benbeaton
12 years ago
Hi there, 

Although your daughter-in-law will get her passport and other docs back on the day of the appointment, she will not receive the Biometric card until a few days later. She is not allowed to travel outside the UK without this. In my experience the biometric cards have arrived much sooner than suggested on the website (usually 3 working days), but obviously that would still be too long for your arrangements. 

I would suggest that you move the appointment. 

Also, when my wife applied for SET(M) she couldn't have an appointment any earlier than 28 days prior to the expiry of her Spouse 2 yr visa, so having an appointment in August for a visa that expires in November sounds too early - although maybe she has a different type of visa. 

Good luck. Ben
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jstuartw
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12 years ago
Thank you Ben. Your message was very helpful and we are trying to re arrange the appointment. Thank you once again, Stuart
mrlookforward
12 years ago
ben beaton's answer is totally and utterly wrong and misleading.

You daughter in law has a visa valid till November 2012.
She will apply for SET (M) in august.
She will get her passport the same day as PEO appointment.
If she now travels overseas, even before her BRP arrives, she can, because she has a valid visa (leave to remain) sticker on her passport that is valid till November.

There is no immigration rule whatsoever that says that one cannot travel if they have a valid visa. Waiting for BRP to arrive does not invalidate the visa at all.

Visa is only inoperative if it expires, cancelled or curtailed.

In a nutshell, your daugher in law can travel anywhere around the world and come back to UK as long as she has a valid visa in her passport. There is no need to change any of your plants including peo appointment.
benbeaton
12 years ago
Hi Stuart, 

I feel I should probably respond to the previous post. 

First off, as I said before, my advice is purely based on my personal experience in getting SET(M) for my US wife in May of this year. 

I have to disagree with mr lookforward. The Biometric cards have replaced the sticker or vignettes that used to go inside the passport. As a result, even though technically you have the right to travel under your valid visa, you are not allowed to travel unless you can present the card which proves this right.

The text below is taken from this Border Forces Operations Manual. 

Since 25 November 2008, under the provisions of The Immigration (Biometric Registration) Regulations, biometric residence permits (BRP) have been introduced for certain foreign nationals applying for permission to remain in the UK. The requirement to apply for a BRP card has gradually been extended across the whole range of immigration applications.  
BRPs are a form of residence permit, and replace the vignettes (or stickers) 
previously placed in passports. This only applies to foreign nationals of 
countries outside the European Economic Area who are granted leave to 
remain in the United Kingdom. 


You will see that chapter 7 deals with passengers arriving without their cards. Whilst it is possible to still gain entry without the card you will see that there is a complicated process surrounding it. 

I hope this is helpful. 

Best, Ben


mrlookforward
12 years ago
First of all, I do not need links to find out what the position is. And my opinion is not based on my personal experience, but on the knowledge of immigration rules.

You cannot become an expert just because you submitted one personal application.

The information you provided is merely stating that for incountry applications, BRP is issued instead of sticker.

When someone arrived in UK, they get a visa which is a sticker. Do they come here and exchange that sticker for BRP as soon as they arrive? NO.

How on earth a valid visa which has been endorsed with a sticker will become useless because someone has made an application in UK?
Where did you read that stickers have become inoperative? Forget stickers, people have 20 years old ink stamps of their status on their expired passports and they still travel without a problem, including myself.

Because a sticker is valid till the validity shown on it. You can go in and out of UK with this sticker 100 times or a 1000 times.

Its only that when you extend your change your leave to remain in UK, that you get a BRP.

You do not seem like a person with any kind of legal knowledge, but for the benefits of others, I would like to clarify something else too.

Its not the sticker that is valuable, or the BRP. Its the leave to remain that has been granted that is important. Somebody could loose their passport, damage the sticker, and shred their BRP, they still are perfectly legal in UK as long as they have leave to remain. In theory, someone can turn up at a UK port, and forget their BRP back home. If the UKBA is statisfied with their identity, they will still be allowed entry into UK.

jstuartw
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12 years ago
Hi, my daughter in law has a two year visa that expires in November 2012. She has an appointment to obtain her SET(M) on 29th August and we understand that if everything goes well and she is successful she will need to wait for 7/8 days for the card to come through. My question is can she travel to a family wedding in Spain on 31st August on her existing passport and visa before her SET arrives?

I have telephoned the UKBA on three occasions and been given three different answers. Obvioisly we dont want to put her position in any jeopardy but it would be great if she could travel to the wedding. Thank you to anyone that can help
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