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Dear Sir/ Madam,

I came to UK with my wife in Sept 2004 as Working Holiday Maker(WHM) where I was allowed to work in UK for 2 years without any holidays to take. I have been sponsored Work permit (Conversion from Working Holiday Maker) in Nov 18th, 2005 from my company. I got the WP approval letter in Nov 2005 and got it stamped in April 2006 in India. But I was working still in WHM in UK from Nov 2005 to April 2006.

In Sept 2008, I switched to Tier 1 visa and it is valid until Sep 2011. I also currently work with the same company who sponsored my WP and supported me with Tier 1.

I realised, we have clocked 5 years( WP + Tier 1) as of Oct 18th since we got the work permit approval letter from home office in Nov 2005.

In Summary ,

WHM - Sept 2004(WHM) to Nov 2005 ( Approval letter for Work Permit)
WP - April 16th 2006(WP stamped) to Sept 2008 - Work Permit)
Tier 1 - Sept 2008 to Sept 20111(Tier 1) , Are we eligible for ILR in November for completing 5 years (Combining WP + Tier 1)

Kindly confirm whether our assumptions are correct and are we eligible for ILR in Nov 2010?

Many Thanks
Sriv

I came to UK with my wife in Sept 2004 as Working Holiday Maker(WHM) where I was allowed to work in UK for 2 years without any holidays to take

Are you totally sure? My understanding is that on a WHM visa that employment was restricted to 12 months maximum out of the 24 month visa duration.

Other opinions very welcome but I think that "merely" being issued with "the WP approval letter" did not change your visa status, and as time on a WHM visa does not count on the 5-year clock, I think you cannot apply for ILR until 28 days before the 5th anniversary of you arriving in the UK thanks to the visa issued in April 2006.

sriv.venkatesh wrote:got it stamped in April 2006 in India.

Your ILR clock started clicking (from zero) on the day you entered UK as a WP migrant in/after April 2006.

As John has accurately stated:

John wrote: you cannot apply for ILR until 28 days before the 5th anniversary of you arriving in the UK thanks to the visa issued in April 2006.

regards

John, the rules changed in February 2005. possibly it was because people were working throughout the two years and not doing any holidaying!!

Thanks for that. And they continued to call it a Working Holidaymaker visa?

Same visa but after Feb 2005 a restriction of 12 months employment was imposed.

Thanks everyone for promopt reply.

I believe, I can start applying for IR in March 2011. Just in time before the new rule. Pls correct me if I am wrong?

Cheer

sriv.venkatesh, if you tell us the exact date you entered the UK, following the issue of the visa in April 2006, it will be possible to say exactly when you can apply for your ILR.

Thanks John.

I entered once again on April 18th 2006 as WP holder. Hope it helps.

Many Thanks
Sriv

OK, so 28 days before the 5th anniversary of that date is ...... 21 March 2011 .... so that is the earliest date that you can apply for your ILR.

Have you already got your pass certificate from the Life in the UK Citizenship test, or have you still got that "pleasure" to come?

PaperPusher wrote:Same visa but after Feb 2005 a restriction of 12 months employment was imposed.

Gosh, I was stopped from working for more than 12 months on mine in 2002! Even though I was granted it in the days where you were free to work for the full 2 years, I was told by my agency (just as they'd placed me in a really cool job!) that they had to drop me from their books, because I'd been employed in various positions through them for just over 12 months and they could get fined. Seems I was done!

In any event, the WHM visa was never a visa which contributed towards ILR.