SET(LR) vs SET(M)

So I started writing this post as a question about how detailed your "Details of time spent outside UK" need to be. Writing it, I think I may have some gaps that will prevent me from pursuing SET(LR) since it's pretty much solely based on time spent outside the UK.

My husband and I are eager for me to gain my UK citizenship asap as we have life plans that are time sensitive and dependent upon it - we aren't getting any younger!

I have a passport that was torn apart by a puppy - it was my passport between undergrad and postgrad both in the UK. I was able to retrieve a lot of stamps from it, so I thought it would be helpful for the agent to have the passport page numbers to help navigate the pages to see my "leave" and "return" stamps.

Obviously some of them I'm having to say something along the lines of "Leisure - Christmas with my family. Leave date based on boarding pass. UK return stamp on page 13". Is that too much detail? There are also a few updates due to seeking out the stamps, since my last application (FLR[M]), so some of the dates may not match my last application - only a day or two out here and there.

So the problem I'm facing in terms of SET(LR) is that I'm actually missing a number of "leave" stamps (entering another country) from my current passport. Out of 50 trips since moving here originally, 39 are part of my 10 year cutoff for 540 days. I'm missing stamps for 19 of the 39.

For those without stamps, I have

• boarding passes for 6
• flight itineraries for 7
• a cruise itinerary for 1

4 have very tenuous evidence

• no leave or return stamps - an email to my mom about dates, for which my return was contingent on handing in my dissertation
• return stamp present - a facebook messenger convo to friends about dates
• return stamp present - a flight update that was sent to my mom because she booked it for me (lol) - it has the flight date in the subject line - and potentially confusing, my mom and I have the same name!
• return stamp present - a PDF of my university's semester dates for the academic year 2010-2011

And finally 1 with absolutely no evidence for the exit where I do have the stamp for my return.

What's the gist here? Do I even have a chance at SET(LR) or is it a huge waste of money to try?

Why not apply for a Subject Access Request from the Home Office?

They should be able to provide:

Basic

You can request a copy of:

- an electronic summary of your immigration history
- landing cards we hold electronically
- visa applications you submitted from outside of the UK (as part of entry clearance)
- Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) information if you are a national of Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
- Entry and exit into and out of the UK. Your travel history can be provided for the past 5 years if a passport or travel document is submitted for this period
Most people find that this option gives them all the information they need.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requests-for-personal-data-uk-visas-and-immigration/request-personal-information-held-by-uk-visas-and-immigration


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Why not apply for a Subject Access Request from the Home Office?

Thanks! I've just started this application now, but I've reached yet another crossroads.

I'm guessing the certification of my passport will be yet another cost - they have a very specific list of who can certify the document that's much more limited than the normal allowances:

The following people can certify the copy of this document:

• A legal representative, registered with the Office for the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)
• A solicitor, barrister or chartered legal executive
• A commissioner for oaths
• A registered charity

Again I come to the question of whether it's actually worth it because the records only go back 5 years, which means I'll be able to cover off:

• 5/6 reliant on boarding passes
• 5/7 reliant on flight itineraries
• the one reliant on cruise itinerary
• the one reliant on that flight update to my mom with the date in the subject line

It still leaves me with 3/4 tenuous links and the one with absolutely nothing Ironically, I was able to find almost all of the relevant stamps in my damaged passport for all the time before the past 10 years! I'm only quasi-missing one "leave" stamp - I do have the entry visa (Egypt), but it doesn't seem to have a date on it - I spent some time doing Arabic character translation, but couldn't find any numbers on it.

The SET(LR) is currently £2,389 so it's a rather hefty sum I'm not keen to part with unless I can be confident they will trust my travel history. Is this a situation in which I should spend a smaller fee to get a consultation with a solicitor?

Does it specify on the application that you need to provide boarding cards, flight itineraries etc.?

