SMA X ISSUED CLRNC CFTT. PLT THOUGHT ATC WAS PROVIDING SEPARATION FROM OTHER ACFT AND TERRAIN. ATC THOUGHT PLT AVOIDING CLOUDS AND TERRAIN.

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SMA X CLRED FOR THE OAKLAND ILS 27R APCH. WE REQUESTED A LOW APCH FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER ILS APCH INTO OAKLAND. THE TWR TOLD US THAT WE WERE CLRED FOR THE LOW APCH FOLLOWED BY A R TURN TO 080 DEGS AT OR BELOW 2500 FT. (BOTH I AND CHK AIRMAN HAVE OUR NOTES TO CONFIRM THIS.) WE DID THE LOW APCH; DID NOT CANCEL IFR AND WERE NOT TOLD TO MAINTAIN VFR ON THE MISSED; SO WE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE R TURN TO 080 DEGS AND CLBED TO 2500 FT RIGHT INTO THE SCATTERED LAYER OF CLOUDS. TWR THEN TOLD US TO CONTACT BAY APCH WHICH WE DID. BAY GAVE US ANOTHER HDG AND ALT AND TOLD US TO MAINTAIN VFR. I RESPONDED 'UNABLE WE'RE IN IMC.' HE ASKED ME AND I RESPONDED 3 TIMES THAT WE WERE IN IMC AND HE THEN REITERATED; YOU LEFT OAK IN VFR AND NOW YOU'RE IMC. I SAID AFFIRMATIVE. IT WAS VFR CONDITIONS OVER THE ARPT AND NOW WE WERE IN CLOUDS. HE THEN GAVE US A CLRNC. HE LATER CAME BACK AND ASKED IF WE HAD CANCELED IFR AND I SAID NO. HE ASKED IF WE WERE TOLD TO MAINTAIN VFR AND I SAID NO. HE SAID THERE HAD BEEN A MISCOM. AFTER LNDG; I CALLED BAY APCH AND WENT OVER THE SIT WITH AN EXTREMELY HELPFUL CTLR WHO SAID HE WOULD CALL OAK TWR AND MAKE SURE THE OAK CTLR CONCERNED WAS INSTRUCTED TO MAKE IT CLR IF HE WAS GIVING VFR VERSUS IFR CLRNCS. THIS TYPE OF MISCOM COULD HAVE RESULTED IN COMPLETE DISASTER. I DON'T EVEN WANT TO CONTEMPLATE THE PICTURE OF US BEING VECTORED RIGHT INTO HILLS. UNFORTUNATELY; THIS IS NOT THE ONLY INSTANCE OF CTLRS AT OAK AND HWD AND SOME OTHER BAY AREA FACILITIES NOT MAKING IT CLR IF THEY INTENDED THEIR INSTRUCTIONS TO BE IFR OR VFR. I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT A CHANGE IN SOP IS IN ORDER FOR ATC ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MISSED APCH/POST LOW APCH PROCS E.G.; ON ONE OTHER OCCASION WHEN EXECUTING POST LOW APCH(I SAY THIS BECAUSE IT WAS NOT CLR IF IT WAS MISSED APCH INSTRUCTIONS) I WAS VECTORED INTO CLASS B AIRSPACE AND LATER QUESTIONED ABOUT THIS BY ATC. AGAIN; IF IT WAS CLR IT WAS A VFR CLRNC I WOULD HAVE BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT VFR RULES. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: OAK TWR SUPVR STATED THE PROC IS TO ISSUE TURN R 080 DEGS; MAINTAIN VFR AT OR BELOW 2500 FT.