Success at PEO Solihull - 3rd Oct 2012 - HSMP + Tier 1

[Ozair]

Hi everyone,

Alhamdulillah me and my wife (dependent) got our ILR application approved today at Solihull.

I took the following documents with me.

1- Appointment confirmation letter
2- Set O form
3- Photographs
Main Applicant + 1 dependent
4- Passports
Main Applicant + 1 dependents
5- Life in the UK -
Me + wife
6- Tier 1 migrant approval letter (copy only, lost original)
7- HSMP approval letter
8- Pay slips for 12 months (others available as backup)
9- P60s (2 missing for 2007 and 2008, employment history letter from HMRC)
10- P45 (for the last employer before hsmp. It was part time job)
11- Letter from Employer (confirming salary and working since date)
12- Bank statement for 12 months
13- Cohabitation documents.

(Note: I have compiled a list of cohab docs for each month for the 24 months period as the CW would have it on her check list. My own little touch )
14- Photocopies of everything.

The appointment was for 10:40.
Arrived at 10:10
Security check took a couple of minute where they also checked if the form was the correct form.
Issued a ticket, waited for 10 minutes and our number was called.
Went to one of the 5 counters. The case worker was a guy of Pakistani origin.
Asked for the following in the stated order one by one.
1. Completed form
2. Passports
3. Copy of passports. He took only the pages with the stamps for leaving or entering the UK. The absence sheet i provided him, he asked me to sign and date it.
4. Life in uk test results.
5. Asked for 12 pay slips and bank statements with copy.
6. Asked for cohabitation documents. I said i have a list of documents compiled and he can have a look at it and ask for the ones he want. He said give me everything in joint names and he will choose the ones he want and then i can give him the photo copies.

He choose to take Council tax letter from 2010, Child birth certificate from 2011, An HSBC annual bank summary letter for the advance account, Electricity bill from last month. I provided the photocopies.

Then he said he will go to the back office, came back in a minute, said i am happy with the documents and we are going to give you settlement visas. Then he said you dont have any criminal convictions? I said no! He said then it should be ok.

Went to the payment counter where he just took the payment page and said we will let you know if there is any problem in processing the payment. No Chip and pin.

Waited outside for biometrics for about 45 minutes. We had 2 big families in front of us for the biometrics. When our number was called, it only took us 10 minutes. We were told that the payment had gone through and you can return in 1 hour to collect your paperwork.

Came back after 1 hour, were told to wait another 10 minutes and then we were given our decision letters.

Took roughly 3 hours but we returned home very happy and relieved.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have!

[AcrossBorders]

Congratulations on getting your ILR

Do you know if applying by post at what stage you do the bio metrics? Before or after submitting application

Thanks

[Adojay]

Hi Ozair, congrats to you on obtaining your ILR.

One question I would like to ask is that must one provide co-habitation evidence if applying with dependants. Is it a requirement? The only document we have in joint names is Council Tax.

The second question is, do you have to provide an absence sheet for the period away from the coountry?


Kind regards,

Adojay

[Ozair]

AcrossBorders
After submitting application!

Adojay
Yes cohabitation documents are must.
Absence sheet is not required, you have to mention all your absence in the form but i just used it to let them know which pages are the exit and entry stamps on.

[salonbalm]

congratulations mate.

I have got my ILR appointment coming up as well. for cohabitation I have got council tax bill, tenancy agreement and electricity bill for the last 2 years with both mine and my wife's name on it. Is this enough? Also is the spreadsheet needed for cohabitation that you ahve posted a link to?

Thanks in advance.

[Ozair]

salonbalm
It would depend on the caseworker, mine decided to take 4 documents, some would only take 3. It is best to take as many as possible. Also, he was only interested in the ones with joint name.

The sheet is not required. He didnt even look at it.

[salonbalm]

Thanks Ozair.

[innocentdevil]

mashallah. good to hear brother.

only question, i have got copies of pay slips but do i need to copy bank statements as well ?

[nmm]

Hi Ozair,

First of all accept my heartly congratulations!!

Now I just want to clear few doubts:

1. It looks like from your post the CW himself asked for docs, is it so? Do we need to create a presentable file of documents?
2. What docs you submitted for requirement 11L? Did caseworker specifically asked for five years P60s? What about the approval letters?
3. Did CW asked for your marriage cerificate? Or the degrees? that you already provided in previous Tier-1 application?

Thanks

[Ozair]

mashallah. good to hear brother.

only question, i have got copies of pay slips but do i need to copy bank statements as well ?

Yes he asked for copies of bank statements as well

[Ozair]

Hi Ozair,

First of all accept my heartly congratulations!!

Now I just want to clear few doubts:

1. It looks like from your post the CW himself asked for docs, is it so? Do we need to create a presentable file of documents?
yes, he asked me for specific documents. You can organise your file in they way it is easier for you. He organised all the documents in the way he liked it to process the application.

2. What docs you submitted for requirement 11L? Did caseworker specifically asked for five years P60s? What about the approval letters?
He only asked for payslips and bank statements. No P60s or employer's letter or anything else ...

3. Did CW asked for your marriage cerificate? Or the degrees? that you already provided in previous Tier-1 application?
Did not ask for marriage certificate. Did not ask for degrees, it was provided in previous application but i had it in the bag.

Thanks

[Adojay]

AcrossBorders
After submitting application!

Adojay
Yes cohabitation documents are must.
Absence sheet is not required, you have to mention all your absence in the form but i just used it to let them know which pages are the exit and entry stamps on.

