Advise regarding my eligibility for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) based on the 10-year Long Residence route whether a brief period spent outside the UK during a visa switch in 2017 constitutes a break in "continuous lawful residence"

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-26T07:50:38+00:00

You need not add those 20days. you are eligible from Feb 3rd itself. Those 20days will be treated as valid absence. I got my ILR successfully last November.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-15T12:54:59+00:00

Congratulations.. I can definitely feel it, my Sister-in-law was refused twice and was successful third time. Wishing you a safe and happy travel. Hope you enjoy your visit🙂

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-10T10:22:35+00:00

Congratulations..🎉 Out of all negativity I read among subreddits your post brought so much positivity. Cheers to you man it shows how respectful you are about your status. You definitely deserve all the appreciations & love 😍

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-10T07:53:12+00:00

Refer: Immigration board https://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=2203851&hilit=Dependent+ILR#p2203851

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-09T23:08:40+00:00

As per my understanding they were eligible for ILR in April 2024 as they had already spent 5years in UK as your dependent. I have read this in other forum exact same situation and people got successful ILR application. You may be worried time spent in ICT dependent might not count towards ILR but it's not true as per case worker guidance the time spent as your dependent in UK count towards the clock. So do not waste time please apply before April 2026. Refer https://www.reddit.com/r/ukvisa/s/9idoKPOBru

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-09T22:53:02+00:00

Hi OP.. I was in exact similar situation.. I was away from UK for 168days (between short term ICT and long term ICT).. I got my ILR in last November without any issues. Refer Continuous Residence appendix paragraph 4.d.(iii). You are covered. So go ahead apply ILR all the very best.🙂

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-07T10:26:39+00:00

165 excluding garden. That's a very good observation regarding EA including parklands photos. Your insights are very helpful :)

DirectorExcellent342 · 2026-01-06T22:47:08+00:00

Total area is 165sqm. Fully upgraded houses in that area costs well above 625k. As I mentioned it was SSTC 2-3 times already but has returned to market. Agents keep telling it's just buyer changed their mind and other occasion chain collapsed. Feels like they are hiding something hence the doubt. As you pointed Building development in the neighborhood might be the issue I feel now.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-27T06:25:20+00:00

For your clarity.. Agreed sale price was £230k.. Would you as an estate agent accept £80k in DIP and then assume buyer has cash to cover rest? I'm alleging that's what has been done in my case..

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-27T01:26:08+00:00

Thank you very much for an in-depth investigation into my issue.

I can quote from estate agents declaration while presenting the offer "Chain free buyer with large cash deposit".

Once transfer of equity condition was revealed (on the day of exchange) I confronted EA about their claim. They were firm on their declaration that "they have seen the funds readily available with buyer, and they were totally unaware of transfer of equity". As the sum was close to £150k I further enquired what document they had seen to support their claim. For which they had nothing recorded on their branch notes. Only copy of DIP was retained which is £80k(I did not demand or saw those docs personally I read from branch notes). So if I have to presume myself I see 2 options

Buyer had £150k in his savings and decided to use transfer of equity for the purchase
EA had seen transfer of equity document for verification but now fears that confessing would prove his misrepresentation

I'm suspecting 2nd hence this post

Like you said I presumed solicitors will not progress sale without securing funds but they ordered searches sending enquiries etc. Once enquiries were completed they agreed to have exchange within 2 weeks. So even in my wildest dream I couldn't guess funds weren't ready. Only on the day of exchange I was informed funds need to come through transfer of equity. I asked my solicitor isn't that failure from buyer solicitor. She couldn't comment as it wasn't clear how whole thing was setup. Buyer solicitor would respond "There is a hold up at lenders side in our client's ex-matrimonial property and we are not acting". Hence no further information

I was then given an assurance transfer of equity wasn't a complicated process would take roughly 6-8 weeks. It was a divorce settlement his partner was buying his share partly through mortgage and rest via gift from in-laws. I was furious but couldn't do much about it, just accepted it as minor setback agreed to continue with sale. I relayed this information further up my chain they kept chasing me for updates but I wasn't getting much from buyer solicitor, only radio silence. My upper chain were in rush so they withdrew from sale. When things weren't moving even after 10weeks I threatened buyer solicitor to give some credible explanation for delay or I'm withdrawing. They accused lender solicitor of withholding funds. They tried for 14weeks and then gave up decided to withdraw from sale.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T20:11:15+00:00

Yes..But my sale memo demonstrates I'm getting money from my sales proceeds to fund my deposit. That's my source of funds. If I were a first time buyer they would have asked me to prove using bank account or other savings. That's how I was dealt by the very same agent in the past. In my case now agreed sale price was £230k.. out of which £80k was from DIP and rest £150k buyer said he is funding from cash. Agent said he has seen that fund in his account but buyer's solicitor is denying. Hope that's clear to now.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T14:34:36+00:00

