Permanent residence card to Indefinite leave to remain

Hi , I am in a similar situation too. My residence card is expiring in jan 2024. I am divorced now . I didn’t realised it applied to me too. As I was not a eea citizen and I was already divorced when eu happed. Otherwise I would have applied for eu settled status. Can anny one guide me what should I do now ? I have two children . Any help would be appreciated.

The advice given in that thread does not change for you. The old EU residence cards do NOT have any legal value, given the UK left the EU on 1 Jan 2021. You must have applied under the EU settlement scheme before the deadline in 2022.

You do not have any lawful residence in the UK now and I assume you are staying here illegally. Your card has no validity and its expiry does not mean anything, I am afraid

eea-route-applications/10-permanent-res ... l#p2134972

Thank you zimba for your reply. So what do I do now? I read on uk ba website that I can still apply for it but with a good reason as it is considered late application. Do you think I should try it by using a solicitor? I have a two small kids .I can not even imagine I m in this situation. I don’t know what to do? I promise to god I didn’t knew it applied to me. I would have surely applied for it if only I had known or heard about it. I never had a problem at my work either . I m a very simple person . I don’t go out and not have many friend either. Maybe that’s why I didn’t know about it. What do you think I should do now? I have childreN to look for. Please help help help

Unfortunately, a person has tried to use the same idea (not knowing about EUSS) and they got refused, see viewtopic.php?f=45&t=340972&p=2134957#p2134957

I'm not sure what's the best course of action for you; possibly you could apply as a spouse of settled person? Wait for more experienced members to advise further.

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 18, 2023 12:09 am

Thank you zimba for your reply. So what do I do now? I read on uk ba website that I can still apply for it but with a good reason as it is considered late application. Do you think I should try it by using a solicitor? I have a two small kids .I can not even imagine I m in this situation. I don’t know what to do? I promise to god I didn’t knew it applied to me. I would have surely applied for it if only I had known or heard about it. I never had a problem at my work either . I m a very simple person . I don’t go out and not have many friend either. Maybe that’s why I didn’t know about it. What do you think I should do now? I have childreN to look for. Please help help help

Ignorance of the rules can never be used to secure a residence permit. Solicitors cannot change your case's facts and do not have magical powers to change serious errors. The EU settlement scheme was widely publicised for at least two years by the UKVI and there were even major advertisement campaigns to notify people to secure their legal status before the deadline.

What are your circumstances now ? Have you remarried ? Are your kids British citizens ?
Perhaps you may be able to secure lawful residence by applying under the family/private life route or be granted discretionary leave and start your lawful towards ILR again.

IMHO, it seems unreasonable for a validity consideration
EU 9

(e) It has been made by the required date, where the date of application is on or after 9 August 2023; and

to undermine an eligibility requirement

EU 11 1

(b) The applicant has a documented right of permanent residence; and

Previous Guidances prior to 9 August 2023 stated holders of unexpired EEA permanent residence documents may submit these documents as reasonable grounds for making a late EUSS application.

Document or status under the EEA Regulations

Where a person subject to the 30 June 2021 application deadline for EEA citizens and their family members resident in the UK by the end of the transition period has a biometric residence card or other residence document issued under the EEA Regulations which remains valid at that date, they may not realise that, with the end of the grace period, they can no longer rely on an EU law right of residence in the UK and need to obtain UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

They can make a late application to the scheme where you are satisfied, in line with this guidance, that, at the date of application, there are reasonable grounds for their delay in making their application because, for example, they were not aware that they needed to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.

By virtue of the Citizens’ Rights (Application Deadline and Temporary Protection) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, an EEA citizen who was lawfully resident in the UK by virtue of the EEA Regulations at the end of the transition period or their family members could, during the grace period from 1 January to 30 June 2021, still acquire the right of permanent residence in the UK under regulation 15 of the EEA Regulations. Where a person waited until they (or their EEA citizen family member) had done so before applying to the EU Settlement Scheme, this will normally constitute reasonable grounds for their delay in making their application.

