Long Residence Eligibility

Hi

My friend currently has an unconditional place to study Law at university however she is having a lot of trouble sorting out her student finance loans.
We have researched about the long residence eligibility criteria and from what I can understand, in order for my friend to be eligible, she needs to have lived in the UK for at least half of her life and she needs to be ordinarily and lawfully resident in the UK for the last 3 years.

My friend is 19 years old and she would meet the 'Half life' criteria but I was unsure about the second criteria. She had discretionary leave for the past six years and she also received her indefinite leave this year however her finance application was rejected because student finance said that she was not ordinarily and lawfully resident in the UK for the last 3 years. Would anyone be able to explain why they have said so? I thought that discretionary leave proved that she was ordinarily resident.

Thank you very much

Hi muni_98

The three years’ ordinary residence must be lawful residence, so the student should hold some form of leave to remain issued by the Home Office, be it Limited/Discretionary Leave to Remain or another form of leave.

If a student has moved from one period of leave to another during the three years preceding the first day of the first AY their leave must run concurrently, i.e. that the application for the second period of leave was made in time before the first period elapsed.

If there is a gap in the status of the customer during these three years they need to provide evidence that they had made an in time application with the Home Office for further status to be granted.

Thanks Catherine

Hi Catherine,

Thank you very much for your reply. My friend had discretionary leave for six years, which ended last year, and then she applied for indefinite leave and obtained that this year in June. So would she be eligible under these circumstances?

Hi muni_98,

Yes, as long as she sends in evidence showing that she had an in time application as there was a gap in residency from last year till June.

Thanks Catherine

She had a solicitor who helped her with her application for indefinite leave so she should have all the records of the letters that the Home Office sent and also the exact date of her application. Would copies of those letters be enough evidence? or would the solicitor need to write a letter explaining when she applied?

Hi muni_98,

The Home Office would have given her a letter to confirm that she had made an application.

Thanks Catherine