Tier 2 (General) to ILR - Croydon PEO - SUCCESS-13 Sept 2014

[eddybaloch]

Dear fellow members,

Firstly, a massive thanks to each and everyone of you as this would not have been possible without your help.

Background
Tier 2 (Genera) with one dependent- First entered : 10 Oct 2009 (dependent 28 Dec 2009. Same visa category and employer throughout 5 years. SOC Code 2421 (£26,400 /39hrs). Tier 2 extended on Sept 2011 and then on Sept 2013.

Documents Submitted

Main Applicant
• Home office appointment letter
• Payment confirmation
• Completed SET (O) form
• Letter from employer
• Current and previous passports
• 2 passport sized photographs
• Original biometric residence permit
• Life in the UK test result (plus cover letter explaining name on the result)

• English Language Requirements:
Primary Evidence: PBS calculator summary showing degree and points
Additional Evidence:
-Original BSC degree and transcripts
-UK NARIC English language assessment
-Letter from University

• Absences:
o Absence from UK detail schedule and E-Tickets
o Letter from employer confirming no unpaid leave (Employer refused to confirm detailed annual leave so I made a cover letter an included the above absences schedule as part of it)

• Employment and finances:
o Last 12 months Payslips
o HMRC Employment History Letter for tax years ending April 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
o P60 Certificates for above years
o Bank Statement for last 3 months

Dependent
• Current and previous passports
• Original biometric residence permit
• Life in the UK test result
• English Language Requirements: GESE grade 5 Trinity college of London B1 speaking & listening certificate
• Cohabitation documents
• 2 passport sized photographs

Confusions/Doubts that bothered me for so many days

->Do I need to fill in payment details if already paid at PEO booking? NO! You can leave this blank
->GESE English Test? Totally acceptable
->My wife never worked and I was responsible for paying bills e.t.c so I didn't have good cohabitation documentation. I was able to get a letter from council and GP. I created a cover letter explaining the situation and I wasn't asked any questions. However, I did include letters addressed to both of us individually (but even those were limited)
->Can I take my kids with me to PEO who are not on appointment. Yes
->English Language Requirement? I came on a Pakistani BSc degree which was recognized on PBS. I got a UK NARIC ELA just case ( btw- UK NARIC will only issue ELA if it is comparable to UK degree so you don't need a separate comparability certification). I am not sure what was accepted by the immigration officer as I got all originals back and they kept photocopies of all these documents)
->Section 6.11- Do I need to fill in I left it blank as recommended by fellow members
->During booking PEO I selected SET (O) - Tier 2 and wasn't sure whether this is correct as I am applying for ILR and Not Tier 2. Don't worry! as long as you pay the correct fee, it doesn't matter
->SAVINGS! ILR dont have maintenance requirement. But there was question about finances in section 5, and evidences of "Your finances" in page 61 of the form.. I was really scared about this as my savings are very low and ending balance was around £2000. However, no issues and no questions asked. So relax if you are in similar position
Life in UK Test Name first name and family name Swapped. This was my biggest concern. I had made a blunder of putting Family name in front of First name and vice versa. At the time of the LIUK test the staff told me about this mistake and made some electronic notes in the system for home office. They told me that I didn't need to take the test again. I submitted a cover letter with my application explaining this. RELAX! it's fine. No questions were asked.
->Employer refused to give me a letter confirming all annual leaves. I just made a cover letter with detailed schedule of absences. My absences in total were 202 days with highest of 63 days (continuous) absence in one of the year. No questions asked. I don't think they care about this at all.

PEO PROCESS

I live 10 mins drive from Croydon so this was very convenient ( Parked at Whitgift Shopping Centre as I was travelling with 2 kids and wanted minimum walk- Charges are hourly with maximum charge of £8.5 for 24 hours )

8:45- Entered security (9:30 appointment)
8:55- Token given
9:00- First Registeration
9:25- Biometrics
9:55- Documents ready for collection
9:56- Jumping with joy!!!!!!
I was surprised at it only took around an hour for the entire process. I did notice that my application was process much faster and I don't know why ( For example I could see on the screen that token numbers 104,105 and 106 became ready for collection and then all of a sudden my number which was 115 came on the screen )

Overall, the experience was very pleasant and the staff members were very friendly. I didn't use any solicitor for my application and purely relied on this forum.

Once again, massive thanks to everyone here. Please let me know if I can be of assistance to anyone. I will try to post my cover letters below as well.

Regards,
Eddy B.

[O_Relly]

Congratulations!

[hsr1972]

Congratulations, Is it mandatory to provide HMRC Employment history or P60 ? Do you need absence employer letter if you are having less than 85 days in 5 years ? Could you please advise which course meterial you studied for LIUK Test or if you have any other links for questions practice send me the link.

-hsr_72

[hsr1972]

Sorry one more question could you please share the format of HMRC Employment History ? Does Employment History contains name of the employer for that period or just it says " Employed or Not employed " ? Kindly revert back.

-hsr_72

[eddybaloch]

Is it mandatory to provide HMRC Employment history or P60? P60s are recommended as these are easiest way to show your economic activity. If you haven't got all P60s you can easily get HMRC History letter. It is dead easy to get. Just give them a call and tell them an address and you'll get it in 2 weeks.

Do you need absence employer letter if you are having less than 85 days in 5 years? Based on my research on this forum, you don't need one. I didn't submit any. I just submitted a cover letter on which I included a schedule of my absences. I only made one business trip abroad and my employer was able to confirm this on the main letter

LIUK Material? I just borrowed books from my friends ( outdated - last year ) and skimmed through it. I solved a lot of questions. Downloaded a few apps on my mobile and just practiced a lot of questions. I would say 70 to 80% questions are just repeated int he actual exam.

HMRC Letter? Sorry don't have the scanner to post it but it is in following format

Tax Year : XYZ
Employer...... Income...... Tax Paid.....
XXX...... YYY.......... ZZZ

[hsr1972]

OK , thanks because i am also reading this forum if you are on Tier1 route through out 5 years P60 is not mandatory ....anyways thanks for clearing my doubts.

Regards,

hsr_72

[jigarzala]

Hi Eddy

could you send me the employer letter format pls.

[eddybaloch]

Hi,

The employer letter is very straightforward. It is addressed to UKBA and states the following

-annual salary
-contracted working hours (35)
-mentions that the SOC code applicable is 2421 and then confirms that my salary is above the stated rate
-finally states that there is continuing need for my role in the business and wishes to employee me going forward.


When I requested them to confirm my annual leaves they refused an instead issued me a letter confirming the following
- continuous employment
- no unpaid leaves
- annual leave entitlement

I think this detail could have been merged in a single letter as well.

Regards,
Eddy B.

[jigarzala]

Thx Eddy. This will help a lot.