
i) Valid visa and passenger is travelling within the validity of visa
ii) Return ticket
iii) Carrying valid document to justify serious compelling circumstances and reasons to justify is out of UK over 2 year absence .

And

b) It also translates from" UK Visa Requirement, Passenger previously in the UK"
UK bound passenger / Visa National, holding a Tier 1 General Visa, As the permission was granted to me is exceeding 6 months which is not expired does not required a visa .

I simply qualify the above scenario As in my case, I was travelling second time back to UK on same Tier 1 General Visa, to submit my initial extension application without holding ILR Stamp and also holding document of serious compelling and compassionate reasons to present before UK Immigration officer.

And

I strongly believe there is no travel restriction applicable in my case. At the time of offloading at overseas airport, I was travelling to UK to submit my Tier 1 General Extension application.

Please guide /correct me, where I am wrong and I also request to please share or refer me the correct document that support my stance.

Thank You

S.K

[noajthan]

Whatever document A) is take note of:

The responsibility for deciding whether to carry the person rest with you as the carrying company in every case.

[RRSB2012]

Hi SK,

Sorry to read what happened to you.
I will try to make a few clarifications which might help you focus on the core of the issue.

Airline:
Airline issued you with the boarding card .... right? ..... therefore they did not denied you to travel and if it was not for the immigration folks, you would be on the plane to UK. So it is useless to go after the airline really.

Data Protection Laws:
Your data was transferred by Paksitani authorities in Pakistan to British High Commission in Pakistan ... right?. Till I know there are no data protection or privacy of personal information laws in Pakistan, while EU laws don't apply in Pakistan. So pointless going after that either.

Now, I have another question i.e. your purpose of travel was to go and apply for extension of Tier 1 Visa or were you planning to live in UK from now on?

I guess your objective is to get your immigration visa and continue on the journey to live, settle and naturalize as a British Citizen.
If immigration guys had let you travel AND UK immigration guys also had allowed you in the country:

1. How did you plan to satisfy the requirements for extension of your visa (being stayed away from UK for more than 2 years)
2. I assume you had a plan to get the extension and suppose you would have got extension in April 2015 and lived in UK after that. Your residence in UK would not be 5 years till April 2018, that's when the ILR from Tier 1 General route will be closed.

So before you fight to get an extension which you may have achieved if you were allowed to travel, think how are you gonna stay here any longer on a permanent basis.

Best course for you would be to pursue other immigration routes that are still open, if possible.

Sorry if my post is a bit longer. Hope it helps.
Cheers
R

[KAMI747]

Thank you for the reply, I am really great full and really appreciate your efforts

Further, I will share my research and action plan on the DPA and to Justify my two year absence from UK in later communication.

Mean while, I seek guidance / feedback /input on following two documents, followed by few questions

As per following two documents A), B) and Questions on additional items

A) Document Name : Charging_Guide_Nov_2014_Version_7.pdf,
Pg. 25 and Pg. 26

"3 At this time the Home Office does not intend to impose charges under Section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum 1999 where the persons concerned can be shown to have boarded vessels concealed in vehicles. Discussions will be held with carriers about how searching and security regimes can be improved.
Where there is evidence that you had acted on the advice of a representative of the United Kingdom Government, and it was reasonable, in the circumstances, for you to rely on that advice.
Where, for example, a passenger has been carried on the advice of a UK mission abroad or a UK Border Force officer, the charge will normally be waived. 26 Version 7 Home Of f ice Carriers Liaison Section Charging Procedures – A Guide for Carriers

Advice given on the authenticity of an individual document cannot always be regarded as definitive, particularly if advice is sought by telephone, and the UK Border Force has been unable to examine the document concerned. In addition, it is incumbent on you when seeking advice, to provide full and accurate information as to why you have doubts over the particular passenger’s documentation.

• Where the charge is raised in respect of the arrival of an inadequately documented passenger which is the first to arise from a particular route from that port to the United Kingdom.

A charge might not be waived if you have failed to act on advice previously given by the UK Border Force to avoid inadequately documented passengers being carried in similar circumstances.
You should make sure that check-in staff, whether company employees or local handling agents, are aware that a waiver under this paragraph is unlikely to be granted more than once. In particular, where the same agent is responsible for handling more than one company, a charge may be maintained on any subsequent incident.
• Where, at the time of check-in, the person seeking to embark was:

i) in imminent and self evident danger of his or her life; and
ii) he or she had no reasonable means of obtaining the necessary documents; and
iii) the United Kingdom was, in the circumstances, the only or clearly the most appropriate destination; and
iv) you had no opportunity to verify his or her acceptability with the United Kingdom authorities.

