Indefinite Leave to Remain & British Citizenship

[toby303]

Hi Moderators,

I need your thought on this subject.

I came into the country in August 2008 as a student. And in March 2012, I got married. My wife is British Citizen.

In 2012, just before the change in regualtion in terms of maintenace, I applied using the FLR(M) in July 2012 and my visa was finally issued in March 2013 under the old rules. I will be due to apply for my indefinite leave to remain in February, just 28 days before.

I have collated all my documents and my wife's. What are the financial requirement?
My wife left her job in Dec, and she has just been offered a new position with another bank starting in February, for her, I have collated copies of her p60, 2 months payslips from previous employer with her p45, whilst for me, I have provided all my payslips starting from october last year to date and my bank statement in that order as well. She was earning £16,300 with her previous employer and now on £16,916.00 with her current emoployer and I am on £12,000 per year until the end of probation in 9 months. we are both on an average of £2100 /month What do you think regarding this paperwork, do you think we would meet financial requirement? We have no kid at the moment.

What other document are required of us involving other aspect of the application?

I have gathered together both our contracts of employment and offer letters as well a letter from my employer. Do you think this will be enough proof?

These are other documents we have put together, namely:
Marriage Certificate
Resident Permit
Both Passports
Tenancy Agreement
Pearson Test of English Academic
Life in the UK Test
Qualifications in the UK


Evidence of Cohabitation ( Six Letters from at least 3 different sources amounting to about 18-25 letters altogether which includes Bank statements, utility bills, GP letters, HM Revenue & Customs, NHS Care Summary Record etc.)

I need a relaible information about making an application to naturalise shortly after receiving my ILR as I will be applying at a premium centre. I am aware that as a spouse of a British Citizen that I can apply immediately provided I meet residency requirement. I haven't been abroad due to having to raise my family and have no criminal record and have never breached any immigration rules.
Do you think with my explanation about my status and residential status, I can apply to naturalise straight after securing my ILR or what are your thoughts?

I hope to hear from you asap. Thanks for always being helpful to many folks on here and I thank you very much in advance.

[toby303]

Please people, reply to my thread. I will appreciate your comments although addressed to Amber, any other moderator or online users can add a line.

Many thanks in advance,
Tobs

[gnua88]

Hey, it's me here.
Okay, this is what I've said in the other thread.

Could you please provide me with a link to your thread? It's better if I elaborate there.

From what I've read, your situation and mine are frighteningly similar lol. I applied with FLR(M) under the old regulation in July 2012 as well (but not married). I had mine back on Feb 2013 so 7 months later. You got yours back a month after. So, of course, now we're coming up towards applying for the ILR.

As far as I'm aware, and be advised that I'm no expert, there is NO financial requirements in cases like ours because we're under the old regulations. Thus one would assume as long as you're proving that you can and are providing for yourselves, and no public funds is in used, there will be no problems.

Btw, have you run the settlement checker here www(dot)gov(dot)uk(forwardslash)settle-in-the-uk ? I've done this couple of times but can't say I recall any mentions of financial requirements? If the latter was critical, they would've put it in there.

However, I do admit that on the same website, it states you've gotta prove that you can provide for yourselves...but there is no guidelines on how to do that. So, it's very much left to our interpretations.

I don't know much about the naturalisation. I was under the impression that you'd have to wait for a year or two after the ILR to apply for it but don't quote me on this.

Hope this somewhat helps. Give me your link and I'll try to communicate with you further there

And you said;

Well, you are very right gnau. I have read on several thread online, although elsewhere that there are no financial requirement for those under the old regime/rule. And I wonder why nothing was written to that effect.
What sort of documents have you put together yourself?

Please reply to my thread: indefinite-leave-to-remain/indefinite-leave-to-remain-british-citizenship-t179957.html
Will be waiting, many thanks.

I'm not sure why they've not documented and to be perfectly honest, form my experience, it's always been difficult to go beyond the information provided to you when it comes to dealing with the immigration. Because there is no way for us to talk to the actual case workers, some of the questions are always left unanswered. And that's where this forum comes in. I love this place. I'm sorry nobody has replied to you though.

I've put together the followings;
- (waiting for) bank statements for 6 months
- tenancy contracts
- recommendation letter from landlord
- pay slips
- recommendation letters from work HR
- job offer letter
- council tax
- water and electric bills
- IELTS Academic Certificate
- Life in the UK Pass Certificate

And maybe a few other documents that I can't think of now but more or less the same as you or anybody else.

