tdabash,
Just to add to and further clarify on Chess's comments. I am sorry to hear of your initial problems with the Home Office and the ECO but note that you were succesful on this occasion. I don't mean to digress but I believe a bit of an overview of some terminology is of relevance here for the benefit of the board. The phrase 'leave' in immigration speak means 'permission'. Leave To Enter (LTE) is that permission given at a UK Port of Entry e.g. Heathrow. Historically a person applied for a visa where they were a visa national or coming to the UK in a capacity requiring mandatory entry clearance even for non visa nationals e.g. fiance. The Immigration Officer at the POE would then admit the person and endorse their passport 'leave to enter the UK for 'x' where x was either a temporary period with accompanying conditions e.g. register with police, employment prohibited etc or was an indefinite period = Indefinite Leave To Enter (ILE).
Leave To Remain (LTR) refers to that leave granted when you are already in the UK. The leave may be new e.g. a student changing to work permit employment or may be an extension e.g. a student on completion of an undergradaute degree applying for an extension of his/her student visa on the basis of undertaking a postgraduate degree. In this cases the leave is temporary and is often refered to as leave to remain (LTR) or further leave to remain (FLR) - hence the FLR forms on the IND website. The leave can also be indefinite hence the expression Indefinite Leave To Remain (ILR). This could be for example an applicant who has spent 4 years on a work permit and is applying for ILR as he/she is already in the U.K.
Both ILR and ILE are also known as permanent residence or more accurately as
settlement/being
settled in the UK.
1-will she be given 'Indefinite leave to remain in the UK' upon entry at Heathrow?
Since October 2000 the visa granted abroad
confers leave to enter. Your daughter thus has already been issued with indefinite leave to enter the UK and all that remains for her is to travel to the U.K. to activate the physical requirements of UK presence for that leave. Where a person holds a visa endorsed with Indefinite Leave To Enter (ILE) or Leave To Enter (LE) the IO will still review your visa when you arrive at a POE to check that the your visa is valid, nothing has changed between issuance and arrival and most important that it belongs to you by comparing it to the photo on your valid passport. The IO has power to cancel the leave but on authorisation from a Chief Immigration Officer.
The endorsement on her visa is 'visa to join parent(s)' and Indefinite leave to enter the United Kingdom.
2- If IO gives her 'Given leave to enter the UK for indefinite period' How can she qualify to ILR under the rules 297 to 300 while her settlement visa clearly states ' ILE' (this may violate requirement (ii) under the rules 298)
I have explained the concepts of ILE and ILR - your daughter has the former. ILR has no relevance to her - she holds ILE and is going to be settled from day 1 of arrival in the U.K. Para 298 refers to a child who entered the UK on a temporary basis (i.e. LTE as child of the spouse of a settled person) and is now seeking leave to remain in the UK on an indefinite basis when his/her parent gets ILR after 24 months as the spouse of a settled person.
3- I have been told by IAS(while response from the lawyer is awaited) that she would be given ILR upon entry with this type of visa. Is that right?
There are no ILR stamps at POE's - only at relevant offices of the Immigration & Nationality Directorate e.g. Croydon and other Public Enquiry Offices. In any case she will not get an ILR stamp - this is for in country applicants. The IO will pursuant to the checks I described above just endorse her ILE visa with an entry stamp i.e. rectangle with the date of entry, POE and the IO's number. The IO will endorse the same on the white landing card your daughter will fill out.
4- Does the ILR stamp at airport exist?
See above.
You may wish to consider getting your daughter registered as a British Citizen after her arrival in the U.K.
Best wishes for the future
