I have an 18yr old client who was granted ELR until july 2003. An application for ILR was made on the 11th Sept 03. He failed to submit his application on time as he was detained at Feltham young offenders institution on alleged assault. All charges were dropped and he was released on the 28th Aug 03. For this reason the apllication for ILR was not made before the expiry date of ELR. DWP have refused claim for Income Support saying he has no valed HO doc. Under normal circumstances, (as far as claiming benefits are concerned), he would still be considered as having ELR, if an application for an extension or ILR had been submitted 1 month before expiry date. In this case, he did not due to fact that he was detained. Does any one know if ELR would still apply (for claiming benefits) in this kind of situation?
Any comments welcome.

no i am afraid that if an application to extend the leave was not made prior to expiry--for any reason--then the person, while remaining lawfully in the UK, does not retain entitlement to benefit.

i think the one month in advance thing is a red herring--the rules are simply that application must be made prior to expiry of LTR. l