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I had my PEO appointment at Croydon today for ILR on the basis of 5 years on Tier 1 (General) and I am pleased to report that my application was successful.

I am incredibly grateful for all of the advice I have received on here over the past 7 years; it has been invaluable to me. I wanted to post my experience in case it was useful for anyone else awaiting their application.

Background:
- Arrived in UK 2006 (visa chronology: BUNAC -> Fiance -> FLR(M) -> Tier 1 (General) -> Tier 1 (General) extension)
- Granted 1 Tier (General) in March 2009, extended March 2012
- Claimed earnings on basis of self employment (SE) as sole trader + employed earnings

Noteworthy aspects of my case:
- Combination of SE + employed earnings
- SE earnings were through a third-party agent (not directly paid to me by my clients)
- Combination of earnings from work carried out both UK and abroad (however all earnings were paid in GBP into my UK bank)
- Unemployed for several months in the year before application; low earnings relative to my prior Tier 1 (General) applications
- Periods of absence from UK while SE and unemployed; longest one up to 3 months
- Original Tier 1 (General) vignette was stamped 5 months after original entry (actual entry stamp visible on another page, but vignette itself was stamped incorrectly)

Documents submitted:
Primary evidence:
- Current passport + BRP
- Expired passport
- Payment page
- SET(O) form
- LITUK certificate
- Representative cover letter *retained by caseworker
- Letter from accountant (SE requirement)
- List of absences from UK (each individual trip + broken down into annual totals)
- Employer letters relating to absences *all but one of these were retained by caseworker
- Employer & client letters (for SE earnings) confirming income/payments
- Official payslips
- Online bank statements + letter from bank confirming their authenticity
- Invoices (for SE income)
- Most recent Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) bill (SE requirement)
- Bank statement confirming payments of most recent Class 2 NICs bill (to reinforce above)
- Photocopies of all evidence
- Photocopies of every page of each passport that had a visa and/or entry/exit stamp, plus ID pages

Supplementary evidence: - note my solicitor erred on the side of including too much; none of the below is mandatory
- CV and printouts of marketing material (to prove veracity of SE)
- Original degree certificate (submitted with previous application)
- Selection of P60s from past 5 years
- Selection of HMRC correspondence over past several years (demonstrating long-standing SE & tax filings)
- Evidence of upcoming wedding ceremony *solicitor advised this to give me additional appeal rights & evidence submission rights under Article 8
- Selection of council tax bills (showing co-habitation with fiance)
- Contracts from former employers
- Selection of bank statements over past several years demonstrating adequate finances
- Evidence of private health care

At PEO:
- 9.15: Arrived for 9.30 appointment
- 9:25: Cleared security
- 9.30 Waited in cafe (much nicer than it used to be! renovations make the atmosphere much better than before)
- 9.40 Called for case registration (case inputted into IT system)
- 9.55 Wait for biometric enrolment
- 9.57 Biometric enrolment, documents taken
- 10.00 Wait in coffee shop while decision made
- 11.05 Called over PA to speak to caseworker (I had missed two calls from her in the 10 mins before). Was questioned about the nature of my SE; caseworker told me she had to go speak to her senior caseworker and may need to phone me again.
- 11.35: Called over to receive documents and told application was successful.

As a general note, my experience of the staff at Lunar House was exceptional, as on previous occasions. The people in the hallways were particularly helpful and friendly, making the nerve-racking experience much more bearable.

If anyone would like templates of my cover letter, employer income letters, employer absences letters, client income letters, letter from the bank, or SE invoices, please post here and I'll paste their contents. I would be happy for them to be helpful to others.

Best of luck in all of your applications; keep your head up - it eventually ends!
K

Many congratulations to you.

Just wanted to ask you about the questions the case worker asked.

Was it only about the nature of the Self employment? Did she inquire anything else about SE?

Did the letter from client also stated the kind of work you did for them?
Sorry, for asking so much... I will be applying as a sole trader very soon so just getting bit curious.

Many thanks for your time for replying to my questions.

Congrats! Thanks for the shared information.

Thanks guys

mgn wrote:Many congratulations to you.Just wanted to ask you about the questions the case worker asked.

Was it only about the nature of the Self employment? Did she inquire anything else about SE?

Did the letter from client also stated the kind of work you did for them?
Sorry, for asking so much... I will be applying as a sole trader very soon so just getting bit curious.

Many thanks for your time for replying to my questions.

No problem - the caseworker only asked about my SE. She said she didn't understand how I sourced my clients (I hadn't included an explanation anywhere in my cover letter). I explained how the third-party agents worked, as well as how I sourced clients independently. She didn't ask me anything else, but asked me to keep my phone on.

My letters from the clients briefly made mention of my work with them:

Private and Confidential

To whom it may concern
Home Office

DATE

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Settlement Application – NAME

I write to confirm that the above named has worked as a contractor (JOB TITLE) for COMPANY.

I can confirm that NAME received the following payments from COMPANY for her work:

[TABLE OF EARNINGS - invoice number, invoice date, invoice amount, bank date, bank amount, totals]

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,

NAME
POSITION, COMPANY
EMAIL
PHONE

I hope that's helpful! Don't hesitate to ask anything else.

Hi Katwmn6,

First of all Congratulations!

I am Tier 1(General) and will be applying for ILR very soon. I have a question regarding absence during unemployment.

My initial entry was on 25th April 2009 and got a job in July. But during the initial period I had travelled outside the UK during my initial stay when I was unemployed for 4 weeks (23rd May 2009 - 20 Jun 2009).

