Have I been “Required to leave the UK”?

This question is asking if you were deported, removed or "required to leave" the UK because of illegal entry or overstay. If it applied to you, the Home Office would have served you with paperwork (e.g. an IS151 form) stating that you were being removed, deported or required to leave (which ever the case may have been). You were actually admitted to the UK, albeit for less than six months, and provided you didn't overstay and the Home Office didn't explicitly ask you to leave via paperwork, you should answer No to this question.

A quick answer to clarify the crux of the matter.

For non-native English speakers, be aware that:

Very confusingly, the word

"leave"

has a number of completely different meanings.

One meaning is simply "permission".

The stamps shown very simply mean:

"Permission to enter until ..."

This meaning of the word "leave" is utterly different from the meaning of leave as in "leave the country" or "leave the room".

That's all there is to it.

The stamps shown have utterly no connection in any way to the concept "required to leave the UK".

It is two completely different, totally unrelated words which happen to have the same spelling.

It is commonplace in English that words have a number of extremely different meanings.

It can be very confusing!

This is a normal, commonplace part of English. Most English sentences are extremely ambiguous and can only be understood in context and with experience. Additionally, "British" English and "archaic" English also has to be fully grasped by native speakers, which is difficult for everyone. This is a great example of the issue.

Just to repeat, fortunately the word "leave" in the stamps shown is a different word with no connection to the phrase "required to leave the UK"!

I think all the previous answers have missed the point.

I think the confusion comes from the conflicting information in the two entry stamps. The earlier stamp said you have permission to stay for up to 6 months (ie. from 31 Oct 2019 until 30 Apr 2020). Unfortunately, because you left the country on 27 Dec 2019 (for your brief trip to Amsterdam), your permission to stay ended on that date.

Your re-entry on 29 Dec 2019 was therefore a new entry, and on that occasion permission to stay was only granted until 31 Jan 2020, for which you received the new entry stamp. So long as you left on/before 31 Jan 2020, you are probably OK.

I can speculate about the reasons for the Immigration Officer's decision: perhaps he thought you were trying to game the system to get an additional stay for 6 months after 29 Dec (ie. until 29 June 2020).

Jessica, from the stamps in your passport the word "leave" here means permission. That means permission to enter into the UK up to the date stamped/written on your passport, ie Jan 2020.

Also, just because HK has a 6-month visa entry to the UK doesn't mean you can be in the UK for the 6 months period. That is just the maximum time allowed for an HK passport. The immigration officer reserves the discretion to give you whatever length of time to be in the UK, anywhere from 3 days to 180 days. Just like the visitor/tourist visa to the US which is valid for 10 years, it doesn't mean you can stay in the US for 10 years as a tourist.

Unfortunately, "leave" has more than one meaning in English. It can mean "go away", or it can mean "get permission".

No, you were not "required to leave". "Required to leave" means you were told to go away. You were not. Even on Jan 31st. even though by law you had to leave, you left voluntarily. If the police came to your hotel room on Feb. 1st and said "you must go to the airport and leave right now", that would be "required to leave". (They wouldn't do that on Jan 31st because you had permission to stay there).

When you were given "leave to enter" that was the other meaning of "leave": You were given permission to enter the country and stay until Jan 31st. So you are fine. If in the future someone asks you "were you ever required to leave the UK" you can say "No".

According to this the annotation in the passport means exactly what it means: your leave to enter (govspeak for permission to cross UK border and stay for specified period) expired on 31.01.2020, contrary to what other answers do imply.

IO has freedom to determine the period for which you're allowed to enter - AND STAY in - the UK to anything between 3 and 180 days.

So in your case you were told by immigration officer and it's supported by stamp in your passport that you can stay until 31.01.2020 as per above link:

9.The time limit and any conditions attached will be made known to the person concerned either:

(i) by written notice given to him or endorsed by the Immigration Officer in his passport or travel document;

Which means that answer to your question on the visa application is "No".

However, if you did not leave by that day you are overstaying in the UK and you most probably will be served with documents "Requiring you to leave" and your application most likely will fail if you proceed with the application.

Your options are: The ’14 Day With Good Reason’ Rule

Under the current rules, for late applications made on or after 24th November 2016, the Home Office will disregard a period of overstaying provided you apply for a new visa, or renewal of your existing visa, within 14 days of your previous visa expiring and that you can evidence ‘good reason’ for having overstayed your visa permission (Immigration Act 1971).

or

It is a criminal offence under section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 to overstay your visa without reasonable cause.

If your visa has expired, you have 30 days to leave the UK voluntarily at your own expense before you face a ban on re-entry. Alternatively, you may seek to rely on the 14 day rule.

As a side note: I believe someone gave you wrong information when you left with your BF to Amsterdam - UK is not part of the Schengen Treaty so freedom of movement is for EU citizens only (and only until the end of 2020).

I would treat it as a learning experience...

"Leave" is a noun (and says what that stamp is)

The word "leave" exists as a noun, or a thing. Other examples of things are "visa", "waiver", "membership", "citizenship" or "permission". Consider

the soldier was AWOL (Away Without Official Leave)

Meaning the soldier did not have the necessary permission to wander outside the post. The "leave" is the permission.

Jean Valjean had a yellow ticket of leave

Which are parole papers, saying Valjean had state permission to have departed the prison and be openly in society. The "leave" is the parole, taking the form of a yellow ticket which an officer will recognize as legitimate.

Leave to enter

Is the (thing that gives you) permission to be inside the UK in the described conditions.

The first stamp

The first group of stamps is a thing, your leave, which grants you permission to enter the UK for six months from 31 Oct 2019.

The second stamp

The second stamp group is a thing, your leave, granting you permission to enter the UK and stay until January 31, 2020. This cancels your earlier leave. (Notice how I use it as a noun).

The reason your leave was shortened is because of your relationship with your boyfriend, which raises a material doubt as to your intentions. Having already been in the UK for 3 months, it seems as if you might be trying to live in the UK via multiple visits, and so they want to break that cycle to stop you from doing that.

And also, frankly, to cause a number of nice consequences (for them) that reflect whether you actually comply with immigration rules. If you depart before January 31, that speaks well toward your willingness to obey immigration laws, and increases their trust in you going forward. So it makes sense to let you keep using visa waivers. However, if you overstay the Jan 31 date, that tells them you disrespect immigration laws... And because you overstayed, that cancels your eligibility for a visa waiver, and you must now apply for a proper visa to enter the UK again.