Post
by bmowen » Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:26 am
What visas have you been on?
I was in a similar situation. I had lost my previous passort which had my original work permit in it. The biggest issue you will have is proving your days out of the country. I took along the following.
- Original work permit letter stamped on entry
- Current passport
- Letter from all of my employers during my stay in the UK (Didn't show when I was out of the country)
- All of my P60's
- As many payslips that I could find ( I was missing about 10)
- As many bank statements that I could find
I paid for a priority application at the Croydon PEO. The hardest part was proving that I had not had any extended stays outside the UK. The person who checks the application before seeing a caseworker didn't give me much confidence. He basically gave me a choice to go away and try and get more information or to go upstairs and risk rejection or a delay. I chose to take the risk as I still had 4 months left on my current Visa.
I went upstairs and spoke to a casewoker. She took all of my documents and asked my a lot of questions trying to establish when I was out of the country. Luckily for me she was able to peice together enough information to be confident that I was not out of the UK for more than 180 days or 90 days at a time. Even so, It still had to be sent to a senior caseworker for approval.
My advice is to get a letter from each of your employers confirming what days you were away on annual leave. It would certainly made my application easier. Alos take as many payslips and bank statements that you can to show that you were living and working here. I believe you can also apply for a copy of your SAR file which may have a copy of your landing card on entry.
Above all if you apply in person be polite and friendly and try not to aggrivate the caseworker. They have a tough job and often have to deal with upset or angry people. While it should make a difference, they are human and would probably be more inclined to put the extra effort in for someone who is polite to them.
