Dear moderators and members of immigrationboards.com,
I have been a silent member of this forum for the past 6 years and used the information from here first to prepare my HSMP application in late 2004, then to prepare my EC application in 2005, then for the FLR application at the end of the first year here in the UK (2006) and now for the ILR application. This forum has been of a tremendous help and I am grateful for your existence. Thank you so much for the advice and support that you give!
We are a family of five, with two citizenships (Canada and Croatia) and in 2005 arrived to the UK with three children who were under 18. Last year one of them turned 18 before we became eligible for ILR and I was worried about his ILR application and whether he would get the ILR since he is over 18 now. He lives with us, has never worked in the UK and is a full-time university student as of September 2009. The biggest challenge for me was whether the UKBA officials will accept that he is still our dependant and grant him the ILR under the HSMP (JR) rules.
After a lot of research and finding some information at immigrationboards.com and preparing the whole application by myself, we finally got our passport back today and the ILR stamp in them! For all of us! We also received a letter saying that we have been free from immigration restrictions from the date when had completed 4 years under HSMP visa, so that we can use it in the citizenship process.
As the citizens of Canada and Croatia we were eligible to claim and receive the Child Benefit for our three children (which we did) and I have explained this in the ILR application process plus attached the Public Fund brochure which explains this in detail.
The other documents submitted:
• All our Canadian and Croatian passports (current and expired);
• Original HSMP approval letter issued by the HSMP Team of Work Permits UK (2005) and the approval letter for our Further Leave to Remain (FLR) (2006);
• Birth certificates for all three children, originals and translations into English;
• Marriage certificate, original and the English translation.
Evidence of our economic activity in the UK:
• Confirmation of Employment letter from my current employer.
• Pay slips for me for the past 12 months and P60 form for the past 4 years.
• Confirmation of Employment letter for my husband from his current employer
• Pay slips for my husband for the past 12 months.
• Bank statements from our bank account for the past 4 months.
• Child Benefit entitlement letter and related leaflet which explains our eligibility as Canadians and Croatians.
Evidence related to my absences from the UK:
• List of all absences (holidays and business trips) (138 in total = 53 days for business trips and 85 days for holidays).
• Confirmation Letter from my employer for my business travel.
For our 18 year old son, who is now a full-time university student, we have submitted his separate SET (O) application in the same package with ours and in the cover letter explained the situation and his dependency to us. We also asked that all of our supporting documents are used in his application process as well.
In addition, to support his application and prove that he lives with us and is still our dependant, we submitted the following documents:
Evidence of his home address and studies in the UK:
• Confirmation of Studies letter from his university.
• Confirmation letter from his doctor, and his NHS medical card (both confirm his residence with us).
• National Insurance Number letter (to prove his address and also so that it can be checked that he has never worked and hence is fully dependent on us, his parents).
• Letters sent to him by his bank (no bank statements though as he has only recently opened his bank account).
• Acceptance Letter and Scholarship Letter from his university.
• Two recent grade reports from his university (to prove that he has not only been admitted but that he is still there).
• His secondary school Year 13 Exam Results (IB diploma) and reports for his GCSE exams (to prove his address and that he has completed secondary school in the UK).
Evidence related to the absences from the UK:
• List of all absences (holidays and school trips listed separately prior to his 18th birthday and after that).
We have NOT provided any evidence related to Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK test, as per the terms of HSMP ILR judicial review policy document.
The timeline:
Application submitted (through Royal Mail with tracking option) - 18th March, 2010
Application delivered to UKBA: 19th March, 2010
Application fee taken from our bank account: 19th March, 2010
Confirmation letter sent to us: 19th March, 2010
Confirmation letter arrived: 22nd March, 2010
Application approval letter written: 21st April, 2010
Package with our passports and documents arrived: 28th April, 2010
We have not been contacted by the UKBA in the meantime and have not received any notification that the ILR has been granted (like some people did) - we only found out this morning when the whole package with documents and passports arrived.
The only document that was kept by the UKBA was my cover letter. Everything else was returned.
Next step: application for citizenship!
Thank you all again and best of luck with your applications!
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