I am a US citizen. I have lived and worked in the UK, fully legally, since 1997. I received Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status in 2001.
Last summer, upon returning to the UK from a week abroad, at passport control at the airport, I presented my passport including the ILR stamp. The officer inspected, merely said "That's all fine," stamped my passport, and let me through. This seemed typical of what has happened many times at passport control over the years since receiving ILR.
Two months later I travelled again for a few weeks. Upon my return to the UK, while I was waiting in the passport control queue at the airport, I flipped through my passport and looked for the first time at that stamp from two months prior. To my horror, it said "Leave to enter for 6 months. Employment and Recourse to public funds prohibited." In other word, it appeared, on the face of it, that with no warning, notification or other commentary, the officer from two moths prior had annulled my ILR status!
When I reached the officer I explained what had happened, and showed her both my ILR stamp and the "annulling" stamp just mentioned. She said "Don't worry, your ILR is not annulled, sometimes officers just get a bit carried away." She then gave me a stamp in my passport of the sort which I had been accustomed to receiving in the years since I had first received ILR status; i.e. the stamp was a simple square, which reads "Immigration Officer" followed by the officer's number, the date, and the name of the airport.
I asked her, how can I prove that my ILR is still in effect? On the face it, I said, my passport contains something explicitly saying I can't stay more than 6 months or work here, but nothing explicit expressing her verbal assurance that my ILR status in fact remained in force.
She said the fact that the nondescript, "normal" stamp was dated later than the "annulling" stamp serves as evidence that I still have ILR, and that all is fine.
Well, if all is fine, not everyone is convinced. This week I went to an estate agent as I am considering moving flats. The agent asked for proof that I am here legally. I showed him my passport, including the ILR stamp. He noticed the "annulling" stamp and said sorry, it appears your ILR has expired. I showed him the later "normal" stamp and told him what the second, reassuring officer had told me, i.e. that in fact I still have ILR. He was not convinced.
So ... to understate things, this has the potential to turn my world and life upside down, as I've built a life and career here over the last 19 years. It's very important for me to to determine a) is my ILR status intact or not, and b) how can I document this to satisfy people who ask for proof that I have the right to live and work here? My conveying the verbal assurance of the second officer clearly did not carry weight. How can I change flats, change jobs, etc if suddenly I can't prove that my ILR is still intact? It’s very hard to dismiss or explain away a stamp which explicitly says I've no right to be here.
I'd be extremely grateful for any help.
