ILR success 26 March 2013, PEO Birmingham

[Bryce]

I've gotten some good tips from this forum so thought I'd share my experience from today.

I'm a New Zealander at the end of his 5-year UK ancestry visa. I live in London but heard bad things about Croydon, so I made an appointment for PEO Birmingham back in early February. But I made a mistake and put it for form FLR(O). By the time a friend pointed out I should have been using SET(O), I found it couldn't be changed, and it was too late to cancel and get a new appointment, (someone on this forum advised me to start a new ID and check for availability, very wise) so I rang the phone service and they said it was in the discretion of the staff on the day and worth a try.

So I went up north and held my breath. Didn't mention it, nobody said anything, and I was in.

(so that's possibly a loophole for appointment booking, but I wouldn't advise it unless you like to gamble!)

Making my appointment for 9am was a great move. I was called in less than 10 minutes, and when I came out the place was busy. When I was getting my biometric scan the woman said first thing in the morning is definitely the thing to do.

The UKBA officer interviewing me was very friendly (although possibly I was lucky, because I could hear someone further down getting a grilling) and we chatted about genealogy. Also first thing in the morning probably means people are chattier and not tired!

I'm self employed in the advertising/design industry, so I have a yo-yo bank balance and was worried about that – I explained that I was still waiting for payment from recent jobs and he wasn't bothered.

Key paperwork that helped convince him was:
* Contracts from recent freelancing at an advertising agency (stating my daily rate)
* A payslip from recent work at another agency (even though it was only three day's work)
* My most recent HMRC National Insurance bill, and printouts of summary pages from my online tax return.

He specifically asked if I had 'something from HMRC'.

I offered to show him old P60s from a full time job to prove my earning potential but he said it's just about the here and now.

He looked at my absences and didn't seem to add them up (less than 180 days anyway if you didn't count the days of travel in and out of the UK)

I was also worried about the page 'state your social and cultural ties to your country of birth', for which I put 'Mother, sister, nephews and various old school friends' – he glanced at that and carried on, no query.

After that I went straight to the payment desk, then back to the waiting room, sat for a few minutes, went to the Biometric scans (10 min) then got told come back in 1.5 hours. Went to the local mall, came back, waited for another 10-15 minutes, got called up and given the good news and waved goodbye!

Total elapsed time, about 2.5 hours (8.45 – 11.15)

My Biometric card is of course yet to come but overall a very smooth process. I strongly recommend just simply relaxing, and being chatty.

Good luck to everyone!

Bryce

[Kevin24]

I've gotten some good tips from this forum so thought I'd share my experience from today.

I'm a New Zealander at the end of his 5-year UK ancestry visa. I live in London but heard bad things about Croydon, so I made an appointment for PEO Birmingham back in early February. But I made a mistake and put it for form FLR(O). By the time a friend pointed out I should have been using SET(O), I found it couldn't be changed, and it was too late to cancel and get a new appointment, (someone on this forum advised me to start a new ID and check for availability, very wise) so I rang the phone service and they said it was in the discretion of the staff on the day and worth a try.

So I went up north and held my breath. Didn't mention it, nobody said anything, and I was in.

(so that's possibly a loophole for appointment booking, but I wouldn't advise it unless you like to gamble!)

Making my appointment for 9am was a great move. I was called in less than 10 minutes, and when I came out the place was busy. When I was getting my biometric scan the woman said first thing in the morning is definitely the thing to do.

The UKBA officer interviewing me was very friendly (although possibly I was lucky, because I could hear someone further down getting a grilling) and we chatted about genealogy. Also first thing in the morning probably means people are chattier and not tired!

I'm self employed in the advertising/design industry, so I have a yo-yo bank balance and was worried about that – I explained that I was still waiting for payment from recent jobs and he wasn't bothered.

Key paperwork that helped convince him was:
* Contracts from recent freelancing at an advertising agency (stating my daily rate)
* A payslip from recent work at another agency (even though it was only three day's work)
* My most recent HMRC National Insurance bill, and printouts of summary pages from my online tax return.

He specifically asked if I had 'something from HMRC'.

I offered to show him old P60s from a full time job to prove my earning potential but he said it's just about the here and now.

He looked at my absences and didn't seem to add them up (less than 180 days anyway if you didn't count the days of travel in and out of the UK)

I was also worried about the page 'state your social and cultural ties to your country of birth', for which I put 'Mother, sister, nephews and various old school friends' – he glanced at that and carried on, no query.

After that I went straight to the payment desk, then back to the waiting room, sat for a few minutes, went to the Biometric scans (10 min) then got told come back in 1.5 hours. Went to the local mall, came back, waited for another 10-15 minutes, got called up and given the good news and waved goodbye!

Total elapsed time, about 2.5 hours (8.45 – 11.15)

My Biometric card is of course yet to come but overall a very smooth process. I strongly recommend just simply relaxing, and being chatty.

Good luck to everyone!

Bryce

Congratulations. Please give directions to the PEO from Solihull Station. As few people had difficulty in finding the PEO and were late for their appointments.

[Bryce]

I've gotten some good tips from this forum so thought I'd share my experience from today.

Congratulations. Please give directions to the PEO from Solihull Station. As few people had difficulty in finding the PEO and were late for their appointments.

Good point! I got lost too but just thought it was me. It's kind of hard to describe but here goes while it is still fresh in my mind.

From the station, cross the road and head to the right. Very shortly you intersect with a more busy road. Keep going straight, staying on the left hand side of the road. Then when you reach the big roundabout, cross over via the crossing lights and go straight – through a tiny park on the corner. You will know you're on the right road if there are shops on your left (the same side of the road you should be on still.)

If you see John Lewis on the other side of the road, you have gone too far.

Cross over to some offices, there is a 'wellness centre' there. A few doors down is UKBA – it has NO SIGN, just the number 41. The (wood) door will not be open, you have to approach it and a guard will see you on CCTV and open it for you.

Hope this helps. I'd suggest using Google Maps street view and plotting this route.

Bryce

[Kevin24]

Thank you. For giving the directions to the PEO. Much appreciated.

[alanwong]

Congratulations, Bryce! Many thanks for sharing your experience and tips about finding the place. Good luck with you in the future.