Post
by sagareva » Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:36 pm
HI numo,
applying 28 days before you qualify is not in any law or immigration rules, it is simply an operational policy concession, but one that has been around a very long time, and has been used successfully by people in your position.
many of them have done it at PEO as well.
what to do with the initial <28 days no one knows, since the rules do not mention the 28 days -- so sometimes it is counted as an absence, sometimes it isnt, but it doesnt matter. do not look for too much sense in this, it is just something that is widely accepted.
normally it is considered that if it is common knowledge that number of people do it all the time and it is routinely accepted, you have a legitimate expectation that it will also be accepted in your case
that being said, they may withdraw this guidance at any moment and stop accepting applications early you simply never know
but there is another long standing concession, which allows you to apply within 28 days since your status expires, and you would then be able to use that (although this one is worse for many reasons)
last but not least, the best solution IMHO for such a case is to apply by post on the last day of TIer 1 leave, and then stall for a couple of weeks (pay by cheque, go in for biometrics in the last few days, etc) to make sure the application is not considered until you complete 5 years.
this will be an entirely fool proof way, in-time valid application will have extended your current leave under 3C, allowing you to complete 5 years of lawful residence by the time your case is considered.
and even though all rules say they need to look at cases as of the date of the application -- and they will -- they will not be able to deny you for not completing 5 years, if you have already completed it by the time they are looking at it. this will be against case law ultimately.
but this is perhaps an unnecessary conjecture, ultimately 28 days early application just works, even though you will not find it anywhere in the immigration rules. so unless something majorly changes, you will be able to just apply at peo.
strange as it may sounds, they are not really evil. they seem to genuinely want to get rid of tier 1 general migrants by letting as many of them as possible to settle, and they are unlikely to suddenly withdraw a concession that will make it possible, especially since you would have no other avenue left then, putting you in a position where they withdraw a long-standing concession leaving you stranded would be a sucessfull JR waiting to happen, HO simply would not do it
I am not a predictor of the future of course,but all IMHO. so i say do not bother with an extra extension, in your case it will be more cost and trouble than it's worth
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