513. Indefinite Leave to Remain

status in UK | leaving UK for two

years or more

Questions Hello, I have read through some of the questions and answers on the online page. I really have a complicating matter, I was wandering if you could take your time to share your knowledge. I am national of Uzbekistan and hold a Uzbek passport, in 2007 I obtained ILR. Since than I had to change my Uzbek passport as it expired in my national country, when I re-applied for ILR in British embassy in uzb, they said they could only give me Returning Resident visa which now I have on my current passport. Returning resident visa I have is has a valid until date, which now has expired. Whenever I go I have a problem with that visa because other authorities don't understand it. I will need to transfer my ILR to my new passport, but I don't know how. UkBA say the Returning Resident and ILR has same rights so I can't get ILR. I am stuck, please advise me Thanks Sevara Answer: You do not mention when you left UK or how long you have been away from UK. If you got your ILR in 2007, how long did you stay in UK? My understanding is that those who have ILR risk losing their ILR if they leave UK for two continuous years or more. You seem to be confused as to what the difference is between ILR and Returning Resident. Generally, a resident would be a person who has been given the right to stay in UK indefinitely. For instance by giving them ILR. When a resident living in UK leaves UK for an extended period of time and wishes to return to UK to live there again, they require a returning resident visa. If you can get a valid returning resident visa, then you may be able to return to UK with your old passport that has the ILR stamp to prove your ILR status. The only problem here seems to be explaining the reason of your extended stay if you have been out of UK for two or more years. If you are currently in Uzbekistan then perhaps the British Embassy there may be able to guide you. The other alternative would be to contact a qualified immigration consultant in UK for help. The UK Border Agency has a web page with information on returning residents that you may wish to read, you can visit the page by clicking HERE.