Since co-habitation docs are a must, can I submit just the only one (Council Tax) I've got in joint names? My spouse and I have other billls in either names. Can I submit some bills in my name and some in my spouse's name as well?


Kind regards,


Adojay

[nmm]

He only asked for payslips and bank statements. No P60s or employer's letter or anything else ...

Just to confirm, you are talking about payslips & bank statements for last 12 months and not old one that you used to apply for Tier-1 extension?

[Ozair]

AcrossBorders
After submitting application!

Adojay
Yes cohabitation documents are must.
Absence sheet is not required, you have to mention all your absence in the form but i just used it to let them know which pages are the exit and entry stamps on.

Since co-habitation docs are a must, can I submit just the only one (Council Tax) I've got in joint names? My spouse and I have other billls in either names. Can I submit some bills in my name and some in my spouse's name as well?


Kind regards,


Adojay

Take the council tax bills and all other bills and documents in your name and your wife's name from different sources. Its best if you have joint name documents from different sources, otherwise take documents in your name on the same address as your wife's document. Like for example, an NHS letter for your wife in 2011 and an electricity bill in your name in 2011 can count as one proof.

[Ozair]

He only asked for payslips and bank statements. No P60s or employer's letter or anything else ...

Just to confirm, you are talking about payslips & bank statements for last 12 months and not old one that you used to apply for Tier-1 extension?

I had old ones as well in the bag, but he only asked for the ones i was claiming points for. The 12 out of last 15 months. So yes, only 12 months bank statements and payslips.

[Ozair]

Some doubts I had regarding the application.

Although the caseworker did not question any of this, but before applying i had following doubts. It might be different case for everyone but this might help.

1. Wife's visa was granted on 2nd September 2010. She came to UK on 6th October 2010. Around 1 month after visa issued. Our appointment was on 3rd October 2012. She has actually lived in the UK with me for 3 days less then 2 years period required. It could be that the case worker considered the date of visa issued to consider the 2 years cohabitation requirement. No questions were asked.

2. I had about 4 transactions from PayPal in the last four months totaling about £800 which I earned working as a freelancer. I didnt not claim this earning in the form. I will have to declare it in the next tax year. No questions were asked for this earning. Also, I had £2000 deposited into our account 11 months back which was on bank statement. This was the money my mother in law brought here to spend in her 5 months visit. I kept her passport, visa and stamps as a copy with me but again no questions were asked.

3. I left changing my address on the driving license and car registration document for over a year. Got it changed 1 month before applying and did a criminality check on myself to make sure that i didnt break any laws during that year which i might have missed because DVLA had the wrong address. The CRB check came clean. The home office must have done this check and it came clean. So i can deduce that if your basic disclosure for criminality check comes clean, you are good to go.

[man4uni]

BIG Congratz Ozair... That should be a wonderful relief!

[Ozair]

BIG Congratz Ozair... That should be a wonderful relief!

Thanks,

And yes, since booking the appointment, the 42 days were hard to bear. I wonder what a 6 months wait for postal application does to you. After the success, i would totally recommend applying in person if you can just for the sake of getting over with it. You would know the outcome sooner and you can get on with your life.

[jack902]

Copy of passports. He took only the pages with the stamps for leaving or entering the UK. The absence sheet i provided him, he asked me to sign and date it.


D you need to make photocopies of every page in your passport which contains a stamp?

Is this a requirement. I have just prepared copies of my photo page and any pages with old uk visas.

Thanks

[Ozair]

Copy of passports. He took only the pages with the stamps for leaving or entering the UK. The absence sheet i provided him, he asked me to sign and date it.


D you need to make photocopies of every page in your passport which contains a stamp?

Is this a requirement. I have just prepared copies of my photo page and any pages with old uk visas.

Thanks

Section 11 Page 40 on the form says:

You must provide the documents specified below which are relevant to your application. If you do not, we reserve the right to decide your application on the basis of the information and documents provided. Tick the relevant boxes to show the documents you are providing. They must be originals. You should photocopy each of these documents and provide the copies in addition to the originals. You should also provide passport/s along with photocopies of any pages that contain personal details, visas or immigration stamps (foreign or UK).

So i copied every single page that was used on the passport.

[innocentdevil]

yes made copies of bank statements today. got copies of everything else as well.

[jack902]

Thanks. I have now prepared photos copies of all my passport pages.

Tips like these make this forum so valuable!

[ldbright]

"8- Pay slips for 12 months (others available as backup)
9- P60s (2 missing for 2007 and 2008, employment history letter from HMRC)
10- P45 (for the last employer before hsmp. It was part time job)
11- Letter from Employer (confirming salary and working since date) "

seems to me you provided lots of extra documents, is it really necessary?

[Ozair]

"8- Pay slips for 12 months (others available as backup)
9- P60s (2 missing for 2007 and 2008, employment history letter from HMRC)
10- P45 (for the last employer before hsmp. It was part time job)
11- Letter from Employer (confirming salary and working since date) "

seems to me you provided lots of extra documents, is it really necessary?

I had these with me in the bag. I did not intend to give it to him. He did not ask for any P60s but if you want to demonstrate your economic activity and that you qualified for the previous leave to remain.

Page 43 of the form states:

For the period before you were granted leave as a Tier 1 (General) migrant, documents showing that you met the relevant requirements of the immigration rules.

It is best to go well prepared with every possible document you can get your hands on as you wont get a second chance in most of the cases.

[arifahmmed]

Oazir You were well well prepared from all aspect and comparing with your preparation I am too week. I am really confused about 11L term It said about requirements of the immigration rules but not economic activity. And I could not get any specific answer for this.