So will this break my continuity of 5 years? If no, then what kind of evidence or reason should I provide?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

katwmn6 congrats!
I have a very similar case, just that I am SE since 3 years, previously full time employed. I should be applying in 3 weeks, so very very stressed

Several questions:

1) Employee letter of absences: Did it list all the absences in details (date from/to) or just stated that you had to travel for business? If former, did you have to provide any evidence for that?
2) Did you have to provide any letter/evidence for personal travel?
3) Client letter: Was this from the end client or from the third party who provided you work?
3) Invoices: Was it just for the past year or for 5 years back?

Also, I am desperately looking for immigration solicitor who has experience with Tier 1 general Self employed. Were yours good? And who are they?

Thanks very very much!

Congratulations well earned

hi there...

Congratulations on your success.

Please can you let me know if the CW asked any questions regarding 'corporation tax return' of your limited company? Or Self Assessment tax return (SATR)?

Thanks.

Congratulations mate,

Just wondering what document did you submit for English requirement?

Thanks in advance

katwmn6 wrote: - Unemployed for several months in the year before application; low earnings relative to my prior Tier 1 (General) applications
K

Were you absent from the UK whilst unemployed? If so, how did they respond to your absence?

Regards,

blu

ycce94 wrote:I have a question regarding absence during unemployment. My initial entry was on 25th April 2009 and got a job in July. But during the initial period I had travelled outside the UK during my initial stay when I was unemployed for 4 weeks (23rd May 2009 - 20 Jun 2009).

I travelled outside the UK for both business and personal reasons whilst solely SE. The only question the caseworker asked me related to my SE business activities, not absences from the UK. I haven't see any evidence on the board that people under <180 days/year have encountered any problems.

marijuska wrote:I have a very similar case, just that I am SE since 3 years, previously full time employed. I should be applying in 3 weeks, so very very stressed

Several questions:
1) Employee letter of absences: Did it list all the absences in details (date from/to) or just stated that you had to travel for business? If former, did you have to provide any evidence for that?
2) Did you have to provide any letter/evidence for personal travel?
3) Client letter: Was this from the end client or from the third party who provided you work?
3) Invoices: Was it just for the past year or for 5 years back?

Also, I am desperately looking for immigration solicitor who has experience with Tier 1 general Self employed. Were yours good? And who are they?

Hi marijuska,

Totally understand the stress - it is painful, but hang in there. You will get to the other side of this!

1) Yes, it listed the absences in some detail. The table I made had these columns:
Country visited - Reason for travel - Date of departure from UK - Date of return to UK - Total number of days absent *excluding dates of travel (i.e. counting any partial days spent in the UK)

2) I did not provide a letter or evidence of personal travel. The only absence evidence I provided was (a) letters from current and previous employers either stating either my list of absences from the UK whilst working for them OR the fact that they didn't record them, and (b) a table I put together in Excel that showed every trip out of the UK over the past 5 years, also broken down into 5 one-year periods.

3) Letter from the third-party clients.

4) Only invoices for the SE income which I was claiming, which was a period of about 6 months.

5) Re: lawyer - will PM you.

fn286 wrote:Please can you let me know if the CW asked any questions regarding 'corporation tax return' of your limited company? Or Self Assessment tax return (SATR)?

Nope, just 1 question about how I source my clients for SE. (I am a sole trader btw.)

ishchopra wrote:Just wondering what document did you submit for English requirement?

From majority English-speaking country.

bluskeye wrote:Were you absent from the UK whilst unemployed? If so, how did they respond to your absence?

See above

Hi Katwmn6,

My 'Big congratulations for your ILR!.

It would be very helpful if you could post the template of your absence letter regarding to SE if you have any. I have one trip in abroad for five weeks related to my SE work. My Client has already provided me a letter regarding this, - however, in the UKBA website it says that SE person has to provide a letter by him/herself explaining the reason for the business trip. So I would generate a self statement letter regarding my trip related to SE.

I have PEO appointment for ILR at the end of this month.

Thanks you in advance for your kind help.

mahfuza49+ wrote:It would be very helpful if you could post the template of your absence letter regarding to SE if you have any. I have one trip in abroad for five weeks related to my SE work. My Client has already provided me a letter regarding this, - however, in the UKBA website it says that SE person has to provide a letter by him/herself explaining the reason for the business trip. So I would generate a self statement letter regarding my trip related to SE.

Hi mahfuza,

Thanks for the congratulations! Sorry for the delay in replying.

In my and my lawyer's opinion, the letter is not necessary. I included letters from former employers about my absences as well a complete list of my absences, but I did not provide a letter of explanation.

I know the part in the guidance to which you refer, where it says applicants need to provide a letter for SE absences. However, if you look on the SET(O) form in the absences section (5.8), there are several boxes to tick indicating which type of evidence you have supplied. Note that there isn't a tick box for the applicant letter.

I debated with my lawyer about this for quite a while, as the guidance clearly states that an applicant letter is required. From my personal experience though, as well as reading everything on these boards, the UKBA is very inconsistent in its approach to applicant absences. I think that so long as you are below the absence thresholds, and you provide a complete list of absences, you will be fine. If you want to include a letter for ease of mind, I would recommend keeping it very short and simple - just state the dates, location and reason you were out of the country. Given that you already have a letter from the client though, I think you've done more than enough!

I hope that's helpful. Best of luck with your application!

katwmn6: Sorry to be a pain and post a seperate message for this, but apparently I can't send direct messages. Can you PM me your solicitor's contact details as well? Even maybe disclose it here, I'm not sure what harm would it cause.

Thanks a lot

Hey there,

Hope you are well and must be processing your Natiralising I know it's too late to ask could you please email me your personal statement as I'm going for my ILR and part employed and self employed and need to write a personal statement.

Regards
mnumair@yahoo.co.uk