In the 1971 Act, after section 3B, insert—
(1)This section applies if—
(a)a person who has limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom applies to the Secretary of State, before his leave expires, for it to be varied; and
(b)when it expires, no decision has been taken on the application.
(2)His leave is to be treated as continuing until the end of the period allowed under rules made under paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 for bringing an appeal against a decision on the application.
(3)An application for variation of a person’s leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom may not be made while that leave is treated as continuing as a result of this section.
(4)But subsection (3) does not prevent the variation of an application mentioned in subsection (1).”