Immigrationboards.com

Earlier this week, I applied for ILR after living here for 7 years on an Ancestry Visa.

It was an absolutely easy process, and the staff could not have been friendlier and more efficient. In all, it was a very quick process from start to finish.

I arrived 45 minutes prior to my appointment which was scheduled for 2.45pm. When I arrived, the place was very quiet, so I breezed through the payment section, and had to wait for around 15 minutes before I was called to a counter.

All I had to show was the following -

Passport
Old expired passport
Visa Biometric card
A letter from my employer
3 months bank account history
Life in the UK test confirmation

In addition, due to my Ancestry, I had to produce my Birth Certificate, my parents birth certificate, and my grandparents birth certificate.

I was asked to take a seat and waited for 15 minutes, and was then called back to the desk, where the nicest bloke told me ILR had been granted and that I had to wait up to an hour to get the ILR stamp in my passport. Expecting to wait for an hour, I settled down with a book, but in 20 minutes my ILR sticker was in the passport and it was all over.

I wanted to say how much easier the process was, from looking at the advice on this forum. So thanks very much to all the forum posters who made my job of knowing what documentation to bring much easier.

I would like to offer a few tips to those getting ILR which makes everything speed up so much quicker !

1. Go for an afternoon appointment. The man behind the counter, while perfectly nice, was keen to get going for the day, as were his colleagues, and he did tell me that the afternoon appointments are sped through in order so they can get out the door by 5pm !!! Make an appointment for as late as you possibly can as this increases the chance of the appointment going much quicker than normal.

2. Provide photocopies of EVERYTHING. Take copies of everything with you and offer them to the case worker for inclusion on the file. Believe me, they will take them off you as they have to queue for the photocopier behind them, which looks ancient. I took copies of everything and the gentleman took everything and thanked me profusely for providing all the copies for him. This saves them a LOT of admin work.

3. Take more supporting documents than you need. Even if it is for your peace of mind, I suggest taking extra supporting evidence with you. If they ask for 3 payslips, take them and also throw in a letter from your employer. If they ask for a Utility Bill, throw in 3 extras. Chances are they won't even want to look at them, but taking more information than necessary is always a saviour - better to be safe than sorry.

4. Be nice ! I know it sounds stupid, but smile and be nice to the poor case worker. They do this all the time, every day, without a break, so if you are friendly and offer them the documents they require, then it may make them look more favourably on more efficiently enhacing the speed at which they process your application.

Good luck to everyone - I have come to realise that if you have supplied everything on the form that is required of you, then the process isn't really that daunting !

Congratulations. How many days outside the UK over the qualifying period?

Did you submit your 5 years payslips and 5 years p60?

No - not at all. On the Ancestry Visa you do NOT have to show 5 year's worth of P60s and payslips. All they need is proof that you are either -

a) Currently employed and can provide 3 months worth of payslips OR a letter confirming your employment

OR

b) Proof that you can actively look or are looking for work.

In term of the days outside the UK list, I spent something like 213 days outside the UK, but you don't count the travelling days - so for example, if you travel on holidays for 2 weeks (14 days) you do NOT count the outbound and inbound travel days, so it is 12 days.

To be honest, they hardly looked at the list - he just took a copy of it, and didn't even go through the list which I had spent hours on !!

They do not seem concerned with an overt amount of travel - the case worker said they only pick up on people who have spent "significant time outside the UK" - i.e. people who apply for ILR but have spent a few months back in their own country.

Spending 6 weeks on holiday abroad doesn't interest the UKBA - it seems to be the long term absences of 3 months and more. Especially when you have spent it in the country of your origin !

Good luck to all !!