Example

R is the non-EEA citizen spouse of an EEA citizen who has been working in the UK since 2013. R and her husband have lived together in the UK since 2013. In 2019, R applied for and was issued a biometric residence card under the EEA Regulations, valid until 2029, as she had acquired the right of permanent residence in the UK as the family member of an EEA citizen. R was not aware that she needed to apply for status under the EU Settlement Scheme. R makes an application to the scheme in September 2021 after a friend alerted her to this. These are reasonable grounds for R’s delay in making her application to the scheme.

Unfortunately, current Guidance unexpectedly omitted this.

However, it is not exhaustive and every case must be considered in light of its particular circumstances and the evidence provided, though you may give more weight to evidence which is objectively verifiable.

Moreover, they’ve also added Circumstances which will not generally constitute reasonable grounds for delay in making an application

But their examples did not mention holders of an unexpired specified relevant document. Ignoring these documents as reasonable grounds may also undermine a Court of Appeal Judgment, if the holder was not properly served a cancellation notice in writing that the document was no longer valid.

Why is processing a unexpired, uncancelled, specified relevant document is not considered as a reasonable reason for a late application?

Moreover, an invalidity refusal also undermines an anpplicant’s Appeal rights.

hi thank you all for the information. I understand i am late to apply but i think i have no choice other than applying as a late application.(Please guide me if there is any thing better than this).I am thinking of writing a cover letter explaining my situation if i applied. I met my ex husband here in UK. i married my ex husband in 2006. he was EU citizen. I applied for an received a family dependent visa through that marriage. But in 2012 i filed for divorce as i caught ex husband was cheating on my back . So, I decided to leave a man whom i cannot trust. we got divorced in 2012. Its only after the divorce, i applied for permanent residence card and through the help of my solicitor i managed to get a permanent residence card. I got my permanent residence card in Jan. 2014. i practiced my independent life after i receive my pr card. I was told i could applied for naturalization after 12 month but because of a financial reason i delayed it . Then few years later Brexit happend .I promise to god i did heard about EU scheme but i never heard about it affecting the Non EEA family members. It always mentioned about EU citizen and EEA members and their dependents only. for some reason i never came across or heard or read about it affecting the dependents who already received a permanent resident card .I didn't had any friend who were in similar situation. So, when Brexit happened i was not a EU citizen and also not a dependent of a EU nationals at that point of time. I was on my own .Their for i thought i had no ties with EU, as i had secured my permanent residence on 2014 after my divorce and way before Brexit happened. I have been married now and i have children. my child is british. But not us. I have changed my job recently at the beginning of this yea and never had a issue. I have been giving my current permanent residence documents to all of work place and they never raised any concern. I so wish now that, only if they could have noticed and asked me for a proper new document. If so i would have fall under that time period where Ukba they were receiving all the late application with easy approach. I live a very simple life. I am not that much social person either. I dont have many friends .I am kind of isolated person where my world limits within my family. My childrens are small and i am always busy with their schedules most of the time. I work full time .And i have a rotating shift where i have to work some times days and night depending on my rotas. .My son is very active and was also preparing for grammer school last two year so i was really busy with his schedule and my work life. .I am not a social media person. I dont really read or watch news either. so i think this is why it restricted me from getting this valuable information of EUSS. My pr was valid for 10 years until jan 2024. As it was coming to my end i was on my way to renew my pr card but only at this very moments i found out that my pr was not valid any more. I would not have noticed if it was not for the sake of renewing my pr card. I assumed my PR card same as my other document, which i would not renew it if they are not nearing the expiry date. please guide me if this sounds good enough to be a reason. I know they might not accept it .But this is the truth. I don't have any other reason.
I don't know where i stand with this reason.
I have been reading a lot of articles currently.
Please any help or guidance will greatly appreciated.. I have not slept at all for past few days because of this.
I am thinking of sending my absolute decree received in 2012 along with my other documents.

Hi moderator, can you delete my previous post. Thank you

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:41 pm

Hi moderator, can you delete my previous post. Thank you

Posts are never deleted from the forum. This is stated in the Board's T&Cs, which all members are required to read on joining.

Hi, it’s me again. Just to ask will I qualify for ILR through 10 year long residency route, if I have lived in uk since 2006 and I have only been away for 4weeks in total. 2 times for 2 weeks each time for family reason . I was on Eu family visa initially and then on permanent residence card until now. Will be greatful for your help.

Unsure if and when they may consider you as an overstayer and how this may affect the Long residence’s continuous lawful residence requirement?

