Sole Representative
Settlement Success
in just 7 weeks!
11 December 2019
‘Again, thank you for all the support during past 5 years, Super! Excellent! Extremely happy with all the services, and sure will highly recommend to my friends!’ Mr LL
Isn’t it great when a client is so delighted with the level of service you provide that they go out their way to thank you in writing. Our client, Mr LL, did just that.
Two months before putting pen to paper, Mr LL had reengaged our firm with a view to securing indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom on behalf of himself and his family.
Mr LL’s relationship with Smith Stone Walters has been ongoing for more than five years. Our Hong Kong based team secured his original UK entry clearance to enter the country from China as a sole representative.
Upon arrival in the United Kingdom, Mr LL set about opening a London based subsidiary and conducting business on behalf of his Chinese employer. Under our guidance, Mr LL also ensured he observed the conditions of his stay and retained the necessary evidential documentation to file in support of his subsequent extension application.
Indefinite leave to remain
This year, having been legally resident in the United Kingdom for a full five years, Mr LL and his family were looking forward to securing their permanent residency.
Our client had met the conditions of his stay so, in his mind, the application for residency was a foregone conclusion.
Unfortunately, it was left to us to break the news to our client that not only can these applications be quite difficult to navigate, the normal processing time was six months. Applying to the Home Office on a premium or priority basis was not an option for this type of residency application.
As part of his application submission, Smith Stone Walters did make a case for our client’s petition to be considered as a matter of urgency. There were certain extenuating circumstances but, as many immigration practitioners will concur, such assertions rarely pique the interest of the UK Visa & Immigration office.
It therefore made sense to warn Mr LL against raising his hopes of a swift outcome and, instead, brace himself for a six month delay. Advice that would subsequently come back to bite us!
Miracles do happen!
Without any justification, seven weeks after the case submission was filed, Smith Stone Walters received confirmation that UK permanent residency had been granted to Mr LL and his dependent family.
No reason was given as to why the Home Office had chosen to complete their assessment of his application a full four months faster than their own published processing times.
Regardless, our client didn’t care a hoot. He was just overjoyed at hearing the news. It had been a long long journey for him and his family to reach this milestone.
Smith Stone Walters was also delighted that our client had secured permanent residency in record time for this type of application.
Would we have liked the Home Office to explain their rationale behind expediting the case ? You bet. In truth, we will we never know. We gave up trying to anticipate the Home Office’s actions a long time ago.
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