Visa Questions

[tealin]

I don't usually like putting important personal stuff up online, but I need answers to some serious questions, I'm short on time, and none of the official channels are working for me.

I have a UK visa which is valid for five years starting November of last year. I put off arriving in the UK because a truly amazing and unmissable job came along, which was short-term enough it wouldn't make much of a dent in my time there, and would open major doors for me overseas. Unfortunately* this job is going well over schedule, which leads me to a vague sort of loophole in the visa rules. The UK Border Agency's website states:

During the continuous residence period, you cannot be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any consecutive 12 months. Absences must be for a reason that relates to the reason for your stay in the UK, or for a serious or compelling reason such as serious illness.

The extended project schedule has me staying here more than 180 days past my visa's start date, which might put me in the danger zone re: The Rules, so I have some serious questions:

1. Does the "continuous residence period" start from the active date on the visa, or from my entering the country?
2. My absence is because of work, which is the same as the reason for my stay, so does that affect things at all?
3. Is an extended contract sufficiently 'compelling'?
4. I have the opportunity to go over for three weeks in February; would this be advisable? (I'd like to know well enough in advance that I'm not buying a last-minute trans-Atlantic plane ticket, but y'know, needs must.)
   

I've asked these questions of WorldBridge, the private company that handles UK visa matters in the States, and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, to which they forwarded me.  After two weeks without a reply from them I phoned the British Consulate in San Francisco and got a phone menu which basically told me to look at the website or ask WorldBridge and gave me no way to speak to a living human (pressing 0 just took me back to start).  So I turn to you, The Internet, my faithful friends and crowdsourcing rogues: Does anyone have any experience with UK visas, communicating with the impenetrable fortress of UK government institutions, or any other insight into my questions?  Quips referencing Mycroft Holmes are not helpful but will be appreciated regardless.

*from a strategic perspective – the job is still great and the people delightful, it's just getting complicated now

Comments

[jacquelineb]

Maybe contact the US Embassy in London? A somewhat extreme work around but they've probably dealt with similar inquiries before?

[tealin]

Good idea! I'm going through my Canadian citizenship but the same idea applies. I hadn't thought of doing it from the other end, as it were. Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

Wandered over from Copperbadge. No specific experience for Canada but I've had dealings with the system as it were. This is more of a potential other route in.

Is it a company sponsored visa by any chance? If so, I'd suggest asking the person who administers the scheme at the company/sponsor-end to ask these questions via the sponsor helpline either via the email address or the phone line. General response time is within 5 days including for clarifying the rules type questions and generally they've been full answers.

I think there is also a migrants helpline on the UKBA site, which might be worth a shot? Never personally used it.

[tealin]

It's a UK Ancestry visa rather than a work visa, which has definite benefits but the downside is that it's just me against the might of British bureaucracy. :) Good idea though!

The 'helpline' on the UKBA website is Worldbridge, which I've gone through already, though in email rather than an actual phone line because having things in writing is good, as someone else mentioned here.

Thanks for helping, though! I really appreciate how forthcoming everyone has been.

[makoyi]

From what I remember when I was dealing with UK student and post study visas, the "continuous residence period" is only relevant for figuring out when you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (permanent residency). If that's not a goal, then I think you can come and go as you please. If it is a goal, you may need to apply for a temporary extension of your current visa as it nears its end in order to reach the number of years required to qualify for settlement (I don't know how easy or difficult it may be to get an extension). As far as reaching someone who can give you an authoritative answer, there's a couple of UK Border Agency enquiries offices you could try --- the one in Croydon actually does give a phone number, though remember to add the country code prefix: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/contactspage/immigration/ .

[zooey_glass]

Here via copperbadge.