In such circumstances the advised course of action, where possible, is to contact the nearest UNHCR or United Kingdom representative or the United Kingdom port of arrival, for advice and guidance on how best to proceed.
• Where there are compelling compassionate reasons or other compelling circumstances of an exceptional nature which would justify waiving of the charge.

You are advised wherever possible, to ascertain whether a waiver is likely to be given in an individual case before embarkation.
• Where, in the case of a used visa, the Border Force Officer’s endorsement is not placed on the same page, or on an adjacent page. (Adjacent in this context means that no more than one page of the document need be turned either way in order to see the endorsement). A charge may be waived if the date of the endorsement is unclear.

A charge will be maintained if the visa itself has expired"
---------------

B) Revocation of an entry clearance : ECB18

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ance-ecb18

"Cancellation or revocation must never occur at any place where an ECO is acting in an advisory or informal capacity (for instance at an airport where advice is being given to airport staff, on a home visit or a field trip)."

--------------


Question : taken from A

a) What is called or refereed in above, full and accurate information?
b) What if full and accurate information is not shared ?
[In my case my I have no ILR -Stamp on passport, travelling in initial 3 years of Visa validity was never
shared with UK official as per Pakistan Immigration Authority, they only question on over two year out
of UK stay]
c) What if nearest United Kingdom representative / British High Commission was contacted
And the Officer on duty, of UK High Commission was not definite
d) What if no opportunity to verify passenger's acceptability with the United Kingdom authorities?
e) What UK port of arrival was not contacted
f) What if there are compelling compassionate reason or compelling circumstances of an exceptional
nature was not considered or no question was asked by third country's Immigration authorities or by
Airline?

Question : taken from B

a) Can any third country immigration office / Airline decide offloading a passenger who is already
holding a UK valid visa, Return Ticket, Boarding pass valid to London –UK.


Question on additional items,

a) With over 02 year out of UK stay, without ILR stamp, travelling within the initial tier 1 general visa
validity of 03 years with reasons / documents of serious compelling reason was also available to justify
over 2 year absence.

Please confirm and share your input,
Is their any travel restriction can be imposed by 3rd country Immigration Authority or by Airline.
In another words its allowed that the passenger can travel back to UK with above details

b) How the Offloading on Verbal instruction received to airline/career from 3rd country's Immigration
official is justified , Where interestingly 3rd county's Immigration Authority shifted the burden to
offloading to Airline in their report submitted in Ombudsman.
As at the time of offloading no reason was shared in written and no offloading stamp was made on
passport

c) Where can I claim remedy or damages and what other supporting documents I need?

I thank you for the time you and your valuable input in advance.

Thank You,

S.K

[CR001]

You say you had a return air ticket? What date were you intending to return to Pakistan from the UK?

If you had made it to the UK, and cleared for entry through immigration (another hurdle you would have faced), and you managed to submit an application for an extension and got an extension, did you have any intention at all to live and work in the UK with the visa extension?

[KAMI747]

Yes, I have full intention to stay and continue my life by doing job/ business in UK.

I plan to live in UK Permanently, subject to visa permission.
With this, I also got U.K, N.I Number and I also registered my self in local surgery during my first visit on same Tier -1 General Visa.

The reason to have return ticket is due to the illness of my Dad, I will use it in case of any emergency.
or I plan to pay a short visit if situation and time allow.

I also plan to submit my tier 1 general extension application by making a postal application same day of arrival in UK and get the receipt from Post office for my record and to keep as evidence.

Thank You

[Casa]

Yes, I have full intention to stay and continue my life by doing job/ business in UK.

I plan to live in UK Permanently, subject to visa permission.
With this, I also got U.K, N.I Number and I also registered my self in local surgery during my first visit on same Tier -1 General Visa.

The reason to have return ticket is due to the illness of my Dad, I will use it in case of any emergency.
or I plan to pay a short visit if situation and time allow.

I also plan to submit my tier 1 general extension application by making a postal application same day of arrival in UK and get the receipt from Post office for my record and to keep as evidence.

Thank You

Your post is written in the future tense. Do you mean this is what you intended to do 2 years ago, or this is what you are still hoping to achieve

As has already been explained, even if you had made it to the UK, your Tier 1G visa wouldn't have led to settlement.

[aliq09]

Hi ,

After going through a really long post with excellent remarks from group member here is my humble advice to you .

" Spend all your energies and time to get a new visa to UK , what ever you are fighting for, has no value ".

In my opinion, things would be better even if you think to travel a month earlier but as stated by senior members, you will end up with immigration officer questions here in UK.