Seeking advice on the ILR application

[EL64]

Hello all,

I’m sharing my circumstances below and would greatly appreciate any advice. I’m preparing to apply for ILR for my family (wife + 2 kids), but I believe it’s important to provide an overview of my situation as it might influence the application process.

I arrived in the UK on a Tier 2 (General) Visa in October 2020. In 2023, I switched to a Global Talent Visa and obtained my ILR through the 3-year route in 2024.

My family applied for their PBS Dependent Visas after I made my application (about 1.5 months later), and their visas were issued on 25 September 2020, valid until 14 July 2025 (as stated on their e-Visa). They traveled to the UK on 04 December 2020.

Here are my questions:

1- Which settlement form should we use for the ILR application?
They hold PBS Dependent Visas, but they are also family members of someone who already has ILR. Which form is applicable in this situation?

2- What date should be used to calculate the 5-year continuous lawful residence in the UK?
I read on a webpage that if the date of entry into the UK is within 90 days of the visa start date, the visa start date should be used for calculation. Is this correct? Is there a specific government rule or guideline that clearly states this? Why does the application form ask for the "Date first entered the UK"?

3- Their visa validity period seems incorrect. Although they applied for a 5-year visa and paid the relevant fees, their visas are not valid for a full 5 years (25 September 2020 to 14 July 2025). It appears the Home Office made a mistake in issuing the visa. Can this be corrected now, or will they need to apply for an extension?

4- If they need to apply for an extension, which form should they use? Can they apply for a 1-year extension, or is a 3-year extension the only option? I read the following in a website but I don't know if it is correct: "Please note that a dependent visa holder seeking to extend their dependent visa after the main applicant has been granted ILR (under the standard 5-year route) can only apply for and be granted a 3-year extension."
Does this also apply to ILR granted under the 3-year route?

Thank you very much for your help!

[CR001]

1- Which settlement form should we use for the ILR application?
They hold PBS Dependent Visas, but they are also family members of someone who already has ILR. Which form is applicable in this situation?

Form Set O and will only qualify on 25th September 2025 minus 28 days.

2- What date should be used to calculate the 5-year continuous lawful residence in the UK?
I read on a webpage that if the date of entry into the UK is within 90 days of the visa start date, the visa start date should be used for calculation. Is this correct? Is there a specific government rule or guideline that clearly states this? Why does the application form ask for the "Date first entered the UK"?

There is NO 90 day rule. You are reading old information. Their visa issue date is the start of the qualifying period.

3- Their visa validity period seems incorrect. Although they applied for a 5-year visa and paid the relevant fees, their visas are not valid for a full 5 years (25 September 2020 to 14 July 2025). It appears the Home Office made a mistake in issuing the visa. Can this be corrected now, or will they need to apply for an extension?

What date did your original visa expire? Their initial visa would have been issued with the same expiry date as yours regardless of when they applied for their visas.

4- If they need to apply for an extension, which form should they use? Can they apply for a 1-year extension, or is a 3-year extension the only option? I read the following in a website but I don't know if it is correct: "Please note that a dependent visa holder seeking to extend their dependent visa after the main applicant has been granted ILR (under the standard 5-year route) can only apply for and be granted a 3-year extension."
Does this also apply to ILR granted under the 3-year route?

It is a 3 year extension. You cannot apply for less time. Your ILR granted on 3 year route is irrelevant!!

[zimba]

Applicants can benefit from the date of the ILR decision

[EL64]

Thank you, CR001 and Zimba, for your quick replies.

Unfortunately, I don’t know the expiry date of my first visa. I applied on 23 July 2020.

Zimba, you mentioned benefiting from "the date of the ILR decision." I understand how it could be helpful, but do you think it applies in our case, given the 74-day gap between the visa expiry date (14 July 2025) and the date my family qualifies for ILR (25 September 2025)?

If they apply for ILR on the last day their visa is valid (14 July 2025), it would fall outside the 28-day window. Do you think this could cause an issue? Your help is greatly appreciated.

[zimba]

Did you read what I advised in that link properly ???
What do you think 'benefiting from the date of ILR decision' means ????

[EL64]

Hi Zimba,

Yes, I’ve read your post as well as your responses to others whose situations are similar to ours. From what I understand, in our case, we need to apply for a visa extension, delay the biometric appointment, apply for ILR, vary the application, and then attend the biometric appointment within the 28-day window.

Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks so much for your help

[zimba]

They are short of 3 months. It is not possible It is possible to just delay the extension and vary to ILR

[EL64]

Thanks, Zimba. In our case, the visa issue date is 25 September 2020, and its expiry date is 14 July 2025. I thought we could use the solution you provided to them which are short of 3 months because in our case it is less than 3 years! So, is the only option for us to extend the visa for 3 years?

[EL64]

I thought we can use your solution as in following:

" A trick to avoid extension is to apply for an extension before your visa expiry and delay the biometrics for up to 45 working days but then just before reaching the 45-day mark, you apply again for ILR and vary the extension application to ILR. You can delay the biometrics until you reach the ILR eligibility mark. You will get a refund for the extension IHS ees after your ILR is approved."

https://www.immigrationboards.com/180-d ... 52172.html

Why do you say "It is not possible to just delay the extension and vary to ILR"? This is exactly the solution you provided to them!

[EL64]

Thanks, Zimba. In our case, the visa issue date is 25 September 2020, and its expiry date is 14 July 2025. I thought we could use the solution you provided to them which are short of 3 months because in our case it is less than 3 years! So, is the only option for us to extend the visa for 3 years?

Sorry, "in our case it is less than 3 months!"

[EL64]

3- Their visa validity period seems incorrect. Although they applied for a 5-year visa and paid the relevant fees, their visas are not valid for a full 5 years (25 September 2020 to 14 July 2025). It appears the Home Office made a mistake in issuing the visa. Can this be corrected now, or will they need to apply for an extension?

What date did your original visa expire? Their initial visa would have been issued with the same expiry date as yours regardless of when they applied for their visas.

Hi CR001,
I noticed that my first visa expiry date was also 14 July 2025. The Home Office granted me a visa for 4 years and 10.5 months instead of the full 5 years (from 25 August 2020 to 14 July 2025). Since my family applied a month later and their visa expiry date matches mine, they are now about 2.5 months short of meeting the ILR requirement. As this seems to be an error by the Home Office in issuing the correct visa duration, do you think they would correct it if I contact them now? I really appreciate your help with this.

[zimba]

Yes it can actually be done, you have to delay the biometrics as much as you can though for both applications

[EL64]

Yes it can actually be done, you have to delay the biometrics as much as you can though for both applications

Thanks, Zimba. I really appreciate your help!