I don't have a definitive answer but my experience has been that they have been much more punitive about this recently. I know of at least one case of a student with a Tier 4 visa being refused re-entry into the UK after leaving the country to go on holiday. The advice we're now given is that being outside the country for more than 4 weeks can constitute a visa breach. I don't know how the not being in the country yet will affect this, but since they are now so arsy it is REALLY worth getting a definitive answer on this one. Also, get documentation on that answer - take names of who you speak to, note times, get stuff in writing if possible. My s-i-l nearly got refused a visa at the last minute because someone in the office she was dealing with didn't know the actual rules, and my m-i-l had to resort to printing off the material on the UK BA's website and bringing it into the office before it got resolved. *sighs*

[tealin]

Point taken -- I've been trying to conduct as much of this by email as possible in order to have a written record, and intend to get testimony from my current employers that they really need me to stay this extra time really a lot, and basically cover as many bases as I can imagine. Being pretty familiar with the political situation around immigration these days thanks to Radio 4, I figure there is no such thing as too paranoid when it comes to this stuff, so it's reassuring(?) to get confirmation that this is not a crazy thing to do.

[tealin]

Ooh thank you for that contact info, I will give them a shot tomorrow morning my time, when they're more likely to be open.

[in_the_bottle]

PM'd you.

[hathycol]

Here through copperbadge. I work in a HR department in the UK with a large amount of staff on a variety of different vias. I frequently have to deal with UKBA (for my sins) and I would strongly advise getting legal advice here - if it's possible for you to speak to a UK employment solicitor (one based in the UK) then I would do so sooner rather than later. We are now at the point as a department that we go straight for the legal advice because the rules are currently quite changeable depending on political climate.

(Can I ask what tier of visa you're on? With some of them the trip to the UK might be advisable but each tier has it's own labrynthine rules...)

Long story short: UKBA is twitchy at the moment and the best thing to do if there is even the slightest doubt is to speak to a solicitor based in the UK who deals with USA visas. And I'm very sorry I wasn't able to give more help than that.

[hathycol]

Oh, and good luck with it!

[tealin]

No need to apologise! You're helpful indeed. My persistent Radio 4 addiction has made me very aware of how fraught and volatile the immigration topic is, which is why I went for this visa when I did -- I was afraid that if I waited until after I'd finished this job, the opportunity would be lost. It's a UK Ancestry visa, which on the one hand is nice because it doesn't tie me to a specific employer (very important in the short-contract animation industry) but on the other I don't have a lovely helpful HR department to be my advocate and go-between.

So, thank you for your information! Any and all information is useful in this situation!

[shewalksonroses]

Hi there - here via copperbadge. :)

I'm a dual US/UK citizen who spent years dealing with UK immigration - I know they're primarily USAmerican focussed but the folks at UK-Yankee (http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?board=17.0) are pretty well-versed in answering these sorts of questions, so I'd definitely recommend asking there as there are a few members who're here on ancestry visas. From what I can recall off the top of my head, what was said upthread about the residency requirement only counting for ILR/permanent settlement is correct - also, I think the qualifying period starts from your first entry on the visa, and that the 'start date' is simply the first date on which you could enter on the visa - but I would definitely ask round at UKY.

[meggitymeg]

Also, Worldbridge is an utter waste of time & money - avoid AVOID at all costs. :P

[meggitymeg]

(Both of these people are me - though I am not quite sure how!)

[tealin]

Haha, yeah, I'd come to pretty much the same conclusion re: Worldbridge, but they are the only official channel for the whole visa show on this side of the pond so it didn't seem I had a choice. Their email helpline is free (vs the stupid-expensive toll number) so I've been using that, which has the additional upside of getting all their unhelpfulness in timestamped writing. :)

THANK YOU for the link to that forum! That looks super helpful! I've posted my questions there, and will be very glad to have it on file for future reference. Thank you thank you thank you.

[meggitymeg]

Hurrah! I've just seen your post - hopefully someone will be along in the morning to help you out. There's a user called ksand24 who is well-versed in UKBA rules and regulations so she may well be able to shed some light! :)

[tealin]

Excellent! It's like Immigration Law Christmas Eve. :D