Furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

[KVP]

Hi all,

We got into an unexpected situation. Would be grateful if you could you provide answer.

I have got ILR 5 years ago.
My family (Wife+1 child) got family visa FLR-M extension in July 2019, visa extended till Jan-2022.

And then We (Wife+child+Me) traveled to India on 23-Oct-2019, so we have vacated our rental property since we planned to move to another town when we return back.

We only wanted to stay in India for 3 months and return to UK after that. However due to other reasons, we stayed back 6 weeks more, and planned to travel by Mid of March 2020 (by end of 5th month).

Then unexpectedly we are into lock down in India due to Corona virus. All international flights arrival are banned from mid of March, so we are unable to travel back to UK and stuck up. I could not book the flight tickets yet. Still not sure when we will be back to UK.

So effectively we are staying India for more than 180 days. Could this be a problem while applying for ILR for my family in Oct 2021 (by then they would be completing 5 years stay).

We do not have property in UK at the moment from the day we left UK, so no utility bills are received for more than 180 days. Only we have online Bank statements which are running.

I am concerned about
1) cohabitation rule (bills to be provided for 2 years)
2) or any other rule with respect to living away from UK for more than 180 days in a year.

Is there anything we could do?

Many thanks.

[CR001]

There is no absence limit for spouse visa holders. 180 days is irrelevant to this visa category.

You will require 2 years evidence of cohabitation.

[KVP]

Many thanks CR001.
You have been helpful as always.

On point 2, I can only submit utility bills for around 1 year 8 months (If we can travel in May2020- and If they apply for ILR on Jan 2022).

Anyways we can't do anything about it now, and will have to explain in cover letter.

Many thanks.

[seagul]

Could this be a problem while applying for ILR for my family in Oct 2021 (by then they would be completing 5 years stay).

Their visas will expire in Jan 2022 while their 5 years will be finished on October 2021 which seems highly disproportionate unless it is a typing error or their previous extension got delayed 3-4 months . If not then maybe you are counting their previous period on previous visas towards 5 years of family route which won't be allowed.

[KVP]

Hi Seagul,

Thanks for your reply and helping mind. To answer your point, my spouse & child got visa as below:

1) Initial Spouse visa from 15-Sep-2016 to 15-Jun-2019 (They traveled to UK on 26-Sep-2016)
2) FLR M extention from 19-Jul-2019 to 10-Feb-2022

So they have got few extra months overall. So I believe they can apply for ILR from 27-Sep-2021.
Please correct me if anything is wrong. Thanks!!

[seagul]

Hi Seagul,

Thanks for your reply and helping mind. To answer your point, my spouse & child got visa as below:

1) Initial Spouse visa from 15-Sep-2016 to 15-Jun-2019 (They traveled to UK on 26-Sep-2016)
2) FLR M extention from 19-Jul-2019 to 10-Feb-2022

So they have got few extra months overall. So I believe they can apply for ILR from 27-Sep-2021.
Please correct me if anything is wrong. Thanks!!

They can apply ILR after completing 5 years minus 28 days from the date of entering to UK under five year of route. Before the lockdown you had plenty of of time to travel to UK but you didn't due to your personal matters which prevented you in gathering evidences of cohabitation and that excuse won't be considered. However, bank statements if keep generating during these months then these can be used as one single source and you can cover remaining period on arrival with other sources.

[KVP]

Hi Seagul,

Yes, bank statements are running on our names.. just to cover that period, I can submit them although we are not staying in that property during last 6 months.

Thanks you!!

[seagul]

Hi Seagul,

Yes, bank statements are running on our names.. just to cover that period, I can submit them although we are not staying in that property during last 6 months.

Thanks you!!

Maybe it work unless caseworker starts matching them with previous address history and dates of absence which never happened so far been. Also using someone's address without their knowledge and consent is not legal & ethical.

[KVP]

Yeah, correct. Thanks for this point. Better I will explain in cover letter, as caseworker will know our travel history anyways.

Hope that the ILR application form itself asks for all travel history & accommodation history, so we can't really cover up or escape. Explaining in Cover letter may be the correct option. Thank you.

[KVP]

Hi,

My family (Wife is on FLR-M extended), will be eligible to apply for ILR by Sep-2021 under 5 year route.

We have our own limited company, in which both of us are Directors.

I found Government guidelines which states as below.

You can claim for employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts. Foreign nationals are eligible to be furloughed. Grants under the scheme are not counted as ‘access to public funds’, and you can furlough employees on all categories of visa.



Link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which ... ion-scheme

My understanding is that this is not considered as Public Fund. So we are thinking to claim this fund as our company do not have any income for past 6 months due to ongoing Covid-19 (and job market) problems.

If possible please go through it once, and let me know if there is a "catch". I don't want to be in trouble while apply for ILR for my family.

If it is okay, We will be claiming this Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Fund for both of us (via our Limited company).

Many thanks!!

[KVP]

Hi Admins/Moderators,

Could you please create as a new thread for my last post -- question about -- Furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Sorry if I have posted within my old posts. Thank you.

[CR001]

Hi Admins/Moderators,

Could you please create as a new thread for my last post -- question about -- Furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Sorry if I have posted within my old posts. Thank you.

Your topics were merged!! You don't need multiple topics for each question.

announcements/multiple-posts-will-be-lo ... t5722.html

[physicskate]

Hi Admins/Moderators,

Could you please create as a new thread for my last post -- question about -- Furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Sorry if I have posted within my old posts. Thank you.

Are you both salaried employees under the PAYE scheme of your ltd company? Or do you pay yourselves in dividends?

It is unclear (at this point) what proof of coronavirus hardship is required to claim under this scheme, but it may be hard to prove the hardship and your furlough is due to coronavirus as you have been absent from the UK since before this scourge hit humanity (since before this virus infected people).

[KVP]

Hi Physicskate,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, We both are under PAYE scheme of our ltd company. We draw salary every month in addition to Dividends (which we draw once in 6 months). My accountant told me that we can claim, so I will go via accountant to check all eligibility.

However, My original post was about whether this will impact ILR for my family. I did back-to-back reading. I am now 99% convinced that it will not affect since it is clearly mentioned that "Grants under the scheme are not counted as ‘access to public funds’", but at the same time, I do not want to get trouble on my family ILR because of this claim.

Thank you.

[mrgeek0]

It won’t affect.

[physicskate]

Hi Admins/Moderators,

Could you please create as a new thread for my last post -- question about -- Furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Sorry if I have posted within my old posts. Thank you.

Are you both salaried employees under the PAYE scheme of your ltd company? Or do you pay yourselves in dividends?

It is unclear (at this point) what proof of coronavirus hardship is required to claim under this scheme, but it may be hard to prove the hardship and your furlough is due to coronavirus as you have been absent from the UK since before this scourge hit humanity (since before this virus infected people).

My concern would be at some point HMRC investigate some of the payments made and realise that your company's hardship wasn't as a result of coronavirus - but instead that you were out of the country well before the pandemic and your company wasn't doing so well before the pandemic hit and that claiming hardship due to coronavirus isn't the whole truth. There could be a suggestion of fraud as this is a question that is asked on the application? And that WOULD impact any ILR application.