I will be applying for SET(M) just by post, I tried to book premium but couldn't get a timeslot for the life of me. So, I decided to go postal. My partner has been out of work until couple of months ago. Before that, she was living on her saving for months but all of that will be covered in her bank statements. As for me, I've been working for years so there'll be my payslips and others from the list.

That's all. We'll be finalising the application by the end of next week and sending it by second week of Feb (latest).

[Obie]

The documents seems ok.

[toby303]

The documents seems ok.

Hi Obie,

Just to confirm, was it my comment you replied to or gnau88? Anyway I will repost it here again so you can check it up for me and include any recommendation you have.

Mnay thanks,

[toby303]

I'm not sure why they've not documented and to be perfectly honest, form my experience, it's always been difficult to go beyond the information provided to you when it comes to dealing with the immigration. Because there is no way for us to talk to the actual case workers, some of the questions are always left unanswered. And that's where this forum comes in. I love this place. I'm sorry nobody has replied to you though.

I've put together the followings;
- (waiting for) bank statements for 6 months
- tenancy contracts
- recommendation letter from landlord
- pay slips
- recommendation letters from work HR
- job offer letter
- council tax
- water and electric bills
- IELTS Academic Certificate
- Life in the UK Pass Certificate

And maybe a few other documents that I can't think of now but more or less the same as you or anybody else.

I will be applying for SET(M) just by post, I tried to book premium but couldn't get a timeslot for the life of me. So, I decided to go postal. My partner has been out of work until couple of months ago. Before that, she was living on her saving for months but all of that will be covered in her bank statements. As for me, I've been working for years so there'll be my payslips and others from the list.

That's all. We'll be finalising the application by the end of next week and sending it by second week of Feb (latest).[/quote]


I really appreciate taking the time out to reply.

That's really kind of you gnau88. Did you say you couldn't get a premium appointment?
Woow, I have been on there almost everyday and there seem to be loads of appointments or may be the region you have choosen might be fully booked.

I sense that if you look to go far from your base/ location, you might be favoured enough to find premium appointments. I am talking with respect to the East Midlands. Brimingham (solihul), liverpool and sheffield too have appointment. Let me know if you need assistance with that and I can confirm for you over here. Please do not send your application via post as it would take very long to get it all sorted. Seeing that your documentation are just perfectly straight, you don't want to run the risk of having to wait forever, people complain just about that on this site.

All the same what do you think about my documentation?

[gnua88]

I really appreciate taking the time out to reply.

That's really kind of you gnau88. Did you say you couldn't get a premium appointment?
Woow, I have been on there almost everyday and there seem to be loads of appointments or may be the region you have choosen might be fully booked.

I sense that if you look to go far from your base/ location, you might be favoured enough to find premium appointments. I am talking with respect to the East Midlands. Brimingham (solihul), liverpool and sheffield too have appointment. Let me know if you need assistance with that and I can confirm for you over here. Please do not send your application via post as it would take very long to get it all sorted. Seeing that your documentation are just perfectly straight, you don't want to run the risk of having to wait forever, people complain just about that on this site.

All the same what do you think about my documentation?

No worries, we're in the same boat after all.

I think you've done well on the job front with your documents. You've gathered your wife's employment-related documents (including P60 and P45) and then your job offer and confirmation letters. The objective here is to prove that the applicant can support him/herself without needing any help from the state. So, maybe ask yourself if there is anything else you can do to solidify this statement??? That's what I do for myself, anyway.

As for the other documents, it's very similar to what I have so I don't think I can add anymore.

Regarding the naturalisation, as said before, I don't know much about it so am unable to advise. If I were you though, even if what you said was possible, I wouldn't tackle that until ILR is done.

Btw, you were right. There are loads of appointment slots available. I've managed to book myself into one just now! I don't know why they weren't showing the last time I checked.

One question: we don't have any dependants so the application is just for one but my partner can still come along, can't she? They would let her in as well, won't they?

Thank you.

[toby303]

Thank you for all your replies. They have proven to be very consistent.

Well, the documents gathered were simply all that were requested on the application form and for the finances, yeah, I guess I have provided more than enough really!

It's great that you have finally been able to book your appointment,wishing you all the very best for the day. I hope you would let me know how it goes on the day. When is it booked for and where? Hope I am not asking too many questions?

Very good question there, your wife is your sponsor and therefore would be allowed into the centre on that day. I have asked the same question and found the answer from the UKVI website. Herself and any dependent would be permited to come with you and in your case, trust me, her presence is very much needed.

