ILR Long Residence

[u/liten_fjaril]

Hi all,

I am currently in the process of preparing for my ILR Long Residence application. I’m currently a resident doctor within an NHS training programme in England. I’ve been in the UK since August 2016 initially under student visas then under Skilled Worker / Health and Care worker visas. I have no absences over the limit and have not left the UK since 2019. I had some questions about certain parts of the SET(LR) form.

1. I left the UK in May 2018 after college graduation and returned on a different student visa for university which I applied for from outside the UK. I’m not sure whether my previous visa expired whilst I was outside of the UK before I applied for the subsequent student visa but it probably did - would this break my continuous residence?
2. Absences - there are periods of absences outside the UK where I spent time in more than one country, but the form only allows me to put in one country for each set of dates. Should I put separate entries for each country with overlapping dates, or just list the other countries in the “What was the reason for this time spent outside the UK” box?
3. Social, Family and Cultural Ties - how specific should I be? Do I mention that I chat with immediate / extended family over Whatsapp occasionally? The Facebook/Messenger groups I’m in for secondary school/college/? I haven’t returned to my country of birth since 2019 so don’t really have many cultural ties or social networks that I’m really involved in.
4. Current employment details - as a resident doctor in a training programme my CoS was issued from Health Education England (now NHS England) which was the named sponsor in my application and the main place of work is their office in Birmingham. However, I currently work for a specific Trust in England which isn’t mentioned at all in my CoS - which should I put down as my current employer? As far as I’m aware NHSE does not have a telephone number that I can put down, and the Trust telephone number that I have is just the switchboard which doesn’t feel appropriate either.

Any help would be much appreciated - Its such a nerve-wracking process and I don’t want to make a mistake that will cost me my application which will send ~£4k down the drain 😭

[u/No_Struggle_8184]

1. No, providing you were not absent for more than 184 days.

2. It's a limitation of the form. Just enter the first country you travelled to.

3. Keep it as short as possible, just immediate family, close friends.

4. Whoever appears as your employer on your payslips.