ILR refusal- any advice??

Hi everyone,

I just got a bit of a shock in the post a few days ago and I was
hoping someone might have some advice.

I recently applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain when my 2 years
were up on October 3rd. I just got all of my documents returned to
me and a letter stating that I had been denied ILR on the grounds
that I had not completed my 2 year stay in the UK. I was given a
temporary Visa and told I had to re-apply in Jan 2008.The letter
also stated that I was not allowed to appeal this decision.

The reason this happened is because when I arrived in the UK Oct 3,
2005 I flew from Los Angeles to Dublin and then changed planes and
flew onto Heathrow. At Dublin the Immigration Officer asked about my
travel plans and I told him I was moving to England on a Spouse
Visa. He stamped my passport and wrote "In Transit-UK' in it. When I
arrived in London we didn't go through Customs and Immigration,
because I guess the Dublin to London flight was considered to be a
domestic one. So no one checked my passport.

In Jan of 2006, after I had been here over 3 months, my husband and
I went to Amsterdam for the weekend. Upon our return to the UK, the
Immigration Officer asked if this was my first time to the UK on my
Spose Visa. I told her no, I had been here since October. She then
stamped my Visa and told me that I should have had my Visa stamped
for validation in Oct and warned me that it may cause problems for
me in the future.

Before I applied for ILR I rang the Public Enquiries Office in
Croydon and explained my situation. They said that since my passport
was stamped Oct 3 in Dublin and that I had supporting documents
proving I was here, that it wouldn't be a problem when I applied.

In my application packet I also included wage slips from November
and December 2005, proving that I was indeed present in the UK from
October 2005. Unfortunately because my husband and I lived in
University accomodation at the time, we don't have anything in the
way of bills or utilities in our names for that time. I was here for
about 6 months before I could even get a bank account. But, I
thought that our tenancy agreement and my wage slips would be proof
enough that I was here.

I rang the Immigration office who refused my ILR and they said to
write letter to the person who sent me the refusal letter. I did
write a letter explaining what had happened and sent that along with
all of my documents and passport back to the Immigration officer
yesterday.

I can't imagine having to take the Life in the UK test again and
then pay another 750.00 pounds to apply for ILR in Jan if they still
refuse my application. Especially since my husband is a student and
we have a baby, we are not in the financial position to throw out
1500.00 pounds in a span of a few months!!!

I am trying not to be bothered until I hear from the Immigration
Office again, but I am really worried and upset!! I did not expect
this at all!!! I had a friend tell me yesterday that since Dublin
isn't part of the UK, then they may still refuse my application.

I'm sorry this is such a long post, but I wanted to try to explain
my situation clearly. Any advice or similar experience would be very
much appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Shannon

No advice to give - but I definitely feel for you.  I'm also missing a stamp and am applying for ILR next year.

I hope everything works out.  Let us know what happens.

Sorry this happened.  A bit of good news (emphasis on bit), you shouldn't have to take the Life in the UK test again provided you have proof you've passed it.

I might be a little confused why you are concerned about not getting it after the extension, but you should be ok in January if that IO stamped your passport properly.  You will be able to prove you've been in the UK 2 years for sure after that entry.

Just out of curiosity, when does the extension visa expire?

The extension expires Jan 23, 2008. I'm not that bothered that I may have to apply again, I am just really upset that will have to pay the 750.00 pound application fee again, if they continue to refuse my current application. That would be 1500.00 pounds paid to the Home Office in the span of a few months!
I also thought that you can only take the Life in the UK test within a limited amount of time close to your application date. But if my current test will still be valid, then that is small amount of good news

I'm sorry I have no advice, but this is quite a common problem.  Many people do not realise that you must let the airline staff know that you must be stamped into the UK if you coming from Ireland.  The advocacy group has written an advisory regarding this because it's very common.  The article is here: http://www.uk-yankee.com/articles/advocacy.php?itemid=80  Even though I know it won't do you much good now.  Again, I'm very sorry you got caught up by this.  I hope it all works out and you do not have to reapply.

I also thought that you can only take the Life in the UK test within a limited amount of time close to your application date. But if my current test will still be valid, then that is small amount of good news

On the Life in the UK site, they recommend that you take the test as close to your visa application as possible, but I read no limitations.  Someone can correct me if I am wrong.  If there is an expiry, you'd have the situation where someone might have to take the test again if they go for their citizenship.

I took my test 6 months ago and I'm not due for my ILR until January. Theres no problem with taking the test early. I made a point to find this out before I took the test, to save me the time and money

Ignore.

The extension expires Jan 23, 2008.

So I wasn't the only one who got their FLR extended to only make up the time and no further. Shouldn't it have been extended for 2 years?

Wow.  We're going to be in a similar situation when my husband applies for his ILR.  He wasn't stamped coming in to the UK, just in Ireland where they wrote "1H Edinburgh 24 hrs" (whatever that means) on the stamp.  At the time we didn't know about making sure to get stamped coming in.  When applying we were just going to write a little explanation and include the flight itinerary.  It isn't helped by the fact that the passport he entered the UK on has since been lost.  We only have photocopies of it (original visa and stamps) and this was enough for them to re-issue a new visa (FLR) but I wonder if it will be good enough for ILR?  Not much else we can do at this point though. 

Edit - Also I thought FLR was less expensive than ILR?  Seems a bit crappy to take the whole 750 and expect it again in January.

FLR is less expensive than ILR, however they see it as being "generous" in letting you use that money toward FLR instead of just taking your £750 and making you reapply & repay for FLR...

So will I have to pay the entire 750.00 again in January? I can't find an answer to that anywhere. Thanks to everyone for your responses so far. I am going to an Immigrant Legal Clinic today to see if I can get anymore information.

Also, someone told me they keep all of their phone calls on recored, so I can provide the Public Enquiries Office with the time and date of my phone call and they can hear that one of their employees did tell me to apply in Oct, not in Jan. Has anyone heard about that?

Thanks again,

Shannon

 do you have to ask their permission or tell them that you are recording the phone call? I know you have to in America and not sure if you have to here

Unfortunately, yes you will have to repay the entire £750 when you reapply for ILR. (This is from my understanding - Victoria or Gary would be able to give you a definitive.)

I believe (don't quote me on this) that you do have to notify someone you are taping them.  This was a big issue with Sir Ian Blair taping people without them knowing about it a while back...

When you ring the Public Enquiries office, the recorded information does tell you that all of their phone calls are recorded, for training purposes, I think  is the reason they give you.

So yes, they do inform you that your phone call will be recorded.