And lest i forget this vital pont, yes, for the citizenship, it wasn't as though I was jumping the gun, it is simply been aware of what next after the ILR which is undoubtably, a great success.
If you have had time to read the AN (Application for Natualisation) requirement, in a situation where you are married to a British Citizen, the major requirement is the residency requirement where an applicant is expected to have lived in the UK for 3 years prior to the day of the application for naturalisation ( 2 years probationary period and 1 year of legal residence in the UK).
A lot of people think that the 1 year qualifying period after ILR is applicable across every situation.

I will advise that you look into this yourself, and if your patner is BC, then you can apply immediately after receiving your ILR, so you don't wait for 1 year unnecessarily.This is just an observation by the way.

I hope all goes well for you and I pray you find great favour from the case worker and those involved in the decision process. Amen!

I will be looking forward to your reply at no distant time.

Many thanks,

[gnua88]

Hey man,

How's it going? Hope your preparation is going well.

So, we went for the appointment this morning and.......I've got it! I've been granted the ILR.

The appointment was at 0810; I deliberately picked the earliest timeslot to ensure things get done as quickly as possible and it worked. We got there at 0730 and they let us in straight away. We went through the security and checked in at the reception. Then, submitted our case and got the Biometrics taken. By the time we sat down and waited, it was already 0830 and our ticket was called at 0930. Then, I was congratulated and returned all the documents.

We went through our forms back and forth several times during preparation. One requirement we found out was the provision of the photocopies of all supporting documents. It was written in Section 11 of the SET(M) form that we "should" also provide the photocopies of everything along with the originals. I think this is to save them time and resource. So we did and they kept those copies.

We're not married so didn't have to provide marriage certificate but you'll have to provide that in both original and copy.

We had around 23 letters for proof of address (council tax, tenancy agreement contracts, water and electricity bills) and 6 months' worth of bank statements (current and saving accounts) from both of us. We made sure those proof of address letters were spread out throughout two years (of FLR M period). We also included our payslips (6 from me and 2 from my partner) along with confirmation letters from our jobs.

But that was it. We put them all separately in folder-pockets and labelled them. With the photocopies, what we submitted was very bulky but overall, it was a fairly straight forward application.

The people at the immigration were very nice, too. I had been to that building about 4 or 5 years ago but everything's changed for the better now.

Btw, regarding the bank statements stamping, the statements that were sent from the bank were original so they didn't need to be stamped. I printed out some of them from the Internet and went to the branch twice to get them certified and there was absolutely no problem. The staff members at the branch were happy to stamp the statements without so much as a question. All they asked was my debit card to verify me. That's all.
So, I don't know why that telephone banking guy scared me by saying otherwise.

Overall, we got there 0730 and out 0930. So, not too bad at all.

Anyway, I'm just sharing the experience. Hope it helps

Kind regards.

[hamziyan88]

The council's do settlement checking services for £90.
We went day before going to.Sheffield peo.
The woman at settlement checking service put it all together for us and next day we gave it to them as she prepared. Hubby was granted within 2 hours x

[toby303]

Hey man,

How's it going? Hope your preparation is going well.

So, we went for the appointment this morning and.......I've got it! I've been granted the ILR.

The appointment was at 0810; I deliberately picked the earliest timeslot to ensure things get done as quickly as possible and it worked. We got there at 0730 and they let us in straight away. We went through the security and checked in at the reception. Then, submitted our case and got the Biometrics taken. By the time we sat down and waited, it was already 0830 and our ticket was called at 0930. Then, I was congratulated and returned all the documents.

We went through our forms back and forth several times during preparation. One requirement we found out was the provision of the photocopies of all supporting documents. It was written in Section 11 of the SET(M) form that we "should" also provide the photocopies of everything along with the originals. I think this is to save them time and resource. So we did and they kept those copies.

We're not married so didn't have to provide marriage certificate but you'll have to provide that in both original and copy.

We had around 23 letters for proof of address (council tax, tenancy agreement contracts, water and electricity bills) and 6 months' worth of bank statements (current and saving accounts) from both of us. We made sure those proof of address letters were spread out throughout two years (of FLR M period). We also included our payslips (6 from me and 2 from my partner) along with confirmation letters from our jobs.

But that was it. We put them all separately in folder-pockets and labelled them. With the photocopies, what we submitted was very bulky but overall, it was a fairly straight forward application.

The people at the immigration were very nice, too. I had been to that building about 4 or 5 years ago but everything's changed for the better now.

Btw, regarding the bank statements stamping, the statements that were sent from the bank were original so they didn't need to be stamped. I printed out some of them from the Internet and went to the branch twice to get them certified and there was absolutely no problem. The staff members at the branch were happy to stamp the statements without so much as a question. All they asked was my debit card to verify me. That's all.
So, I don't know why that telephone banking guy scared me by saying otherwise.

