The Home Office are reported on the BBC news site as saying that Menezes'
visa had expired. 'A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave
to remain "was not in use" on that date, added officials.':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4725659.stm.

What on earth does 'a passport stamp ... "was not in use" on that date'
mean? What's this a euphemism for? Had it been granted but later revoked?
Does it mean that there was an issue date on the stamp and that this type of
stamp wasn't being issued on that date (ie that the stamp is a forgery)?

The phrase "not in use" sounds as if it deserves a "Clear as Mud" award for
its inability to say exactly what it means!

Mortimer wrote on Fri, 29 Jul 2005
The Home Office are reported on the BBC news site as saying that Menezes'
visa had expired. 'A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave
to remain "was not in use" on that date, added officials.':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4725659.stm.

What on earth does 'a passport stamp ... "was not in use" on that date'
mean? What's this a euphemism for? Had it been granted but later revoked?
Does it mean that there was an issue date on the stamp and that this type of
stamp wasn't being issued on that date (ie that the stamp is a forgery)?

I infer the latter. The HO are being very circumspect in their wording.
The absence of evidence of any previous leave in a category that can
eventually lead to ILR is also noteworthy.
--
Iain Archer To email, please use Reply-To address

In article , Mortimer
wrote:
What on earth does 'a passport stamp ... "was not in use" on that date'
mean? What's this a euphemism for? Had it been granted but later revoked?
Does it mean that there was an issue date on the stamp and that this type of
stamp wasn't being issued on that date (ie that the stamp is a forgery)?

That was my understanding of it. Someone had copied a stamp for another
passport not realised that this was no longer in use.

--
Tony Bryer

In message , at
11:05:11 on Fri, 29 Jul 2005, Mortimer remarked:
The Home Office are reported on the BBC news site as saying that Menezes'
visa had expired. 'A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave
to remain "was not in use" on that date, added officials.':
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4725659.stm.

What on earth does 'a passport stamp ... "was not in use" on that date'
mean?

Immigration people have rubber stamps that they use to put entries in
people's passports. Over time, the rubber stamps are redesigned, new
ones introduced and old ones scrapped. The entry in his passport was
apparently made by a stamp that was not current at the time it claimed
to have been made.

What's this a euphemism for? Had it been granted but later revoked?
Does it mean that there was an issue date on the stamp and that this type of
stamp wasn't being issued on that date (ie that the stamp is a forgery)?

The phrase "not in use" sounds as if it deserves a "Clear as Mud" award for
its inability to say exactly what it means!

I think they are politely saying "the entry is either a complete
forgery; or was made by a rubber stamp that someone had stolen and
subsequently used, either not knowing or not caring that it was an out
of date design".
--
Roland Perry

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 11:05:11 +0100, Mortimer wrote:
'A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave to remain
"was not in use" on that date, added officials.' The phrase "not in
use" sounds as if it deserves a "Clear as Mud" award for its
inability to say exactly what it means!

But it *does* say exactly what it means. On the date in question a stamp
of a design different from the one that can be seen in the passport was
actually in use; the one in the passport was not in use.

That's the fact (apparently). The inference is that either it is a
legitimate stamp, but for some reason the immigration officials had the
date set wrong, or it is not a legitimate stamp. Take your pick.

--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p12687174.html
(Centre-cab diesel locomotive 294 100 stands at Villingen in 2004)

In message , at 13:30:27 on
Fri, 29 Jul 2005, Chris Tolley remarked:
'A passport stamp apparently giving him indefinite leave to remain
"was not in use" on that date, added officials.' The phrase "not in
use" sounds as if it deserves a "Clear as Mud" award for its
inability to say exactly what it means!

But it *does* say exactly what it means. On the date in question a stamp
of a design different from the one that can be seen in the passport was
actually in use; the one in the passport was not in use.

That's the fact (apparently). The inference is that either it is a
legitimate stamp, but for some reason the immigration officials had the
date set wrong, or it is not a legitimate stamp. Take your pick.

AFAIK, the sort of stamps used for ILR don't have dates "set" into them.
They are plain stamps, put adjacent to the normal "arrival" ones, which
do have dates in them - and which I'm sure the officers will check every
morning before they start work.
--
Roland Perry

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:56:48 +0100, Roland Perry wrote:

AFAIK, the sort of stamps used for ILR don't have dates "set" into them.
They are plain stamps, put adjacent to the normal "arrival" ones, which
do have dates in them - and which I'm sure the officers will check every
morning before they start work.

Okay. As a Brit, I've never seen one of course. The nearest I've seen
would be a Jamaican visa stamp which had a long text with a gap in it
where the immigration officer wrote the date.

--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9767282.html
(Class 423 emu 7741 gets the feather for the fast line, Eastleigh 1985)

In message , at 01:33:05 on
Sat, 30 Jul 2005, Chris Tolley remarked:
AFAIK, the sort of stamps used for ILR don't have dates "set" into them.
They are plain stamps, put adjacent to the normal "arrival" ones, which
do have dates in them - and which I'm sure the officers will check every
morning before they start work.

Okay. As a Brit, I've never seen one of course.

That reminds me of a trip I did to the USA, about 20 years ago to assist
at a large trade show. Part of my job was to recruit and supervise local
university students to act as demonstrators (of the Amstrad PCW). After
the show we were relaxing in the bar and one of the two [1] interesting
things I learnt was that none of them had ever seen a passport, not even
an American one.

Anyway, I know a few Americans who have ILR in the UK, and have seen
their passports.

The nearest I've seen
would be a Jamaican visa stamp which had a long text with a gap in it
where the immigration officer wrote the date.

The UK's ILR stamp isn't dated [3] - perhaps because it doesn't expire,
as such. They do put a date on the six-month [2] stamps that a student
gets on arrival (which also tend to have words prohibiting employment -
as an electrician or otherwise!)

[1] The other being that these young ladies wouldn't venture downtown
without a gun in their handbag.

[2] Or sometimes 12 month.

[3] But I guess they can tell when it was done because it's normally
adjacent or even overlapping a normal entry stamp.
--
Roland Perry