Most supporting evidence for ILR Stlolen ! Please advise

[triiishiii]

Hi All,

Rather unfortunately, I was in the midst of preparation for my visa application due early month, and had all my documents in 1 single folder in my work bag, and my bad luck - the bag was stolen from my car during a brief stop to the shop.

As my application was pretty straight forward initially, I booked my appointment in first week of November for Settlement in the UK - Tier 1 Route.

However, after this break-in I have lost everything, I have no supporting documents - Salary Slips, P60s, Old Passport, new Passport, Life in the UK test results are all gone !!! I am dooomed...

I have obtained a copy of the Police Report from the Police Station stating that my passports - current and former were stolen along with P60s, Salary slips, Life in UK results etc.

I am trying to obtain a Passport first thing, and have contacted HMRC for Employment history, and gone through e-mails to look for BoardingPasses etc

So my questions are now :

1. Is still worthwhile me going for an Appointment ? Would UKBA not turn me down ?
2. Anyone been through similar situation ?
3. What happens to Life in the UK test - do I have to re-take it ?
4. Would UKBA accept copies of Salary Slips, P60s ?
5. Would UKBA accept Boarding Passes as supporting evidence to entry-exit in UK ?

Please help. I would appreciate your advice and any similar experience, please share.


Key info:
Appointment booked : Nov 5th 2012
Tier-1 Visa expiring : Nov 26 2012
Current Passport with current visa : Stolen

[geriatrix]

Very unfortunate! But don't worry ... you aren't doomed .. not yet at least!!

1. Payslips - Will your employer be ready to issue you a letter instead? Photocopies will not be accepted.
2. Bank statements - If lost, order duplicates from the bank.
3. LITUK - book one without delay.

You may need to apply for TOC before you can apply for settlement. You will need the police report and the most recent approval letter from UKBA confirming grant of limited leave to remain.

Consider rescheduling the appointment closer to the date of expiry ... to give you more time to get the things in order.

[triiishiii]

Thank you sushdmehta.

I have most of the boarding passes, not all tho. For the rest I have booking confirmation.

Very unfortunate! But don't worry ... you aren't doomed .. not yet at least!!

1. Payslips - Will your employer be ready to issue you a letter instead? Photocopies will not be accepted.
2. Bank statements - If lost, order duplicates from the bank.
3. LITUK - book one without delay.

You may need to apply for TOC before you can apply for settlement. You will need the police report and the most recent approval letter from UKBA confirming grant of limited leave to remain.

Consider rescheduling the appointment closer to the date of expiry ... to give you more time to get the things in order.

[geriatrix]

Boarding passes, booking confirmations, e-tickets - anything confirming travel outside the UK will help.

[triiishiii]

Thank you.

Does it then mean that I will have to now present Bank Statements for all 5 years ?

I dont know how will I prove I have been in the UK ? Would the boarding passes and booking info suffice ?

Boarding passes, booking confirmations, e-tickets - anything confirming travel outside the UK will help.

[innocentdevil]

very unfortunate indeed.

like said above, get LIUK test booked (though it is a farce because UKBA do have those details uploaded on to their systems).

Get employment history off HMRC. Get bank statements from bank for last 12 months ( they may want to charge you a tenner for it) but get it done.

also, try to get your SAR file off ukba (though it take upto 40 days).

Its not the end of the world.

also, you still have nearly 2 months as your visa expires end of november so book an appointment near end and get your head down sorting the docs

[triiishiii]

Thank you.

May I ask what is "SAR file off ukba" ?

[peppekalle]

Thank you.

May I ask what is "SAR file off ukba" ?

Subject Access Request
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/navig ... onal-data/

[geriatrix]

Does it then mean that I will have to now present Bank Statements for all 5 years ?

No, I was referring to the bank statements covering the "12 months out of the preceding 15" to be used as second evidence for income.

Don't worry too much about "how to prove I have been in the UK during the 5 years". Collect as much information and evidences of your absences as you can - to be on the safe side. You aren't the first person who has had the bad fortune of losing a passport!!

[triiishiii]

Thank you for helping

Is there any else I need to be super precaution about ?

Any other tip-off/advice ?

[geriatrix]

Get your new passport ASAP.
Get your TOC done (in person) thereafter.
Make sure you keep the original police report with you safely. If you need to submit to get a new passport, make sure it is returned to you.

As for SAR, it takes more than 6 weeks to get a response so it may not be with you in time. But there is no harm in applying for it ASAP. Make sure you specifically ask for the information you need from UKBA.

Don't worry!
And come back if you have any queries.

[arifahmmed]

Hi triiishiii: Please look following thread. Till you have time to collect all supporting informations.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=58599
Thanks

[triiishiii]

Hi sushdmehta,

I was thinking if it is really really necessary to do the TOC ? This is because the Visa will be expiring anyway in a couple of weeks - if I have a copy of the Visa from the Stolen Passport and my Police Report, do you think Home Office may consider this ?

[geriatrix]

My suggestion would be that you check about this with UKBA directly.

[wpilr_nov12]

My suggestion would be that you check about this with UKBA directly.

And when you do that, make sure both your questions and UKBA response is in writing/email. It will be very difficult (in your case and circumstances) to base any argument in your favour on phone conversations.