Overall, we got there 0730 and out 0930. So, not too bad at all.

Anyway, I'm just sharing the experience. Hope it helps

Kind regards.

Congratulations! Congratulations!! Congratulations!!!

I am sooooooooooooooooo glad for you, just so you, I screamed praise GOD when I read your post. I didn't even realise that you have been on here to reply since the 11th.
Man, God is faithful to His own. I am so happy for you bro. Woow that was so detailed, your comment I mean. In fact, it's just exactly what we have put together.
Yes you are very right about making copies of all the documents as I took copies of first few pages of all of the documents. Our proof of cohabitation should be over 25 alltogether.
We also got folders to put them in with dividers and pages listing what each separate section contained.

Woow! Great bro, so excited for you just as if it's mine. Yeah I see mine going really smooth too. I will surely come on here to share experience. Did you speak to the case worker at all? Which peo did you use? What advice can you give?

I will be looking out for you reply ASAP.

[gnua88]

Congratulations! Congratulations!! Congratulations!!!

I am sooooooooooooooooo glad for you, just so you, I screamed praise GOD when I read your post. I didn't even realise that you have been on here to reply since the 11th.
Man, God is faithful to His own. I am so happy for you bro. Woow that was so detailed, your comment I mean. In fact, it's just exactly what we have put together.
Yes you are very right about making copies of all the documents as I took copies of first few pages of all of the documents. Our proof of cohabitation should be over 25 alltogether.
We also got folders to put them in with dividers and pages listing what each separate section contained.

Woow! Great bro, so excited for you just as if it's mine. Yeah I see mine going really smooth too. I will surely come on here to share experience. Did you speak to the case worker at all? Which peo did you use? What advice can you give?

I will be looking out for you reply ASAP.

Thank you very much. Yes, we were so relieved and couldn't even believe for a few days that it was all completed

The BRP came on Friday (two days after the appointment) but we weren't home so had to re-arrange.

To answer your questions;
No, we never met the case worker. In fact, I think it's part of their process for the applicant to not see the caseworker. We only got to interact with the receptionist, the front-line staff members who took in the application (and returned it) and the person who took the biometrics.

We went to the Croydon office.

I don't think I can add anything to your dossier. The only thing I would advice is (i.e. if you haven't booked it yet) book the earliest available appointment. The biometrics guy said it'll be very quick for us because we were there early in the morning.

Yes, pray tell how your appointment goes as soon as you've done it. I wish you all the best.

Take care and kind regards.

[toby303]

Hello man,

Just came on here to share my experience. First of all, I was granted my ILR today.
It hasn't been a very easy journey, my wife and I booked for the premium appointment in sheffield for the 7th of March, 8.00am in the morning.

We left our city a day before and lodged in premier inn which was 5 minutes from the appointment centre.
We checked in at 7.30am, half an hour before, pass through an airport style security.

Walked straight ahead to the case worker who was already seated waiting as we were the very first person in the building. She took our document box and asked us to leave everything with her. Our ticket number was 100. We sat and chat to each other in great expectation and later was beckon at to take my biometrics. My wife came along with me, the lady was polite and courteous, cracked some jokes with us and I was done.

We headed out seeing that all that was left at that point was a decision. We asked the securities about our way around as we felt hungry waking up that early and from the journey the previous day.
We headed to grab some food and headed for our hotel room. Barely 10 minutes after, we received a call from the centre and were summoned to the office. My wife and I became really expectant as we walked back joyfully.

On arrival we waited just for few moment and the lady walked to return my wife's passport and said I am sorry I am unable to make decision today as I need to make further enquiries, she handed us a letter which states that our application was very valid and that they are satisfied with all document advising me to return to work and that my right isn't affected.
She promised to get in touch by email in 1 week but we politely asked if she could also call.

We dashed out very confused asking ourselves question as to what might have gone wrong. But I remained so calm and my wife wasn't at all happy. I kept my composure and we headed for the hotel. Had some thought, we thanked God for everything and wondered if it wasn't a good idea coming for the premium appointment after spending over 2 grand for the appointment, hotel, fuel, food and the effort exhausted on it and if postal application would have been better after all seeing that they still have to carry out further checks when our case was a very very very very very straightforward one.
Packed all our luggage and headed for the car park. Drove back home and the wait began!

One full week passed according to the promise made to us. I called the HO every single day whilst at work to check on the progress. And this week began but still heard nothing on Monday. I made up my mind with my wife on Tuesday that I will no longer worry about it as we drove to work and left everything to God knowing fully well that we had no problem.

