From Illegal to Legal: Regularising your Immigration Status
Precarious immigration status affects all aspects of your life in the UK. From being unable to operate a bank account to rent a house to getting employed, overstaying chips your life away from all directions.
'I am an overstayer and have been for a couple of years. I have a child, wife and a job in the UK. I'm scared that I'll get found out and get my employer into trouble'.
Overstaying refers to your stay in the UK beyond your period of authorised stay in the UK or fail to comply with the conditions imposed upon your admission into the UK without reasonable excuse.
The Home Office views overstaying as a criminal offence and it is important that you regularise your status to enable yourself to quite simply “to get on with life”.
'I have a student visa which expired recently. I am unsure about the extension process but only want to stay another 6 months. I'm thinking it would be easier to just overstay, but will that have an impact on ability to apply for a visa in the future if I want to come back?’
Article 8 Claims:
You may be able to claim leave to remain in the UK under Article 8 of the ECHR if you have established a family and private life in the UK.
Under Article 8 claims, the State has the discretion to grant you leave to remain if there are factors that weigh in to prove your rootedness in the UK for instance through a British Child or a child that has been in the UK for 7 years.
7 year Concession Policy:
Spread across various case laws, the 7 year concession policy allows for the human rights claims where a child is involved who is under the age of 18 has resided in the UK for the last 7 years.
Through various evidences, you have to prove the child has stayed in the UK for 7 years continuously, then their parents and siblings will be granted leave to remain. Under the 7 year concession policy the parent needs to prove a genuine and subsisting parental relationship and demonstrate that it is in the best interests of the child to stay firstly, in the UK and secondly, with his parents.
20 year Continuous Residence:
The 20-years’ rule on long residence allows a person who has not lived in the UK lawfully, but simply “continuously” in the UK for a period of 20 years. What this implies is that the time spent in prison will not break the continuous residence requirement. Through extensive documentation, formal and informal, you need to demonstrate that you have lived continuously in the UK.
The 20-years’ residency rule will generally only be refused if the application has not been submitted correctly or on suitability grounds (i.e. it would not be in the public good to grant leave to remain). And once the leave is granted, after 10 years the person will be eligible for indefinite leave to remain.
Final words
Overstaying is a complex matter and can happen for a variety of reasons. However, it is crucial to regularise your stay. The above applications are of extremely complex nature and very often the case needs to be supported by case laws. Hence it is advisable to do these applications with legal assistance not only to get positive results but to save your money and protect your immigration history/status.
If you need a U.K immigration lawyer and need assistance with any aspect of UK immigration law whether from inside the U.K or from overseas, contact Aschfords Law in Harrow, London. We also provide legal advice and assistance in respect of Family Law, Wills & Probate, Litigation, Landlord & Tenant. Please contact us today on +44 (0) 7582932830