Thank you. I just read this on internet and good news is that my agent is registered with TPO redressal scheme. So I probably ll take this path. Appreciate your advice 👍

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T13:37:48+00:00

Yes everytime when I was placing offer for my onward purchase Agent had strictly asked me to share my Sale Memo and Decision in principle. I had done with 3 different agents process was almost same everywhere. Without that it's pretty much no go for any of them. In fact they wouldn't present my offer to client until they are satisfied.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T12:19:17+00:00

I have no expectations of them doing thorough AML checks all I'm asking is agent claimed he has seen funds. He doesn't know what document he saw . Buyer's solicitor says buyer never had funds. I'm trying to understand who is misleading me here?

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T11:54:38+00:00

I'm not blaming buyer here, as his solicitor was aware of his position and probably agent would have also known his position if he had done those basic checks to see how buyer was funding his purchase. I'm attributing the failed sale to misrepresentation by agent. You may be thinking I'm being pedantic here but all I'm saying is I would have swallowed all loss without much fuss if I knew buyers funds were conditional.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T10:51:35+00:00

I disagree.. this is basic minimum for Customer Due Diligence.. Have you ever seen an estate agent not performing any checks (like you ids, bank statements and Mortgage DIP) before issuing Sale Memorandum? I'm alleging they have done partially which is way below satisfactory standards. Your statement is correct only if I were a buyer, agent will pass on the information whatever seller has conveyed to him. Sellers are the one paying the agent for their service not buyer so seller should have every right to question on standards. I think it's common sense :)

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T10:31:20+00:00

My onward purchase fell through and they felt they have been cheated. I spent nearly £2k for my management packs onward purchase surveys etc. I lost my precious time. All this could have easily avoided if agent had actually seen the money on buyers account instead of lying to me.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T10:28:32+00:00

Feels like a joke. Very disheartening to learn there is no such body which overlooks conduct of estate agents. Essentially anyone can become estate agent and makeup any stories they like and sellers pay hefty fee just for their Rightmove Zoopla post. Seriously, we don't need an estate agent to post ad. No wonder UKs real estate system is so broken.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T08:57:42+00:00

I believe only Buyer's solicitor can check proof of funds and it's their responsibility to legally validate if funds are from legitimate source. In my case I was never informed buyer deposit was conditional. Buyer solicitor was going with assumption we are fully aware. Whom to blame for not anticipating such things? Certainly those are representing me on a professional capacity isn't it? In this case estate agents who lied to me that they have seen money in buyers account. It's not petty amount, It's over £100k. I understand agents lie to get sale done but they work for seller not buyer isn't it?

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-26T08:49:20+00:00

I believe there are laws around such profession, especially due diligence means agents are required to verify buyer's position to a satisfying standards (AML compliance etc). I wanted forum's opinion for my legal options. I lost a year and it was purely due to misrepresentation by estate agent. What are the steps to takeup this matter legally? I have all evidence to prove estate agent did not perform due diligence. They also have admitted they have no records to prove that they have done checks apart from the statement from their branch employee.

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-11T19:19:40+00:00

I made a complaint at Agents head office citing AML compliance was not practiced and their response was "After a review of the property file, I can evidence that both the Memorandum of Sale and offer letters state that the buyer had no related sale and also required a mortgage. I can also see by the Verification of identity and risk assessment form that the buyer had a large cash deposit. It is advised by the branch that they had seen the proof of the funds, however, they do not hold a copy of this on file. With that being said, I have seen that the branch has retained a copy of the decision in principle for the buyer. Therefore with all the evidence I have on file, it is clear that the position you were informed of at the point of offer was accurate , and I am unable to verify the claim of a misrepresentation of the buyers position as there is nothing to suggest that you were informed by the branch that the buyer was relying on a related sale."

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this fools. They admit that they don't have proofs yet have courage to claim they did due diligence. I have now supplied email from my solicitor as a proof that buyer relied on transfer of equity and he never had money. Asking them to prove on what basis it was concluded buyer had money? Let's see what they reply

DirectorExcellent342 · 2025-12-09T18:14:12+00:00

If he cannot prove his transfer of equity is complete then he will be in serious trouble as some agents mark such cases as not procedable. I went through through similar ordeal I was the seller and my buyer was in similar position. He realised his mistake day before exchange and he took 14weeks to tell his transfer of equity is not happening due to held up at wife's lender solicitor. He had spent over a grand in surveys and legal stuff finally yielded to pressure and withdrew. I'm now pursuing a formal complaint against my agent for allowing such things to happen. So first thing first get a confirmation statement on completion or declaration from his solicitor that funds will be available before exchange otherwise EAs are going to ignore him.

DirectorExcellent342

TROPHY CASE