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Hello

I'm asking for advice on behalf of my friend.

She is planning to apply for ILR on the basis of 10 yrs lawful residence in january. While she always applied to renew her leave before the previous leave expired, when we checked her passports we discovered one gap of 45 days.

The reason for the gap is this: in 2004 my friend went to the home office in person to renew her student visa (before her previous leave expired). However, while she was there, she was asked to leave her passport and documents for inspection, and was told that these will be posted back to her (odd, i know, but you can't really argue with the home office right).

Her documents and passport, containing the new student visa, were indeed posted to her about two months later. By the time she received it though, her previous leave has already expired and the date on the new leave was approx 45 days after the expiry date of her previous leave. This ofcourse created a gap.

Now, my question is this. She did not post the documents but went in person, and so she has no way to prove she applied on time. Further, when the caseworker decided to keep her documents and post them to her later on, he/she did not provide my friend with any letter/evidence of this.

Is there any way she can prove that this gap is fully the fault of the home office (although, technically, it wasnt suppose to be a gap....)? Should she seek a legal advice to assist her with her long residence application in this case, or can she simply provide a letter with her ILR application explaining this?

What do you think? any advice will be greatly appriciated.

Thank you!

vanilla82 wrote:Hello

I'm asking for advice on behalf of my friend.

She is planning to apply for ILR on the basis of 10 yrs lawful residence in january. While she always applied to renew her leave before the previous leave expired, when we checked her passports we discovered one gap of 45 days.

The reason for the gap is this: in 2004 my friend went to the home office in person to renew her student visa (before her previous leave expired). However, while she was there, she was asked to leave her passport and documents for inspection, and was told that these will be posted back to her (odd, i know, but you can't really argue with the home office right).

Her documents and passport, containing the new student visa, were indeed posted to her about two months later. By the time she received it though, her previous leave has already expired and the date on the new leave was approx 45 days after the expiry date of her previous leave. This ofcourse created a gap.

Now, my question is this. She did not post the documents but went in person, and so she has no way to prove she applied on time. Further, when the caseworker decided to keep her documents and post them to her later on, he/she did not provide my friend with any letter/evidence of this.

Is there any way she can prove that this gap is fully the fault of the home office (although, technically, it wasnt suppose to be a gap....)? Should she seek a legal advice to assist her with her long residence application in this case, or can she simply provide a letter with her ILR application explaining this?

What do you think? any advice will be greatly appriciated.

Thank you!

1. First of all, it is not a gap as she applied on time and home office asked her to leave the passport and they sent it later.
2. While home office had her passport, her leave was extended under section 3C.
3. For your own peace, you can order a SAR file from home office.

First thank you very much for your fast reply. I know its not a 'real' gap, she knows, its just we didnt know if the home office 'knew' since she has no evidence of leaving the passport there. She will apply for a SAR but it takes a while to receive it and she wants to submit her application asap.

vanilla82 wrote:First thank you very much for your fast reply. I know its not a 'real' gap, she knows, its just we didnt know if the home office 'knew' since she has no evidence of leaving the passport there. She will apply for a SAR but it takes a while to receive it and she wants to submit her application asap.

1. Any appointment record or fee payment if made by card or cheque.
2. If nothing then a cover letter with an explanation wud help.

Although the SAR takes a while to come when requested but SAR is worth requested. If I was your friend I'll make SAR ASAP.