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Dear All, Many people have asked this question before (What happens if my total visa is less than 5 years by few days?) and there are more who have the confusion hence wanted to clarify based on the reply I have got from home office (workoperationalpolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk)

Situation: My first Tier 1 general visa was from 25th May 2011 to 25th May 2013. I applied for a postal extension and got extension from 23rd May 2013 to 23rd May 2016.

Problem: If you see my total visa time is 2 days short from 5 year which is the qualifying period for the ILR. I always had doubt if I need another Tier 1 extension for the 2 days shortfall

Confusion: We all know that one can apply for ILR 28 days before the end date. For example in my case I am eligible to apply 28 days before 25th May 2016. The confusion here is whether one can apply 28 days before when total visa period itself is not 5 years for example in my case it starts on the 25th May 2011 and instead of ending on the 25th May 2016 it ends on 23rd May 2016. As the stakes are so high we all keep thinking about it and want absolute clarity. I raised this in this forum and senior members and moderators replied but i still wanted clarification from home office for my peace of mind. I wrote a mail to them at workoperationalpolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and they replied within 4 days, my doubt was still not clear hence I immediately replied and got an instant reply back from them. The mail chain continued that day but at the end of it things became very clear to me and I wanted to share that so that everyone else in similar situation gets to know as well.

Conclusion: One can apply for ILR 28th days before the end of 5 year in my case 28 days before the 25th May. As long as your visa short fall is not more than 28 days you are fine. In my case the visa started on the 25th May 2011 so even if my end date was say around 5th May 2016 I could still apply for ILR between 1st to 5th May 2016 ( This is just for illustration you can work out the exact 28th days). You need to apply for ILR before your visa expiry date which should not be more than 28 days from the date you will complete 5 year qualifying period.

Mail Extract from the Reply from home office: I am copying some of the extract from the mail to help people understand. The extracts are from 3 mail reply and each reply is in quote. I had asked if I can do this just by post or can do PEO also. They were brilliant in replying and I can not thank the lady who replied to my mails so quickly.

Part of reply to first mail:
"You are able to make an application up to 28 days before you would reach the qualifying period for settlement. Any application submitted prior to the expiry of your leave, will extend that leave under 3C of the 1971 Immigration Act until a decision is made on your application. As such, if you do not have a full 5 years leave, but the shortfall is 28 days or less, this should not affect your application for settlement."

Part of reply to second mail:
" The ability to apply 28 days early would apply to Post or PSCs (formally known as PEOs)."

Part of reply to third mail:
" You can apply up to 28 days before you would reach the qualifying period, and as long as you apply before the expiry of your leave, your current leave would be extended under 3C. "


This forum has helped me when I applied for Tier 1 for the first time then again during the extension and I am sure when I prepare for ILR I will seek help. Thought I must share this important bit of information.

Happy to answer any question based on my knowledge.

Cheers
Jacob

Hi Jacob,
Thanks for sharing valuable information. I just wanted to know one thing i.e calculation of 28 days.

Suppose if the applicant qualifying period for ILR started from 1-01-2010, he will be completing his 5 years period by 01-01-2015.

So if you calculate 28days rule. He can apply on or after Thursday, 4 December 2014. Could you please confirm whether it will be 4th or 5th December ?

Regards,
Suresh

Hi Suresh,

I am not an expert in that hence will refrain from calculating something that has confusion of 1 day as my advise can put you in trouble if that is not 100% correct. In my case I will not take risk of 1 day etc for example if my end date is 25th May 2016. I will apply somewhere in the first week of May 2016. The boundary line cases causes confusion hence avoid if you can. If you have a reason and can't avoid then I will suggest you request moderators to clarify that and then you yourself match with the policy.

Actually I am tempted to give you the date based on my understanding but I am not doing as I may put you in trouble rather than helping as you are asking a borderline situation. Apologies for that.

Cheers
Jacob

I will send an email to workoperationalpolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and see what they will reply. If they reply with proper info. Then that can be used as guidance, when we go for ILR.

Regards,
Suresh

On similar lines, I had a doubt whether the 90 days buffer that is given to the main applicants for any gap between visa start date and the actual travel date is applicable to dependent's or not? So I wrote an email to UKVI and they have confirmed that similar rules apply to PBS dependent as well. Also they have confirmed that a dependent can not be given an extension beyond main applicant's visa validity to cover off any shortage of continuous stay.

Below is the excerpt from the email reply

"We would consider a dependant spouses application against the same broad principles as those applied to the PBS migrant. Given this we would calculate the five years from the date on which the entry clearance was valid from, providing this is not more than 90 days. As the fundamental requirement of obtaining dependant leave is that the person on who you are claiming dependency on has valid leave, it is not possible for us to grant beyond the period given to the PBS migrant, as there is no guarantee that you will continue to meet the requirements beyond the period given to you."

In summary, dependent's can also make use of the 90 days buffer for calculating the continous stay begining and can apply for an ILR 28 days before the end of qualifying period.

me786 wrote:On similar lines, I had a doubt whether the 90 days buffer that is given to the main applicants for any gap between visa start date and the actual travel date is applicable to dependent's or not? So I wrote an email to UKVI and they have confirmed that similar rules apply to PBS dependent as well. Also they have confirmed that a dependent can not be given an extension beyond main applicant's visa validity to cover off any shortage of continuous stay.

