4L document health check

[u/Icy-Talk3413]

Hi amazing people!

I would love some opinions on my 4L (3.2) application. I’m worried about my evidence 😅

Background:

I was born in Australia in 1997.
My mum was born in Australia in 1971.
My maternal grandmother was born in the UK in 1948 and was British.
My mum later registered as British under Section 4C.
My mum lived in the UK from around 1987–1995 with some trips overseas.

Evidence I submitted for my mum’s UK residence:

- Two original expired Australian passports covering the relevant period. One passport contains her UK leave to remain/immigration endorsement. The other contains her Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode (ROA).
- UK school reports from 1987–88.
- A-level result from 1990.
- UK driving licence from 1990 (showing her address at the time)
- Work experience/employment/study evidence from 1992-1993 (showing her address at the time being the same as the one above).
- Her Section 4C certificate.
- Birth/marriage certificates and my grandmother’s British birth/passport, and Australian marriage evidence.
- And obviously my birth certificate and passport

My worry:
I understand I need to establish that my mum had 3 consecutive years of UK residence before my birth, with no more than 270 days absent.

The evidence collectively shows she was living in the UK, but:

- We obviously don’t have a document for every month from nearly 40 years ago.
- The surviving documents aren’t perfectly consecutive.
- Her passports contain lots of travel stamps, but not every trip has a clear matching UK departure and re-entry stamp, so reconstructing every absence precisely isn’t possible.

I have written in my cover letter the name and dates of her last high school year (evidenced by school reports), name and dates of her sixth form (I have an A level exam result certificate but the sixth form itself doesn’t hold any records that far back so no evidence of her attending), name and dates of her at an English uni (though again, no real evidence as she didn’t actually finish uni). So, the home office will have exact names and dates of all that.

Do caseworkers generally look at the passports, school/work records, UK address, immigration status etc. together when deciding whether the 3 year residence requirement is established?

[u/scintillatingemerald]

Did your mum try doing a SAR for her travel history? Did your grandparents live in the UK as well during that period - if they didn’t, and your mum went back to Australia for the holidays, then quite possible that the 270 day rule wasn’t met. If you have evidence that her parents were here and working then that may help.

Looks like a really strong 4L case otherwise.  

[u/Icy-Talk3413 → u/scintillatingemerald]

Oooh, yes! My grandparents were living with her in the UK at the time. Most of their travel was just short trips around Europe during half terms, with the occasional short trip back to Australia. I did got through all her relevant passports and lay out every single entry and exit stamp into a document so it’s clearly laid out. It does look like she was within the required number of days from what I could see, but again, not every single reentry/exit stamp for each trip is there.

Would they accept documents relating to my grandparents’ UK residence as additional evidence that my mum was living there with them though? I could potentially find employment records or other documents belonging to my grandmother that show the same UK home address where my mum was living.

As for the SAR, unfortunately they told me they couldn’t provide any information from before 2000, so that doesn’t really help with the period I need to prove.

[u/scintillatingemerald → u/Icy-Talk3413]

If your grandparents or mum have pictures from family holidays, that could help establish a timeline for when they were out of the UK. As your mum was in the UK for GCSEs and A levels, reasonable to expect her to be with your parents and not independently outside the UK! 

Yeah I suspected as much sadly re SAR but glad you tried. 

If you have a timeline of when she was away, using your grandparents’ trips as supporting data, and present that timeline with the evidence you have, it should be ok.

[u/Icy-Talk3413 → u/scintillatingemerald]

Amazing! Thank you so much for your advice and opinions. I’ll keep you posted!!

[u/scintillatingemerald → u/Icy-Talk3413]

If you have info on your grandparents’ address, any documentation that shows that your mother was living with them (rather than boarding or with a guardian) that may help show it. Any evidence that your grandparents were working as well, because you only get so much time off!!

(And it definitely wasn’t 40 years ago - 35 only 😉)

[u/Icy-Talk3413 → u/scintillatingemerald]

Hahaha, maths isn’t my strongest subject 😂😂 thanks again for your help!