Hi All,
First of all I wanted to offer my sincere thanks to all of those who have been involved in putting together the information provided on this forum, past and present. It has been an absolutely invaluable resource for me as I put together my application, not only this time but in the previous applications, and gave me a lot of piece of mind as I was going through the process that I wasn't going to miss out anything or make some other daft mistake.
I got my ILR approved on 11 Oct at Croydon PEO.
I arrived at 8:30 for a 9am appointment. Interestingly they showed me straight through and I was with a case worker before 8:45. I do think getting an early morning appointment is the way to go, so you get seen before the case log has a chance to build up later in the day. Though they did say that it was unusually quiet the day I went, because of some staff training thing that meant they had allowed less bookings than usual.
Overall it was a very quick and smooth process. Saw case worker who took my folders of papers, straight to get biometrics done, then waited in the cafe for my number to be called to pick up my papers after the application was accepted. All took less than two hours, but as I say I was probably lucky.
My case was quite straightforward. Granted Tier 1 General from 15 October 08, arrived in the UK on 30 October 08. Only about 140 days absent from the UK since 2008. So five years later I was eligible to apply for ILR just before my visa expired.
One interesting minor wrinkle with my application - I arrived in the UK via Ireland, as I attended a friend's wedding there on the way to the UK in Oct 08. There is apparently an open border between the UK and Ireland, so no immigration control. This meant that I didn't get my visa stamped when I first entered the UK. I was worried this might be an issue in terms of proving my arrival date, so printed out my old airline itinerary, a UK bank statement from when I first arrived, and some other stuff, in case they questioned my arrival date. It didn't seem to be an issue though. Some posts on the boards from others who had been in the same boat put my mind at ease about this.
List of docs I submitted is as follows:
- Completed application form SET(O)
- 2 photographs
- Passport (Original)
- Passport (New)
- Biometric Residence Permit Card
- Online Fee payment sheet
- Covering Letter
- 2 letters from employers explaining absences from the UK (based on the text stickied in the forum)
- Spreadsheet of all UK absences (the one stickied in the forum)
- UKBA Online Points-Based Calculator Self-Assessment Summary printout
- Life in UK Test pass completion sheet
- 12 months of printed payslips - all signed & stamped by employer
- 12 months of bank statements
- 5 original P60s covering my time in the UK
- Evidence related to my initial arrival date, as noted above
In a separate folder:
- Photocopies of all pages of both passports, whether stamped or not (have heard mixed things about whether blank pages are needed - I just photocopied every page).
- Photocopies of all other documents mentioned above (other than the SET(O) application form itself).
They did not ask for any additional documentation - in fact the caseworker didn't even look through my documents when taking my application, which was a surprise. She just took the folders off me and told me to wait to get my biometrics done. My application was quite straightforward and I had included a detailed cover letter, so I didn't really make an effort to explain things or talk through my documents, other than I did make the point about my arrival via Ireland and the evidence I had submitted proving my arrival date, which she didn't seem too interested in. I would imagine it would be a good idea to ask questions or explain what you've provided if you are uncertain about anything. The staff were a mixture but were generally quite warm and helpful, although my caseworker was the least helpful.
I definitely recommend double and triple checking your application form the day before you go. The form is very complicated and second time through I found a couple of boxes I had missed, one of which would have been a significant omission. Better to be safe than sorry, especially if like me you filled out different bits of the application form over multiple days as you put together the evidence.
A few other things that aren't necessary but are worth thinking about: I used paperclips and post-it notes to group different categories of documents together in the folders, to make it easier to find things. I highlighted each payment I was using as evidence in my bank statements, again to make them easier to find. I figure anything that makes the caseworker's life easier can only help them process your application quicker.
Any questions please feel free to ask. Good luck to all those applying!
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