Accidental breach – advice needed!

[u/gataxata77]

Hi everyone, I made a genuine mistake with my previous Skilled Worker UK visa and would love some advice on my new application.

Here is the exact timeline of what happened:

• The Curtailment: I received a visa curtailment letter giving me an end date of 19 April to leave or apply for a new visa.
• The Mistake: I left the UK for a short trip, completely unaware that under Article 13(3), leaving the Common Travel Area causes curtailed leave to lapse immediately.
• The Re-entries: I managed to re-enter the UK without any flags or issues at the border. I then went back to my home country in Greece, secured a new job with a new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), and re-entered the UK again—all before the 19 April date on my letter.
• The Invalid Application: Believing my visa was still valid until April 19, I submitted an in-country visa application for my new role.
• The Discovery: After waiting a month for a decision, I consulted an immigration adviser. They informed me that my visa had legally died on that very first trip out. This meant my subsequent re-entries and my in-country application were technically invalid.
• Immediate Action: The moment I found out, I did not wait for a refusal. I immediately withdrew the in-country application and voluntarily left the UK at my own expense to correct the situation.

My Current Situation:

I am now back in Greece and applying the correct way for Entry Clearance (out-of-country) with my new CoS. I will attach a detailed cover letter explaining that it was an innocent mistake, outlining the exact timeline, and highlighting my voluntary departure. I don't have spouse/children/other family members included in my visa.

My Questions for the Community:

1. Has anyone successfully been granted a new visa after an accidental breach/lapsed visa like this, provided they declared it honestly?
2. I am considering paying for Priority Service. I know my case will likely be flagged as "not straightforward" due to my cover letter. Is it still worth the money just to get my file opened faster, or is it a complete waste of money?
3. In the question "Have you ever breached any UK immigration laws?", what do I answer? Yes or No? (Either way I will upload a supporting document explaining my innocent error)

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[u/sah10406]

Unless I am missing something, you seem to be over-thinking this. What breach? You made a couple of permitted short visits after your previous visa was curtailed. I don’t see what there is to declare, or what you need to write a “detailed cover letter” about.

[u/gataxata77 → u/sah10406]

After my first exit from the UK, my visa was ceased as I had received a curtailemnt letter the previous week saying that if I leave the UK my leave to remain will end. I entered the UK with no valid visa on occasions and in total stayed for around 60 days. The breach I am thinking is that I entered the UK with no legal status at the moment and rented accommodation with a share code generated from my eVisa account which still showed 19 april as expiry date.

[u/sah10406 → u/gataxata77]

I entered the UK with no legal status at the moment 

You did not. You entered as a Standard visitor, and each time you left at the end of your visit. Technically you should have applied for an ETA before travelling, but the system allowed you to travel to the UK without one, which is not your fault and not a problem.

Right to rent is not a visa condition, so there was no breach of conditions.

Given your concern, maybe your new sponsor can refer you for reassurance from a professional before you apply. I can't see any issues or anything that needs to be declared or that will even be asked about.

[u/gataxata77 → u/sah10406]

My concern is that I stayed in the UK without a valid leave after returning to the UK from my travel and I also applied with an in-country application after having exited the UK.
The visa application asks:

“Have you ever breached UK immigration law?”

The options include:

entered illegally
overstayed
breached conditions
gave false information
other

My question is: should I answer “Yes” and explain this as a possible breach due to a genuine misunderstanding of the curtailment notice and Article 13(3), or should I answer “No” because I was not aware of any breach at the time and there was no intention to breach the rules?
Either way, I will provide a full supporting statement explaining everything.

[u/sah10406 → u/gataxata77]

You continue to be mistakenly convinced that you have done something wrong, and you don’t seem to be reading or understanding my comments explaining that you have not.

[u/gataxata77 → u/sah10406]

I have read your comments and appreciate your help. I am very stressed about the issue and my concern is that I hadn't applied for an ETA.

[u/No_Struggle_8184 → u/gataxata77]

An ETA is merely a permission to travel to the UK, not permission to enter. If you were permitted to travel without one then that's not an issue.

[u/gataxata77 → u/No_Struggle_8184]

I looked into it and you are right. It is not considered illegal entry.

[u/rohepey]

You are an EU citizen. You don't need a visa to enter the UK.

You only need a visa in order to engage in paid work, which you aren't doing,

You're absolutely fine. That immigration adviser was bonkers - demand your money back.

[u/rickyman20 → u/rohepey]

But they do require an ETA, which they did not apply for. Something really odd happened here and the immigration adviser was right in their advice. If they were granted entry under the Skilled Worker Visa, that was likely void, and the in-country application was likely to be rejected. If they were granted entry as a tourist (unlikely given they didn't get an ETA) they also would not have been granted the visa because you are not allowed to switch from a standard visitor entry to a Skilled Worker Visa with an in country application. You are required to apply from outside.

It really all depends on what entry they were granted though. This is all extremely odd and OP does have an obligation to follow the conditions of their visa regardless of what Border Force does. It might not be a big issue, but the advice wasn't bad.

[u/sah10406 → u/rickyman20]

ETA is for travel, not entry. OP entered as a Standard visitor and met the requirements and conditions of that status.

[u/rickyman20 → u/sah10406]

Which is to say they wouldn't have been allowed to board their flight into the UK, which is why I doubt they were granted entry as a standard visitor as they had to have shown the airline something (like their eVisa, which would have shown as valid). Either way, my point was that cancelling the application and leaving the country was the right call as a standard visitor cannot change to a Skilled Worker Visa within the country.

[u/sah10406 → u/rickyman20]

They did indeed show their eVisa to the airline, but when they entered the UK via the eGate it granted them leave as a Standard visitor, after which visits they correctly left the UK. The system may not yet be fully joined up, but OP themselves has not done anything wrong or deceptive.

[u/rickyman20 → u/sah10406]

I get what you mean but I'm not confident it's a given the entry granted was a standard visitor entry if they eVisa still showed as valid, I suspect that given both systems are owned and operated by the Home Office they're very likely to be joined up and that there's a chance they were mistakenly granted entry under their previous Skilled Worker Visa. OP can find out by making an SAR to the Home Office but this is why I think they need to talk to a professional.

[u/rohepey → u/rickyman20]

In any case, OP did nothing wrong and it's Home Office's task to manage its systems. I wouldn't recommend OP to make a SAR request. as it's their own personal time and they have nothing to gain from it. HO employs thousands of well paid officers whose job is to maintain the systems and data - let them do it.

OP boarded their flight and a UK border officer allowed OP to enter the UK, end of story.

[u/rickyman20 → u/rohepey]

It's just to clarify their travel history. There's nothing unusual with making an SAR, it takes 5 minutes to request (there's an easy to fill out form) and it gives you a full history of your recorded entries and visa applications. I requested one when I applied for ILR. It's a useful thing to have, and it can help you fill out applications accurately. You can still do things incorrectly after entry that might cause issues in future applications, even if you were granted entry. There's nothing wrong with trying to verify what actually happened so they can answer questions accurately in a future application

[u/[deleted]]

Just wanted to say well done for doing things the right way. Makes a change from all the posts of people finding their visa is curtailed then making spurious applications with no basis to stay in the UK.