IMHO, they are being irrational.

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:41 pm

Hi moderator, can you delete my previous post. Thank you

Go ahead and apply, you have got nothing to lose but to gain. You may need to consult with an immigration solicitors. Also a proper covering letter explaining the good reasons behind why you didn't apply within the allowed time frame.

Hi , thank you. I have been told by my solicitor that I have a good reason. First -my family applied for tourist visa last year with my documents. I was their sponsor. They use my permanent residence card and my payslips & bank statements to prove their sponsorship. And their Visa was granted . If only they had informed me I would have known and applied within the time frame where they were accepting late application which was August 9th. According to my solicitor this document was invalid since July 2021. If within the home office department doesn’t know that this document is invalid then how would I know?
2nd- in the beginning of year I joined nhs hospital jobs. I used my permanent residence card again to poof my right to work . It was easily accepted. Again according to my solicitors employers are required To check valid paperwork before they allow them to work. In my case this also didn’t happen. In the beginning of the year home office was still accepting late application.
I was also told that home office did spend lot of money advertising or running campaigns for EUSS. But they also said that non of those campaigned focused on ex non eu family members or the permanent resident holders. This information was only in their website and it was also in the middle of some other information that there was less chance for any one to noticed. And people just doesn’t go to immigration website or any other website unless they need to. I have also been told that there are many like us permanent residents holder who didn’t applied just because they didn’t know. We all thought that PRC card we had was issued by uk home office itself and we didn’t need to do anything. Home office also never write to us to inform the change.
This decision of not accepting late application from valid permanent residence card holder has been seen as unfair deal. So ilpa has sent a joint letter to home office regarding this issue.
https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2023111601

There is no such a thing as sponsor for a tourist visa

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 30, 2023 7:38 am

Hi , thank you. I have been told by my solicitor that I have a good reason. First -my family applied for tourist visa last year with my documents. I was their sponsor. They use my permanent residence card and my payslips & bank statements to prove their sponsorship. And their Visa was granted . If only they had informed me I would have known and applied within the time frame where they were accepting late application which was August 9th. According to my solicitor this document was invalid since July 2021. If within the home office department doesn’t know that this document is invalid then how would I know?
2nd- in the beginning of year I joined nhs hospital jobs. I used my permanent residence card again to poof my right to work . It was easily accepted. Again according to my solicitors employers are required To check valid paperwork before they allow them to work. In my case this also didn’t happen. In the beginning of the year home office was still accepting late application.
I was also told that home office did spend lot of money advertising or running campaigns for EUSS. But they also said that non of those campaigned focused on ex non eu family members or the permanent resident holders. This information was only in their website and it was also in the middle of some other information that there was less chance for any one to noticed. And people just doesn’t go to immigration website or any other website unless they need to. I have also been told that there are many like us permanent residents holder who didn’t applied just because they didn’t know. We all thought that PRC card we had was issued by uk home office itself and we didn’t need to do anything. Home office also never write to us to inform the change.
This decision of not accepting late application from valid permanent residence card holder has been seen as unfair deal. So ilpa has sent a joint letter to home office regarding this issue.
https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2023111601

Hi,

Unfortunately, the campaigns did inform people on the EU route visas to convert their stays to the EU settlement scheme, and that included those with 5 year UK residence cards and permanent residence card holders because my friend was on the 5 year card and I helped them apply to convert to the EU scheme and that's when I saw both card holders needed to swap or else, their stay became invalid after Brexit.

Gosh I do hope you're able to sort your residency out. It would be disheartening to lose the permanent stay you took years to build. UK visas are quite expensive. Do you know if your company can sponsor a w

Goodluck!

Third party solicitor weblink removed by Moderator!! Please do not post third party solicitor weblinks on the forum!

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 02, 2023 12:31 pm

Third party solicitor weblink removed by Moderator!! Please do not post third party solicitor weblinks on the forum!

Gosh that's tough! Truly, if you're a PR, you wouldn't worry about immigration as long as you continued to live in the UK.

It's clear how one with PR, would assume they have ILR though the former was under EU law and the latter under UK law but still had equal permanent rights.

