more than 60 days b/t jobs (245AAA(b) removal) - ILR granted!!

[Camilla C]

I have been on Tier 2 employer sponsored visa for almost 6 years.
i just got my ILR application rejected on Premium Service appointment.
The reason was I had 69 days between the dates when I left my old job and the date of the visa application for the current job. I have never received a curtailment letter, and therefore curtailment date has never been specified.

Today I told them that 60 days should count from the curtailment date. The gentleman - * who's English was ridiculously poor* - told me that it's irrelevant and 60 days count from the day I left my old job.
I have some hope that he simply didn't know the rules.

Please help. is it worth hiring a solicitor to re-apply?

[CR001]

60 days employment gap is different to the 60 days curtailment letter. The refusal is correct. Makes no difference that you did not receive a curtailment letter as they are two separate things. 60 days gap is in the immigration rules. 60 days curtailment letter I believe is an HO policy.

[zimba]

As already advised, the 60 days is counted from the last day of your previous job to the date of the next Tier 2 visa application.
The refusal decision is correct as you did not have 5 continuous years under Tier 2

[Camilla C]

(
Thank you very much.
Could you please tell what the curtailment letter and date are related to then?

[CR001]

There are two separate 60 days processes.

1. 60 days employment gap, which is written in the immigration rules. This is calculated from the date of your last employment to the date of a new application submission.

2. 60 days curtailment letter takes a couple/few of months to be sent out (across all visa categories and is not specific to Tier 2) and this letter basically reduces the validity of your visa (if it is valid for more than 60 days) and you must either make an application within this time or leave at the end of the 60 days. It effectively tells you that after 60 days from date of the letter, your visa will be cancelled and you will be an overstayer.

[Camilla C]

Thank you very much.

And good luck to me during the next 4 years.

[Camilla C]

Could anyone please let me know if you have encountered that an ILR application was approved after it was recently rejected?
I got a rejection due to 69 days between jobs. So 9 days too long. But it was not my fault - but the HR guy's who forgot that I was an overseas individual and had to re-create the offer pack from scratch and wasted the time. My company, a large bank, is happy to provide a cover letter explaining this. I also want to apply with a highly reputable solicitor who would word everything properly.
The rest of my history is immaculate! I also own property in the UK.

Do I have a chance for HO to change their mind?

[Camilla C]

I have emails confirming that the offer was ready about 20 days before expiry of 60 day period! The problem is that it had a mistake in it and had to be re-done.

[zimba]

Possibly not

[Camilla C]

I got an idea - is it possible to create a clear cut in my immigration history by leaving the UK for a certain number of days in total next year? would 90 days make it? to leave for 20 days a few times
so that could apply for Tier2 again.

[CR001]

I got an idea - is it possible to create a clear cut in my immigration history by leaving the UK for a certain number of days in total next year? would 90 days make it? to leave for 20 days a few times
so that could apply for Tier2 again.

You would be subject to the 12 month cooling off period before you can apply for a new Tier 2 General visa and meeting all the requirements again, including full and proper RLMT.

[Cartwright]

I got an idea - is it possible to create a clear cut in my immigration history by leaving the UK for a certain number of days in total next year? would 90 days make it? to leave for 20 days a few times
so that could apply for Tier2 again

Hey OP - you say work for a large bank; I'm presuming its a multinational. Given the scenario above, can you not ask them to transfer you to your home country or other location? However,coming back you would be subjected to RLMT

[Camilla C]

Thank you, I was going to offer it as a critical option, as it is very unlikely to happen. It is key important to work from UK, because I look after UK regulations affecting the UK entities. So.....

[newjoiner86]

Thank you, I was going to offer it as a critical option, as it is very unlikely to happen. It is key important to work from UK, because I look after UK regulations affecting the UK entities. So.....

I'm in a very similar situation like you, however, my ILR application would be due early next year. Can you please let me know which application centre did you go to? Also, what documents did you attach with your application? Was there any mention of the gap in the documents you provided or the caseworker identified it by him/herself?

[Camilla C]

It was Croydon.
I indeed supplied a letter from my precious employer where the termination date was stated. The HO person counted from that date to the date of the online application for the prem service appt.
I don't know if it would have helped if I didn't provide that letter, because I know for sure that my previous employer did officially inform the HO of the date.