Below is the excerpt from the email reply

"We would consider a dependant spouses application against the same broad principles as those applied to the PBS migrant. Given this we would calculate the five years from the date on which the entry clearance was valid from, providing this is not more than 90 days. As the fundamental requirement of obtaining dependant leave is that the person on who you are claiming dependency on has valid leave, it is not possible for us to grant beyond the period given to the PBS migrant, as there is no guarantee that you will continue to meet the requirements beyond the period given to you."

In summary, dependent's can also make use of the 90 days buffer for calculating the continous stay begining and can apply for an ILR 28 days before the end of qualifying period.

Can you please let me know the contact email for UKVI? I have some questions regarding the qualifying period. thanks

I wrote to 'Settlementopspolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk' and got a response in a day's time.

Jacob123 wrote:Dear All, Many people have asked this question before (What happens if my total visa is less than 5 years by few days?) and there are more who have the confusion hence wanted to clarify based on the reply I have got from home office (workoperationalpolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk)

Situation: My first Tier 1 general visa was from 25th May 2011 to 25th May 2013. I applied for a postal extension and got extension from 23rd May 2013 to 23rd May 2016.

Problem: If you see my total visa time is 2 days short from 5 year which is the qualifying period for the ILR. I always had doubt if I need another Tier 1 extension for the 2 days shortfall

Confusion: We all know that one can apply for ILR 28 days before the end date. For example in my case I am eligible to apply 28 days before 25th May 2016. The confusion here is whether one can apply 28 days before when total visa period itself is not 5 years for example in my case it starts on the 25th May 2011 and instead of ending on the 25th May 2016 it ends on 23rd May 2016. As the stakes are so high we all keep thinking about it and want absolute clarity. I raised this in this forum and senior members and moderators replied but i still wanted clarification from home office for my peace of mind. I wrote a mail to them at workoperationalpolicy@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and they replied within 4 days, my doubt was still not clear hence I immediately replied and got an instant reply back from them. The mail chain continued that day but at the end of it things became very clear to me and I wanted to share that so that everyone else in similar situation gets to know as well.

Conclusion: One can apply for ILR 28th days before the end of 5 year in my case 28 days before the 25th May. As long as your visa short fall is not more than 28 days you are fine. In my case the visa started on the 25th May 2011 so even if my end date was say around 5th May 2016 I could still apply for ILR between 1st to 5th May 2016 ( This is just for illustration you can work out the exact 28th days). You need to apply for ILR before your visa expiry date which should not be more than 28 days from the date you will complete 5 year qualifying period.

Mail Extract from the Reply from home office: I am copying some of the extract from the mail to help people understand. The extracts are from 3 mail reply and each reply is in quote. I had asked if I can do this just by post or can do PEO also. They were brilliant in replying and I can not thank the lady who replied to my mails so quickly.

Part of reply to first mail:
"You are able to make an application up to 28 days before you would reach the qualifying period for settlement. Any application submitted prior to the expiry of your leave, will extend that leave under 3C of the 1971 Immigration Act until a decision is made on your application. As such, if you do not have a full 5 years leave, but the shortfall is 28 days or less, this should not affect your application for settlement."

Part of reply to second mail:
" The ability to apply 28 days early would apply to Post or PSCs (formally known as PEOs)."

Part of reply to third mail:
" You can apply up to 28 days before you would reach the qualifying period, and as long as you apply before the expiry of your leave, your current leave would be extended under 3C. "


This forum has helped me when I applied for Tier 1 for the first time then again during the extension and I am sure when I prepare for ILR I will seek help. Thought I must share this important bit of information.

Happy to answer any question based on my knowledge.

Cheers
Jacob

I had exactly the same question. Thank you for clarifying it really helpful!

Hi Jacob,

Your post is really helpful.Thanks for that.

I faced a similar difficult situation yesterday, when I received my wife and son's Tier1 dependent visa extension.

They had their Tier 1 dependent visa valid from 04-04-2013 until 14-04-2015. They traveled to uk on 12-04-2013.
I called home office before going for their extension. They suggested, if we'll go within 28 days of expiry of visa we'll get extension for 3 year from date of expiry i.e untill 14-04-2018. But, they gave visa for three years from date of application i.e 19-03-2018.

We were not happy with the decision and waited to speak to the case worker. But ,we were not given an opportunity to speak to case worker.After a little wait ,the coordinator told us that he has spoken to senior case worker. He suggested us that both of them are still eligible for ILR in 2018 as their five years of stay completes on 12-04-2018 and if we calculate 28 days from 12 April , we can apply ILR on 16-03-2018.

From your post it looks like the information given to us was correct.
But, I still want to get it in writing this from Home Office. So that I don't face any issue in ILR application after three years.

Could you please share your view on this based on your experience.

Cheers.
Atul

Hello,

I am sorry if this is not the right way/place to post query.

UK Visa entry clearance date: 01-Jan-2015
Date of first visit to UK on: 05-March-2011

I have booked on ILR appointment @ Croydon office on 10th Dec 2015.

05-March-2011 to 10th Dec 2015 my total stay in UK is 4 years 9 months 11 days

Will it be ok ? Am i eligible?

Please giude me.

Thanks
Vedeka



Please help me.
Thanks
Vedeka