ILR from Ancestry

[Bluerose1]

Hi there,

My friend wants to apply ILR from Ancestry visa. But not quite sure the current rules since they have changed from my time.

He completed the 1st 5 year qualifying period in 2012 and applied for ILR but came back as invalid due to an old application form. Went back to Canada in April and gained another ancestry visa and visited UK in August for a few weeks. Went back to Canada again and came back in November. Since then he works as a teacher and his current leave ends in June 24 2017. So he has two qualifying residence period. When I called H.O. the guys said, you cannot apply 28 days prior to qualifying date unlike visa extension. You have to exact on or after the qualifying date, which is different i heard from people before.

I also noticed that SAR file application process has changed. The applicant needs to obtain a certification for his/her copy of photo identification from legal professional, which i did not have to do back in 2012. As he does not have money to hire legal representative for this I wonder how people can get their ID certified by non-professional. Does anyone know?

He works as a teacher so he needs to apply ILR way before his current leave expire so we are thinking to apply using the 1st qualifying period. But in order to make the application secure, he should obtain SAR file as it is a long time ago.

Can anyone know for sure regarding the timing of application and who can certify the ID for SAR file?

Also, does SAR file takes longer than 2 months? When I apply for SAR file in 2012, it took 2 months! He cannot wait for that long so he may need to go for Premium service without it.

Does anyone out there know any idea about this in order to secure the application?

[vinny]

When I called H.O. the guys said, you cannot apply 28 days prior to qualifying date unlike visa extension.

Don't rely too much on telephone conversations with them.

Please do not apply more than 28 days before completing the qualifying period.

The implication is that applicants may apply up to 28 days before completing the qualifying period.

[Bluerose1]

Thank you for your post. Actually, I dug into the documents online and found that you can actually apply up to 28 days prior to your qualifying period. Although H.O. helpline is available, these people on the phone sound not being equipped with the immigration knowledge. Their response affects on people's life and finance severely and yet they just give wrong information like that makes me angry as they get paid from this massive fees!

[Bluerose1]

Hi,

I just found that my friend, who is preparing for ILR overstayed a little bit longer than 28 days. Back in 2012, he applied ILR from Ancestry but the application was returned as invalid. In order to sort things out to go back to Canada, it took about a week longer than 28 days. He obtained Ancestry visa from Canada and re-entered.

Now he is going to be qualified again for ILR but I wonder if this overstay would affect on ILR application or future naturalisation. I know over 90 days overstay would definitely affect but I wonder how a little over 28 days would be treated. Does anyone know?

[vinny]

Posts merged.