Looking at the immigration rules for Long Residence ILR, it only says the following regarding how they calculate your absences:

Calculating absence from the UK

You must check carefully:
• information on the application form
• any UK exit and entry stamps in the passports
• the landing cards section on warehouse to confirm when the applicant entered the UK

You must be satisfied there is enough evidence to show the applicant has been in the UK continuously for 10 years required under the rules.

I can’t find anywhere that it says you have to provide any other evidence of your trips than your passports.

Though one immigration lawyer website said that if a passport is lost or damaged it’s worth getting a Subject Access Request as well.

As far as I know, UKVI should have electronic records of when you have entered and exited the UK.


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Oh wow! So even though they are only able to meet Subject Access Requests back to 5 years, they'll have the full history available in their archival records for their own checks on the SET(LR)?

I'm 99.9r% confident I meet the 540 days criteria for the past 10 years - according to my latest calculations it's 485 and I just don't see how I could've missed 55 days over the past 10 years - especially since my last longer summer holidays are both fully accounted for with stickers!

When I do the details, should I add in the stamp pages where I know them? Is that too much, or helpful? Especially wondering if it'll just highlight where I don't have stamps anyway.

It looks like exit checks only started within the last 10 years, after new rules brought in with the immigration act of 2014.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32205970

When I did SET LR I had a big long spreadsheet in date order with all the dates of entry, exit, number of days out, proof (in the different columns). There were upwards of 25 trips, can’t remember exact numbers, maybe a lot more... I seem to remember it was at least a page long.

So some of my proof was flight itineraries, some were page numbers with the stamps. I was missing evidence for some. I think for those I put ‘best guess, or email to my parents about my travel’, something like that. I think that was two absences and then itineraries for two/ three and then passport stamps for the rest.

I still got ILR - they could see I was desperately trying to account for the times out.

This was back in 2015 though!! So they may be slightly more stringent now... or not!


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It looks like exit checks only started within the last 10 years, after new rules brought in with the immigration act of 2014.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32205970

There were checks before that, but they didn't cover all modes of transport, or all passengers. That was scrapped in 1998.
Then -

Since 2004 the UK has moved to a more sophisticated approach to checks by starting to collect Advance Passenger Information (API) for both inbound and outbound air passengers. API includes the passenger’s full name, nationality, date of birth, gender and travel document number, type and country of issue.

We are already collecting more data than the old embarkation checks process ever did through API, which is provided for about 80 per cent of all journeys – including 95 per cent of flights. We have a better picture than ever before about who is leaving the country, but it does not cover all modes of transport. That is why the coalition government pledged to reintroduce exit checks for all scheduled commercial international air, sea and rail routes.

The Immigration Act 2014 brought in-

From 8 April, exit checks will take place at all airports and ports in the UK. Information that is included in passports or travel documents will be collected for passengers leaving the country on scheduled commercial international air, sea and rail routes.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-passengers-leaving-the-uk/exit-checks-fact-sheet

Oh wow! So even though they are only able to meet Subject Access Requests back to 5 years, they'll have the full history available in their archival records for their own checks on the SET(LR)?

They likely will if you have used flights since 2004; and they will have all the information on your travel since 8 April 2015 even if you entered/left by ferry or train. They can check that you have not exceeded your limit of days outside the UK. It's why it might be worth doing a SAR to check your total days outside the UK if you are not sure, as ksand has already suggested, as it is up to the applicant to give the correct information.

Everybody has their details recorded in and out: their full name, nationality, date of birth, gender, the travel document type they produced and any number, the country of issue. That information is then added to the data the UK holds on them, which can be used at a later date.

Wow thank you everyone! This is a huge weighted question mark off my head and shoulders! @ksand24 @larrabee @physicskate @Sirius 

I'm nigh on 100% sure I have not exceeded 540 days as of 14 Sept because my last two longer summer breaks from university are totally accounted for with stamps, and then I regretably entered the *~*real world*~*, so I don't see how it's possible for me to miss 55 days of travel, unless I really bonked my head (the 0.0000000000000[...]1% uncertainty).