Tier 5 YMS to Tier 2 Dependant - Success Appointment Croydon

[dlosch]

17/02/2016

I am sharing my experience here, as I manage to collect very good tips in this forum. So thanks a lot for all the contributions, especially from the moderators.

First and foremost it is important to note that every case is a different case. Quick background, my wife and I are from different counties (both Non EEA and very far apart from each other), we have been together for 5 years (married for 6 months), and my company currently sponsors me to be in the UK under a Tier 2 General visa. When I came to London, my then girlfriend came here under the Tier 5 YMS. We got married in London last year and have now applied to switch her visa into a Tier 2 Dependent as her current visa expires in April.


How did the process go:

- We have applied online for her Tier 2 Dependent on 01/02/2016. We have decided to spend a bit more money and booked the Premium Appointment in order to get a same day decision to get this out of the way. We have then booked the appointment for 17/02/2016 (today) early in the morning in Croydon, and as a matter of fact I wrote this post as the visa decision was being made. My wife was super nervous =). As for the documents, we collected everything during February and our binder was really full. We have been a bit overcautious maybe.

Getting in (15 min):

As we live in London it was quite easy to get there and there are signs all the way from the train station. Once we got to the door at 08:15 the security guard would only let us in after showing him the booking confirmation. We then went to a reception room where we were supposed to wait to go through airport-like security, where we had to take out jackets, computer from the backpack and everything from our pockets – food and drinks are allowed though =). Since there was no line, we went through very quickly.

A very nice security guard then sent us to the third floor, where a not so nice lady welcomed us at reception asking for the booking confirmation one more time, along with my wife’s passport. We’ve got given a number that would belong to us through the whole process.

The Case Input (30 min):

Our number was second in line, so we waited at reception area for 10 min and got called in to hand the application to a nice guy that would register and input the information about our case in the system. He also checked our passport and also asked some questions just to confirm some of the information.


The Biometrics (10 min):

After the case input we had to wait 5 minutes and got called straight into the biometrics, where my wife had to provide the application + passport. She had her fingerprints collected and a photo taken, We had also to give our binder of documents which would be addressed to the case worker. We’ve been told to wait at the coffee shop.

The Decision (1:30 hours / 2:00 hours):

We went to the coffee shop that is located on the same floor, and it looks like those airport seating areas, full of chairs and some tables around.
There are TVs everywhere where you can check the progress of your number through the process. It shows the following screens:

- Case Registration
- Awaiting Biometric Verification
- Awaiting Consideration
- Under Consideration
- Ready for Collection

After the long wait, our number got called on the screen and we went to collect our documents. A man in a very ‘cold’ way just handed our binder back and a piece of paper saying that the visa had been approved and the BRP would be sent to our house within 7 business days. We were over the moon after the process was done and we will be able to remain together while I am working here.

I hope some of you may find this info useful.