Best of luck to you!

[newjoiner86]

It was Croydon.
I indeed supplied a letter from my precious employer where the termination date was stated. The HO person counted from that date to the date of the online application for the prem service appt.
I don't know if it would have helped if I didn't provide that letter, because I know for sure that my previous employer did officially inform the HO of the date.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you for the kind wishes. It is indeed quite tricky to accurately determine whether the case worker only saw it on the letter you submitted indicating your last day or he would have seen it anyway. I have read one case on this forum where a person had an employment gap of 5 months but he did not receive any curtailment of leave letter and his ILR was actually approved. I must say he seems to have been the luckier one since there are a number of posts that I've come across on this forum confirming a rejection due to a gap of 60+ days.

If you don't mind me asking, do you plan to file an admin review or a judicial review for your rejection? A couple of people had filed for admin reviews but there hasn't been any update from them on the forum of the outcome. I've asked the same question on several other threads if someone is able to share their admin/judicial review experience but haven't received any response.

[Camilla C]

I haven't done anything yet, and don't yet know what do to be honest.

[newjoiner86]

I haven't done anything yet, and don't yet know what do to be honest.

I'm no expert myself but if I were you I would definitely go for an admin review at the very least. Your gap is only 9 days above the threshold and you seem to have a legitimate cause as well. No harm trying anyway.

You could potentially ask your HR to provide you a formal letter explaining the whole situation that led to the delay. The rule to be honest is quite harsh and in a way is contradictory to how the legal time spent in UK is calculated.

When you submitted your application, did the case worker even invite you to explain/clarify the gap? Or did he just refused and passed back the documents without even talking to you?

[Camilla C]

Thank you for the support! I really appreciate it. I think I will try that.

It's actually 4 days. The HO reduced it to the time between termination date and the date on ONLINE APPLICATION SUBMISSION. it would be 9 days to the date of the actual appointment.

The gentleman called my number, handed my passport over, gave me the refusal letter, clarified the reason and told me about the admin review. That was all.

No one invited me to explain/clarify the gap.

[newjoiner86]

Thank you for the support! I really appreciate it. I think I will try that.

It's actually 4 days. The HO reduced it to the time between termination date and the date on ONLINE APPLICATION SUBMISSION. it would be 9 days to the date of the actual appointment.

The gentleman called my number, handed my passport over, gave me the refusal letter, clarified the reason and told me about the admin review. That was all.

No one invited me to explain/clarify the gap.

4 Days! That's very harsh to say the least.

I do have some good news for you. I've been reading quite a lot on this forum and I've found a member who was initially rejected ILR for the same reason i.e. gap in employment of more than 60 days, however, he filed for an Admin Review. Although the member has not shared the outcome of his review explicitly but if you look at his queries on the forum made a few months after his rejection, it's quite clear that he eventually got his ILR approved. I can't say whether it was just from the Admin Review or whether it was followed by an appeal/Judicial review but having seen that he eventually did get ILR is indeed comforting to some extent. Here's a link for his posts and look for the username 'longgapilr'.

search.php?author_id=156770&sr=posts

Please do share your experience in case you go ahead with the Admin Review as it will be very helpful for other members in a similar situation including myself

Thank you!

[Camilla C]

I can't thank you enough!
I will try and share my experience!

THANK YOU!!! God bless you!

[Camilla C]

It won't let me follow the link. It says I am not allowed to use Search function. If possible, could you please quote me on that thread or send me the link to the whole thread or give me the subject line of that thread?

[newjoiner86]

You're welcome. There are multiple threads that you would want to see so what you can do is logout and then click on the link I provided. It will work. Somehow when you're logged in, it doesn't let you access the search function probably because we are new users. So you can copy the link I provided, log out and then paste the link in your browser and you will be able to see all the posts that I am talking about.

Cheers

[newjoiner86]

Actually copying the link and pasting into the browser won't work.

Just log out and then click on the link I shared.

[newjoiner86]

Here's another update from the member 'longgapilr'

indefinite-leave-to-remain/separate-set ... l#p1558710