At that point I noticed a change around and whilst at work today, due to the nature and the sensitivity of our job, she called twice on both our numbers without any response from us and the she wrote us an email which declares that '' after carrying out further checks I am pleased to inform you that you have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK''. paraphrased.....


So here I am, feeling really happy and thankful to God. Preparing for my naturalisation. My wife is the happiest person ever.
Anyway, I have come to tell you of my journey and I hope that whilst you read my epistle, you would be happy that all finally worked out for me. Congratulation to me, and I congratulate you too.

Remain blessed and God bless you all for reading.

Also thanks to all the seniors on here who took that initiative to create an environment where ideas like these can be shared. God bless you all and to those who are still hoping to get through someday, I say to you all: it is well! Shalom!

Your Loyal Subject
Toby

[gnua88]

Hello man,

Just came on here to share my experience. First of all, I was granted my ILR today.
It hasn't been a very easy journey, my wife and I booked for the premium appointment in sheffield for the 7th of March, 8.00am in the morning.

We left our city a day before and lodged in premier inn which was 5 minutes from the appointment centre.
We checked in at 7.30am, half an hour before, pass through an airport style security.

Walked straight ahead to the case worker who was already seated waiting as we were the very first person in the building. She took our document box and asked us to leave everything with her. Our ticket number was 100. We sat and chat to each other in great expectation and later was beckon at to take my biometrics. My wife came along with me, the lady was polite and courteous, cracked some jokes with us and I was done.

We headed out seeing that all that was left at that point was a decision. We asked the securities about our way around as we felt hungry waking up that early and from the journey the previous day.
We headed to grab some food and headed for our hotel room. Barely 10 minutes after, we received a call from the centre and were summoned to the office. My wife and I became really expectant as we walked back joyfully.

On arrival we waited just for few moment and the lady walked to return my wife's passport and said I am sorry I am unable to make decision today as I need to make further enquiries, she handed us a letter which states that our application was very valid and that they are satisfied with all document advising me to return to work and that my right isn't affected.
She promised to get in touch by email in 1 week but we politely asked if she could also call.

We dashed out very confused asking ourselves question as to what might have gone wrong. But I remained so calm and my wife wasn't at all happy. I kept my composure and we headed for the hotel. Had some thought, we thanked God for everything and wondered if it wasn't a good idea coming for the premium appointment after spending over 2 grand for the appointment, hotel, fuel, food and the effort exhausted on it and if postal application would have been better after all seeing that they still have to carry out further checks when our case was a very very very very very straightforward one.
Packed all our luggage and headed for the car park. Drove back home and the wait began!

One full week passed according to the promise made to us. I called the HO every single day whilst at work to check on the progress. And this week began but still heard nothing on Monday. I made up my mind with my wife on Tuesday that I will no longer worry about it as we drove to work and left everything to God knowing fully well that we had no problem.

At that point I noticed a change around and whilst at work today, due to the nature and the sensitivity of our job, she called twice on both our numbers without any response from us and the she wrote us an email which declares that '' after carrying out further checks I am pleased to inform you that you have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK''. paraphrased.....


So here I am, feeling really happy and thankful to God. Preparing for my naturalisation. My wife is the happiest person ever.
Anyway, I have come to tell you of my journey and I hope that whilst you read my epistle, you would be happy that all finally worked out for me. Congratulation to me, and I congratulate you too.

Remain blessed and God bless you all for reading.

Also thanks to all the seniors on here who took that initiative to create an environment where ideas like these can be shared. God bless you all and to those who are still hoping to get through someday, I say to you all: it is well! Shalom!

Your Loyal Subject
Toby

Thanks for sharing, mate, and massive CONGRATULATIONS to you and your wife You both must be over the moon!

Indeed, it wasn't easy, was it? It's a shame they didn't give you a decision on the same day but took a week instead. Also, partial refund would had been nice as, like you said, it wasn't cheap.

See, we checked out from the hotel altogether before going over to the Premium Centre. Then, we stuck around nervously waiting and watching Netflix lol. Our number was something like 104. So, when you said 100, I knew instantly you were the first person.

Oh well, no matter. All's over now and I'm very happy for you It's already over a month for me and I'm still thinking and smiling about it. So, I can imagine how you feel. Enjoy, you deserve it, my friend.

Anyway, good stuff and wow, you're already preparing for naturalisation??? That's wicked!
Well, stick around and let us all know how that goes. Although, that's a different application which could take as long as 6 months, right? But I'm sure it won't be as nerve-wrecking as the ILR.

Cheers and regards.