Hi All,
I just wonder if anyone knows of a general enquiry email address for the UK Border and Immigration Agency. I just can't seem to find one on their website. After countless attempts just trying to get through on the phone to them yesterday, I then spent half an hour waiting in the queue to actually speak to someone. Apart from the failed calls and the waiting, the main reason I would prefer to email them is, I really would like to get their answers to my queries in writing.

When I did eventually get through and speak to someone, I managed to get all of the information I thought I needed, but when I got home and checked out both my wife's and step-daughters passports, I found that the information they gave me has raised other very important questions which I really need to find the answers to.

Just in case any of the forum members have come up against the same situation I will elaborate somewhat, in the hope that someone out there can tell me that things are not going to be quite as bad as they look to me at present.

I called them to establish when my wife and step-daughter need to apply for ILR (earliest and latest dates) with regard to the expiry dates on their settlement visas and their arrival in the UK and also if my step-daughter, who is only 10 years old, should be included on the same application form.

My wife's visa was issued on 12/09/06 and she arrived here on 29/09/2006 and I was told that the earliest date she could apply for ILR was 01/09/2008 and the latest her application could be received would be 12/09/2008. I was also told that my step-daughter could be included in my wife's application, but the person I spoke said that this may be dependant on whether the visa expiry date for my step-daughter's visa was the same as that for my wife's visa.

You've guessed it, they are not the same. The expiry date on my step-daughter's visa is on 10/01/2009 whereas my wife's visa expires on 12/09/2008 and I now need to establish if that means that she cannot be included on her mother's ILR application.

I also need to know that if this is the case and given that her visa will expire on 10/01/2009, what will be the timetable for us to apply for ILR on her behalf and if we will also have to pay another £750 fee. Worse still, could it be that we will have to apply firstly for FLR (£395) on her behalf and then apply for ILR (£750) on her behalf in August 2009 by which time she will have been in the UK for 2 years.

Iain.