ILR _ Breaks in continuous residence

[Must_Ah]

Dear respected members,

I have got a question regarding my ILR application I hope your could please help me with. My future plans depend on this answer so I hope I will be able to find somebody with experience to give me some guidance on the best way forward.

After finishing my masters degree in the UK I decided to stay and got a job as a control systems engineer with a reputable engineering company in London. my company unfortunately went through some tough times and gave us the option to either work on a project abroad or be made redundant. I obviously took the latter option. after a year and a half things got better in the UK office and I came back to work in London. this however messed up my plans for settlement in the UK (or at least this is what I was told by an immigration adviser).

could you please have a look at my specific case including the dates listed below and let me know what my chances are for getting an ILR in the UK, or otherwise. either way at least I would know if I need to stay or find move abroad.

My UK residency history is as follows:

- 12.08.2006 to 4.7.2008 Student visa Tier 4 - HND
- 11.9.2010 to 5.2.2012 student visa Tier 4 - Masters degree
- 6.2.2012 to 15.4.2012 post study work visa - looking for a job (left UK on the 15th of april 2012)
- 23.8.2018 returned to the UK and started working for an engineering company on post study work visa
30.8.2013 got me Tier 2 visa and continued working for the same employer
- 25.8.2015 left the UK to work for the same employer abroad, still had a valid Tier 2 visa. I still visited the UK regularly, almost every 2 weeks.
- 30.4.2017 returned to work in the UK office on Tier 2. this is my current tier 2 visa valid from 23.8.2016 to 16.8.2019.

I would much appreciate any guidance or advice regarding the above.

Kind regards,
Mustafa

[CR001]

Maybe you should double check the dates/year you have posted

- 6.2.2012 to 15.4.2012 post study work visa - looking for a job (left UK on the 15th of april 2012)
- 23.8.2018 returned to the UK and started working for an engineering company on post study work visa
30.8.2013 got me Tier 2 visa and continued working for the same employer

What category of Tier 2 visa do you have?

What is the total absence in the 10 years?

- 25.8.2015 left the UK to work for the same employer abroad, still had a valid Tier 2 visa. I still visited the UK regularly, almost every 2 weeks.
- 30.4.2017 returned to work in the UK office on Tier 2. this is my current tier 2 visa valid from 23.8.2016 to 16.8.2019

Where did you apply for the visa in 2016 and when did the visa before your current visa expire?

[Must_Ah]

Dear respected members,

I have got a question regarding my ILR application that I hope you could please help me with. My future plans depend on this answer so I hope I will be able to find somebody with experience to give me some guidance on the best way forward.

After finishing my masters degree in the UK I decided to stay and got a job as a control systems engineer with a reputable engineering company in London. My company unfortunately went through some tough times and gave us the option to either work on a project abroad or be made redundant. I obviously took the latter option but still had valid Tier 2 visa and salary paid in the UK. After a year and a half things got better in the UK office and I came back to work in London. This however messed up my plans for settlement in the UK.

Could you please have a look at my specific case including the dates listed below and let me know what my chances are for getting an ILR in the UK, or otherwise. Either way at least I would know if I can stay or move abroad.

My UK residency history is as follows:

- 12.08.2006 to 4.7.2008 Student visa Tier 4 - Bsc degree
- 11.9.2010 to 5.2.2012 student visa Tier 4 - Masters degree
- 6.2.2012 to 15.4.2012 post study work visa - looking for a job (left UK on the 15th of april 2012)
- 23.8.2012 returned to the UK and started working for an engineering company on post study work visa
30.8.2013 got a Tier 2 (general) visa and continued working for the same employer
- 25.10.2015 left the UK to work for the same employer abroad, still had a valid Tier 2 visa with pay and tax in the UK. I also still visited the UK regularly; 2 weeks holiday in every 8 weeks work abroad.
- 30.4.2017 returned to work in the UK office on Tier 2. This is my current tier 2 visa valid from 23.8.2016 to 16.8.2019.

I would much appreciate any guidance or advice regarding the above.

Kind regards,
Mustafa

[Must_Ah]

Thanks CR001 for the reply, I have corrected the dates and case details as shown above.

With regards to your questions:

- My tier 2 category is General.

- I was out of the UK for two years between my BSc and Masters study, so I'm not sure the 10 year route would work.

- I applied for my current tier 2 visa in the UK when I was in the country for my 2 weeks off work. My previous tier 2 visa expired on 18.08.2016.

Thanks

[Must_Ah]

Good afternoon all,

Can anyone please provide any guidance with the above mentioned issue?

Cheers

[zimba]

No you will not be eligible for long residence as you have had two years absence between 2008 and 2010 so you had no continuous residence.

Your lawful continuous residence started from 2010 onwards (making you eligible for ILR in 2020) assuming between 2010 and 2020:
1) you have no period of absence which is more than 180 days and
2) in total your absences are not more than 540 days.

You do not have enough visa till 2020 and cannot extend Tier 2 for more than 6 years, so you have problem there.

I also do not see how you can apply for ILR under Tier 2 as you were simply visiting the UK between 2015 to 2017 and technically did work in the UK and certainly have very long absences to explain. Were you absent for more than 180 days during this period ?

[Must_Ah]

Thanks Zimba for the reply.

Yes I have more than 180days between 2015 and 2017. I was only hoping that since I was still paid from the UK with the same employer and only gone away as result of international assignment, this might give me a chance of acceptance for ILR (However, I understand the risk).

I'm not sure what visa category to try after my current Teir 2 (general) expires in 2019.

[CR001]

If you have any absence of 180 days or more it breaks your continuity of residence for long residence ILR. There is no discretion and it will highly likely result in a refusal as you appear to have multiple long absences.