HarryJones wrote:
As a member, I always agree with our moderators on this forum as we try to disseminate the right message and advice people accordingly.
However we should also be careful in the choice of our words. From the quote above, we do know that both HMRC and HO are different – but they do rely on each other for important information.
Moreover, both HMRC and HO exist under the same United Kingdom government.
Now, we all know that HO does not condone deception and therefore it is not acceptable. On the other hand if the same offence that warrants deception to HO is not being considered as deception to HMRC, then people would be forced to say that they are being deliberately deceived by the same office that disapproves of deception acts in the first instance. If HMRC discovers that some people are guilty of deception, why can’t they call it a quit for them rather encouraging them?
In a nutshell, “What is accepted for one is often not accepted for the other” is sending a wrong message that should not be accepted in a good community like we live in.
My message is not in any way accepting wrong practices in our system. So let us be careful of the message we pass across.
In case it's not obvious the Board and the Moderators who serve this community (all volunteers) are private individuals;
we/they are in no way aligned with or representing the Home Office nor, for that matter, any wing of Government.
Ofcourse, amongst our 100,000+ members there may or may not be members of the Government &/or Civil Service ; I cannot possibly confirm or deny that.
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
- Benjamin Franklin.
ILR is ofcourse not a 'visa' nor a right.
It is a privileged
settled status for guests in this country to aspire to.
Similarly citizenship and even a first British passport are not rights but
privileges.
All privileges need to be earned (& can be removed).
Reaching one step of a ladder does not guarantee you will make it to the next one (let alone the rest of the way up).
Some members have been on their ILR journey for up to 10 years.
That is surely ample time to learn British culture and traditions, such as filing of tax returns, paying taxes on time & etc.
It should also be obvious to anyone living in a modern Westernised democracy that the system has many flaws.
A lack of joined-up thinking for one.
High-powered and entrepreneurial businessmen (often with teams of professional advisors)
in any part of the world clearly need to understand the business and political climate they operate in.
How could anyone survive in business by any other way?!
Pleading ignorance and/or those who are
'innocents abroad' will simply get trampled underfoot by the competition.
Migrants and tax avoidance/evasion are both current hot potatoes, how could anyone fail to grasp these political truths?!
It is patently clear how the land lies in the prevailing geopolitical climate.
Also understand that HMRC and HO are two different government departments.
There is no guarantee of joined-up thinking or alignment between the two.
What may be acceptable to satisfy one set of legal requirements (say, tax) may not be sufficient in another area (eg immigration).
I have discovered one sign of increasing maturity is when we stop blaming our parents for our misfortunes & the way life turns out.
(I include myself in this).
I am becoming more and more convinced that this probably applies in terms of blaming HMRC & HO for tax and immigration misfortunes too.
So it should be clear that HMRC does tax - not immigration.
And the Home Office, amongst many responsibilities, does immigration.
HO clearly uses evidence of past behaviour, assessments of good character plus numerous datasources (such as HMRC records) in reaching visa & naturalisation decisions.
What may be acceptable or accepted in one jurisdiction won't necessarily fly in another.
Conclusion: be aware; plan & act accordingly; operate defensively - play it safe. Always have an exit plan.
Of the 100,000+ members of
ImmigrationBoards it appears only a minority fall through the cracks and become trapped by the system.
And the types of cases being posted and reported are typically failing under 322(2), 322(5), etc.
These cases cannot be failing at the mere whim of a hard-pressed or over-worked or under-trained caseworker;
There are checks and balances so that such cases have to be referred to and reviewed by senior caseworker/s
and they are also subject to a considerable burden of proof.
Political events of even the last 24 hours should remind us that the only constant in life is change.
What may have been the situation ten years ago may not be (and certainly is not) how the system works now.
And it is the Government that has the power to change the rules and shift the goalposts; especially for privileges such as the granting of ILR & citizenship & passports.
In the words of the immortal Sergeant Phil Esterhaus:
"Hey, let's be careful out there".