[geriatrix]

Having given the issue a thought last night, I think TOC is perhaps a bad idea.

Even if you apply for TOC in person it may not be approved on the same day, given the circumstances. If that happens you'll not be able to apply for settlement until TOC is approved and you get your passport back and the BRP is issued. TOC is not an application for further leave to remain and therefore your current leave will not be extended under section 3C after its expiry thereby making you an overstayer if it is not issued before the date of expiry of current leave. With the introduction of a new rule on 01-Oct, one can make an out of time application for settlement within 28 days of becoming an overstayer (245CD(i)) but there is no guarantee that you will issued the TOC within those 28 days so as to enable you to apply for settlement in that 28 date grace period.

Therefore, applying for TOC is a bad choice unless UKBA can guarantee that if will be issued before expiry of your current leave or in such time that you are able to apply for settlement within 28 days of becoming an overstayer. And we all know that UKBA does not / cannot give any such guarantee.

Taking all this into consideration, I would like to change my response to your question "is it necessary to do the TOC?" - Applying for TOC will put you at a greater risk regarding your settlement application or lawful stay in the UK if it is not issued before the expiry of your current leave. So it may be wise to avoid it and take your chances with applying for settlement without TOC.

In such case, you may wish to consider applying for settlement by post as an in person application is highly likely to be deferred pending verification(s).

[geriatrix]

Question - Have you been with the same employer these 5 years or with more than one?

Employers would have records of your paid leaves and business trips (if any) which will help you get a better idea of your absences from UK.

[innocentdevil]

i would still say get SAR file. The SAR file I received from UKBA listed all my absenses and it even had the landing cards in it which is normally filled when at the airport so you can get many info off that. they say its 28 days but i received mine within 20 days. well worth it as it has literally everything in it.

[triiishiii]

Thank you Sush. I agree with you TOC is not a good idea.

@innocentdevil - From what I see on the UKBA website, I have to be exact on what I ask for with SAR requests.

In my case, just a thought - I will need :

Days In/out of country ?
Passport Visa Records ?

What else should I ask for ?

It appears that it takes 40days now to receive the documents..

[pokhreligautam]

Thank you Sush. I agree with you TOC is not a good idea.

@innocentdevil - From what I see on the UKBA website, I have to be exact on what I ask for with SAR requests.

In my case, just a thought - I will need :

Days In/out of country ?
Passport Visa Records ?

What else should I ask for ?

It appears that it takes 40days now to receive the documents..

Hi
In my opinion its better to ask for an entire content of SAR file from UKBA.
the turnaround for SAR is roundabout 40 days.
I received mine within 35 days.

[triiishiii]

Thank you, All. I just thought I'll share this..

I just managed to get through to UKBA after 35 mins of waiting - I got thru so I cant complain

So I asked the Advisor the following:
(i) Do I need to take Life in UK Test
The answer was No, in the case of stolen documents. UKBA holds an electronic copy of the test results

(ii) applying in Person
He said it is a risk, either they will turn me down and ask me to apply by post or take my application and process it further - This would be at the discretion of the case worker

(iii) SAR File
He said it is OK to have, however UKBA will need to cross verify it - may help speed up the process or may not depends on case worker discretion.

[p2kin]

Thank you, All. I just thought I'll share this..

I just managed to get through to UKBA after 35 mins of waiting - I got thru so I cant complain

So I asked the Advisor the following:
(i) Do I need to take Life in UK Test
The answer was No, in the case of stolen documents. UKBA holds an electronic copy of the test results

That's a very good news to hear.. but I saw some post earlier that if case worker can not find LIUK test pass certificate reference number, there are chances for application to differ..

For appointment for 5th Nov, you have lot of time.. you can book another test today for next week (7 days) & still they'll have enough time for that result to be on record of UKBA.

rest question of payslips/bank statements, I guess your employer can help you with copy of payslips & I'm sure you are yet to get your bank statements as it's yet to be a month for appointment.

for holidays, you can try to get SAR report.. hopefully your embassy should issue a fresh passport in next few days..

I'll say go for an appointment with whatever you have.. if CW says apply by post, that was anyway your last option... go for it.. and btw, which PEO you have your appointment?

[wpilr_nov12]

Wouldn't s/he need a passport to for LIUK test again?

[p2kin]

Wouldn't s/he need a passport to for LIUK test again?

I used driving license for my test... photo identification is must (need not only be passport)..

[triiishiii]

Thank you all for your help on this thread. I really appreciate ( without these very helpful tips I would not have made it today...)

I am just back from Croydon PEO, and my application for ILR was successful.

With the application form, I had enclosed a letter stating my circumstances and made sure every document I presented did corroborate with another..)

I did not take Life in UK test, but obtained a copy from my SAR which the CW accepted, I had no original bank statements but stamped copies and payslips duplicates.

I had some boarding pass and booking/reservation for travels.

In all, it was a generally good experience at Croydon PEO.

0900AM I was in
0934 I had already done payment, doc verification and biometric
1000AM my interview started took about an hour and half, which is fully understandable, as my application wasn't exactly straight forward.
1130AM I had my ILR

CW was very nice, and patient with lots of my document supporting evidence papers lying around..

Many thanks for all your help here.