Overstay. Please help.

[jaydek]

Hi There
Are overstayers in Ireland banned from the UK also or just from Ireland. I want to appeal my refusal and no one can tell me if I have leave to remain whilst its pending therefore if I proceed I might be overstaying. Im worried when I eventually fly out to Australia from Dublin - Heathrow - Australia I might get in trouble at Dub or Heathrow Airport or will I not go thru passport control on a connecting flight?

Any help will be great.

Thanks

[Christophe]

Hi There
Are overstayers in Ireland banned from the UK also or just from Ireland. I want to appeal my refusal and no one can tell me if I have leave to remain whilst its pending therefore if I proceed I might be overstaying. Im worried when I eventually fly out to Australia from Dublin - Heathrow - Australia I might get in trouble at Dub or Heathrow Airport or will I not go thru passport control on a connecting flight?

Any help will be great.

Thanks

Ireland and the UK form a common travel travel, so (in theory at least) you won't go through passport control on leaving Dublin to fly to London, and your passport won't be checked on arrival at Heathrow.

You might go through passport control leaving London on an international flight (i.e. to Australia) - controls are being brought back in, and they are sporadic at present, but they seem to be happening more often than not at Heathrow terminals 3 and 4.

Although in the common travel area, the UK and Ireland actually maintain separate immigration systems, and I wouldn't anticipate any difficulties if you do have your passport checked when leaving Heathrow for Australia if you have overstayed your stay in Ireland. There might be more questions asked, though, the next time you arrive in the UK from abroad(not counting Ireland).

[scrudu]

About whether you will be considered an overstayer is pretty much a grey area.

Ireland doesn't have the concept of "bridging visas" to cover the time your visa appeal will be processed, but your visa status is considered "pending" by the Dept of Justice.

I was told by the Immigrant Council of Ireland that once you sent your application in by Registered post and kept the receipt you were covered for any overstay period. But I note that this view wasnt taken by the Dept of Justice. My husband (then fiance) sent in initially an Application for Visa extension 6 weeks before his visa expired but this wasnt answered until 1 month after his visa expired (visa app was refused). The refusal letter advised that he was overstaying his visa terms and should leave immediately.

He then began preparing an Appeal of the Decision (you have 8 weeks to do so), but just 3 weeks later he received another 2 letters advising that he was overstaying and should leave immediately.

So I guess the answer seems to be yes, but there is no documentation to cover this, or advise what to do in such a situation. Call me a cynic, but I guess this just makes it easier for the Dept of Justice to have something against you on your subsequent visa applications.

Note though that after receiving refusal of his appeal my husband left Ireland via UK without incident. He then submitted another Visa application (from outside the country) which was accepted. He then re-entered the country via UK without incident.

[jaydek]

Thanks for your posts. They were very helpful and Im going to see if its worth appealing as it could take a long time to hear an answer and might be better back in Australia.
I emailed Justice Department . The advisor was so unhelpful, rude and his tones just really annoyed me. Im not getting much help from them or Embassies but this board is great. So once again, thanks for your replies

[scrudu]

No problems. I wrote a letter over 2 months ago to the Dept oago asking for information on what process we should follow for my husband to extend his stay after our marriage. I have still not received an answer.

I have also been pretty annoyed by the tone and insinuations (i.e. that mine could be a marriage of convenience) I have heard from the Telephone Helpline, that is when you can actually get through to them. But it is usally the quickest way to find out information. That is, if you have time to hold in the long queue, or keep calling from the minute they open at 10AM!!

Another possibility is to call the Immigrant Council of Ireland who have a helpline in the afternoons. They are extremely helpful and polite (NGO).

[victim]

Hello Scrudu,

I want to ask for your advice since you hve the experience.

I overstayed in UK unknowingly due to unfortunate event. I left UK immediately once I found out that I overstayed.

Now I am still in my country an have successfully secured a work permit but the ECO is giving me a hard time - ECO refused my entry clearance.

I want to come back to UK - do you think is it a good idea if I come back to UK via Dublin? I want to vist my boyfriend and it has been over 6 months now - Will I be checked? I am afraid and I don't know if they have me as an overstayer in the computer system.

What is the best transport from Dublin to UK without checking passport controls?

Thanks and appreciate your advise.

[scrudu]

Hi Victim,

I really dont know much about the UK immigration system, so you'd probably be better asking that question in the UK Immigration forum as there are people there who know a lot more about it.

Firstly why did the ECO refuse you your entry clearance? I am guessing they already know your immigration history and are refusing you because of it or because they figure you won't leave when this one ends? If so, then I guess the UK immigration system know that you overstayed already.

If I understand correctly you have been granted a work permit, but not entry clearance. If you enter the UK without this entry clearance (e.g. bypass passport controls) you will then be an illegal immigrant in the UK which probably won't help any future applications you make for the UK.

Also, you didnt say what country you are from, but you may need a visa for Ireland also, and if so, this will take approx 2 months to process. The visa will be valid for the duration of the purpose of the visa, with a maximum period of 3 months.

Is there a possibility that your boyfriend could come to visit you while you are figuring out your UK visa?

[victim]

Helo Scrudu,

I am from Malaysia n don't require a visa. If I enter UK via Dublin I will be a visitor and not illegal.

I only intend to visit my boyfriend a few weeks and back to Malaysia. I don't want to work illegally.

My entry clearance was refused based on ECO don't believe I am going to UK to work and do not believe I will come back. My work permit is valid for 18 months.

ECO said I can go to UK but advised to get entry clearance first to avoid difficulties at Heathrow airport. What upset me is that becoz I have overtayer status I will have problem.

Please tell me which transport is best without much interogation passport control from Dublin to uk?

Thanks

[scrudu]

I really dont know which way is best to go to avoid immigration control. From my experience it seems to be randomly, but I dont know how it is for non-Irish travelling.

[Kayalami]

The rules of this forum clearly state that posters not submit or request information that pertains to the evasion of immigration controls. The contents of many of the threads on this post allude to such. Accordingly this post is now locked.