Leave Outside The Immigration Rules (LOTR)

At ICS Legal we acknowledge that not all applications may fall within the Immigration Rules. On this note, the Home Office may under the current immigration concessions exercise their discretion to grant leave to remain to a person even though the person does not meet the criteria of the Immigration Rules, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave.

If the Home Office makes a decision by exercising their discretion, to grant leave outside of the Immigration Rules also known as LOTR, this will be based other than leave on family and private life, medical or protection grounds.

Further, the Home Office may grant leave to enter or remain in any other particularly compelling circumstances. The type of leave to be granted in these kinds of cases will be “leave outside the Rules” although this will probably be very rare. In all cases, you must not fall under the general grounds of refusal as set out on Part 9 of the Immigration Rules.

The intention is that, wherever possible, the majority of applications that fall outside the Immigration Rules will now be considered within the Humanitarian Protection and Discretionary Leave criteria. However,  it is still likely that a  small number of applications the  Secretary of  State or an Immigration Officer may exercise discretion and grant leave to someone who does not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, or the Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave criteria, as well as a general discretion to grant such leave. 

 Where a person does not qualify for leave under the Rules or the Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary  Leave policies, any other leave to enter or remain must only be granted under a further category of ‘Leave Outside the Rules (LOTR)’ – although such instances are likely to be rare.   

Leave Outside the Immigration Rules

It has always been possible to grant someone limited or Indefinite leave to enter/remain outside the Immigration Rules.  Where it is not possible to grant leave under the  Immigration  Rules or to grant asylum or Humanitarian  Protection or Discretionary  Leave,  any other leave to enter or remain outside the  Immigration Rules must be granted under a  further category ‘Leave Outside the Rules’ (LOTR).  

The  only  two  circumstances  where  it  will  be  necessary  to  consider  granting  LOTR will be in mainly non-asylum and non-protection cases:

•  where someone qualifies under one of the immigration policy concessions;

•  or for reasons that are particularly compelling in circumstance. 

Period of leave to remain granted under LOTR

This type of leave to remain is not supposed to lead to indefinite leave to remain to stay; however, this does depend on a person’s circumstances. The initial grant of leave to enter or remain may be granted for a period of 30 months however there is no specific ruling in this category for leave to be granted for that period.

In most cases, you are likely to be granted for a short period, a one-off period of leave. For example, you hold a student visa however you cannot apply for a new CAS due to the University not granting one, therefore you need a few more months to complete your studies, and then the Home Office may grant you a short period of leave to remain in the UK to complete your studies.

Another example can be that you have entered the UK as a visitor and a family member requires your help for a temporary basis, the Home Office may consider granting leave based on this as well. In all cases, we advise that you take legal advice prior to considering lodging an application under this category.

Conditions on your LOTR status

As this category is not a residence permit with a view to settling in the UK, your conditions on the visa will not permit you to claim public funds, no work, and no study. It is very unlikely you will be permitted to undertake those activities unless you place your reasons to be allowed and this will be given due consideration by the Home Office.

Applying for indefinite leave to remain under LOTR

First of all, unless you have applied for indefinite leave to remain to be granted under the LOTR concessionary policy law, it is likely that all grants are with a view for you to leave the UK prior to the expiry of this leave to remain.

The Home Office does not expect you to submit an extension application unless your circumstances have changed or that you need more time prior to departing from the UK. Where you lodge an application for indefinite leave to remain, this will be considered however both your evidence and legal representation will need to set out the reasons why this status should be granted.

For the Home Office, to be granted indefinite leave to remain is regarded as a privilege and not an automatic right for entitlement. In most immigration categories, a person must complete a period of limited leave to remain prior to lodging an application for indefinite leave to remain. However, if your application falls in a category whereby it would be unlawful not to grant you indefinite leave to remain, then the Home Office may consider granting you.

Taking legal advice from a UK Immigration Lawyer

At ICS Legal, we value our clients and always put you first. We listen to you carefully, explaining how we will prepare your application and what merits the application will have including all risks associated with that.

By using our knowledge and experience, we prepare a good immigration application. We are passionate about providing successful outcomes on all our applications we submit including the legal advice we provide. 

In doing this, we create and build strong & long-lasting relationships with our clients that are primarily built on trust.

We believe a good UK Immigration Lawyer is approachable, innovative, and open, with your best interest at the heart of what we do. To get more information speak to one of our Lawyers on 0207 237 3388 or you can email us your inquiry at info@icslegal.com. You can also complete our contact form by clicking here, and one of our Immigration Lawyers will get in touch with you.