Post
by Fryman » Thu Dec 13, 2018 12:59 pm
The ILR Journey
• ILR Set M Form started in late October
• Tried for weeks to book on the old system
• Applying under the 5 year path as partner of a EU national.
• Self-employed, Supplied unaudited accounts along with accountants letter and all supporting documentation using year 2015-2016 tax year because 2016-2017 was not due to be submitted until the 2nd of November. This should be a very straightforward case, no previous demeanours, visa issues or complexities.
• Filled out all the form and all the way until the payment section in anticipation of trying to book the appointment (old system)
• No appointments across ANY of the service centres in the UK for 45 days similar to what people have mentioned previously.
• Had to fill out the form AGAIN after November 1st because either the application either expired, something went wrong with their backend (they expire after 25 days)
• Fee paid on the 11th of November 3018.20 on a MasterCard
• Appointment was set for 17th of November. Appointment feel + document scanning fee was paid. 295 pounds to sopra steria.
• Appointment was in 20 Mark Lane in London. Very pleasant place to be, almost too pleasant considering it is the home office partner. There’s something dodgy about Sopra steria and their visa processing partner, but I cannot pinpoint what that is.
• The gentleman scanned in every document as per the checkboxes, but could not submit the case saying there is a problem with their system and they have to “manually push it”
• No email notification received.
• No reference number was generated to prove that sopra submitted the application on my behalf.
• Called the ILR number on the 23rd, asked them to escalate the case, mentioning all of the above and they said you will receive an email within 5 days
• Received an email the next day which was too good to be true AND it had a case number in the subject, because it was. Email states “Unfortunately, we are unable to process your referral as our records show that your application is still within the service standard”
• I called the number again stating that I paid for the super premium service and that the service time was 24 hours. They said that this email was sent in error and indeed this is not within the service standard time.
• Received an email shortly after this stating to submit the biometrics. This must be autogenerated, as the biometrics is all part of the appointment….
• She said they have added this note to the case.
• 07/12 Submitted a complaint to the complaints mailbox. 20 day turnaround noted in the email
• 07/12 Submitted a complaint to Sopra Steria, received a response saying they have noted this and will feed this back to their internal process.
So much for a 24 hour service. Noted on the website in the show updates section is that if you travel, that your application will be cancelled. This was added to the webpage one day after I paid, and now stops me for travelling to family for Christmas.
What I want to know is what defines the service standard window. Is it the 24 hours or is it 6 months? I imagine the standard service window will be 6 months, but as you pay for the premium 24 hour service, that should be the one and only service window. The reason I ask is that I shall wait for the response and then look at the possibility of a section 75 on the card as the service is misrepresented.
Has anybody managed to receive a refund from this process? Given the sensitive nature of the application I am thinking that asking for a section 75 now may have a negative impact on the application.
3 weeks and counting.
. That is why I just suggest to check, not advise.