I know it stated the campaign focused on mainly EU citizens, but I don't know how my non-eu friend knew about it so I helped them apply. We definitely came across information on EU law PR holders needing to continue to secure their status under UK law swapping from EU residence to UK residence. My friend was a 5 year card holder though and not a PR holder.

Sadly in this case, I guess when you're a PR, you naturally wouldn't think to keep abreast of immigration changes and ideally you shouldn't.


I do hope there's a turnaround to exempt PR holders. As I'm only aware that a lot of PR holders were unaware of the changes.

Goodluck!

Dear zimba, thank you for your reply. Sorry to confuse you. When I say sponsor I meant I was the one who invited them to come see me in uk on a family visitor visa. In that application I, I wrote a cover letter confirming that they will be coming to visit me and my family and I will confirm to provide accommodation, and will also pay for their all circumstantial expenses during their stay in United Kingdom. To prove this I wrote a cover letter, showed my permanent residence card , bank statement of my savings , recent last 6month payslips, 6month bank statements of current account ,corresponding the salary going in to that account as payslips, tenancy agreement etc. And they managed to get a visa.

Rinatmg wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 30, 2023 7:38 am

Hi , thank you. I have been told by my solicitor that I have a good reason. First -my family applied for tourist visa last year with my documents. I was their sponsor. They use my permanent residence card and my payslips & bank statements to prove their sponsorship. And their Visa was granted . If only they had informed me I would have known and applied within the time frame where they were accepting late application which was August 9th. According to my solicitor this document was invalid since July 2021. If within the home office department doesn’t know that this document is invalid then how would I know?
2nd- in the beginning of year I joined nhs hospital jobs. I used my permanent residence card again to poof my right to work . It was easily accepted. Again according to my solicitors employers are required To check valid paperwork before they allow them to work. In my case this also didn’t happen. In the beginning of the year home office was still accepting late application.
I was also told that home office did spend lot of money advertising or running campaigns for EUSS. But they also said that non of those campaigned focused on ex non eu family members or the permanent resident holders. This information was only in their website and it was also in the middle of some other information that there was less chance for any one to noticed. And people just doesn’t go to immigration website or any other website unless they need to. I have also been told that there are many like us permanent residents holder who didn’t applied just because they didn’t know. We all thought that PRC card we had was issued by uk home office itself and we didn’t need to do anything. Home office also never write to us to inform the change.
This decision of not accepting late application from valid permanent residence card holder has been seen as unfair deal. So ilpa has sent a joint letter to home office regarding this issue.
https://the3million.org.uk/publication/2023111601

They seem to be good reasons to me. Try applying again and list all these reasons. Complain. Report it. Cc the Prime Minister and Home Secretary, your local MP, etc.

Some on another board, post 9 August, have reported success after challenging the invalidity decision with a PAP.

iMHO, Brexit was and is a big disaster, due to deception, misinformation and misunderstanding. There were no safeguards against these things.

Any thoughts on the above article would be greatful. Do you guys think home office will consider each application on the basis of evidence provided now onwards as the spoke person said. As long as we are able to prove we have been living here before Brexit ?
Thank you

I wouldn't base my assumptions on a media report about one particular case.
The Home Office spokesperson made a statement in response to a negative report, not confirming the law.
There have been rumours over the years that the HO has a team dealing with high profile press/media cases such as this. Bad publicity. Despite the tough stance they take on immigrants these days they don't like to see shackled grandmothers being bundled onto planes to fly to wherever. If it hits the headlines they do spring into action.

Dear all, just wanted to update . I have received Certificate of Application now . It says this letter confirms that they have received my valid application. I provided them my 8 years worth residence documents (payslips /job contracts /hmrc letter etc) along with my application. My understanding is now they will treat my application like they used to before 9th August right? If they need more documents they will ask for it rather than reject it right? I have given them my NI number as well as my full last 5 years tax paye letter which I was able to download from hmrc online system.
Hope this will suffice to get my status back.
Thank you for all your help.

The "Certificate of Application" was/is there to prove an application is being submitted/progressed through the UKVI systems. If they still need further documents they should be contacting you and giving you 10(?) days to respond and provide as necessary. Make sure you check regularly for emails - some of the refusal cases which were highlighted in the press were due to emails no being found in time (usual advice, check the places your email client could move suspect emails, such as spam/delete/bulkmail folders).
Hope it works out fine in the end.