Just wanted to share my experience there as I suspect somewhat few people actually go there for their premium appointment.
I did an application for myself and two dependents: my wife and child. This was based on 5yrs Work Permit (only). We had a heck of a time getting any appointment, but my wife was in a position to keep calling and checking online and calling and checking online and calling and checking online... until finally she was able to book an appointment at the Cardiff office for January 4th over the phone. This was a straightforward application. I, nor my wife, had any large gaps or anything like that though one 'issue' did pop up that I will mention in a bit.
We arrived at the office at 8am and were let in at 8:30 along with a motley group of people there for various reasons, mostly biometric IDs. There was one other small family there as well who had an ILR appointment and another that came a couple of hours. We sat in the waiting area for about 90 minutes when a gentleman came out and called us to his position on the counter. There he verified all of our documents and told us to sit down and wait and he would tell us when the application went to a case worker. He called us back about ten minutes later because of my wife's visa. She had only been on an actual dependency visa for about 9 months (the previous 3 1/2 years to that, she was a graduate student in the UK). He said he would have expected that visa to be about as long as our marriage (2 1/2 years) give or take that particular processing application time. He would have to talk to a senior case worker and then decide whether we should proceed with our application or: change the application to be just for myself and daughter or: withdraw the application all together. We were told to wait and he would call us when we heard back. This caught me off guard because I had pretty thoroughly researched the requirements for this application and had seen nowhere that any dependent, spouse or otherwise, had to have a specific visa for that status. About 30 minutes later he called us back and informed that there would no problems going ahead with the application and that it would proceed to a case worker. Again we waited. The case worker came out twice in the next 2 hours to clarify a couple of minor details that I can't honestly recall. He then came out a third time for clarification as to which travel document for my daughter would get the endorsement (this was obviously a very good sign at this point, daughter has U.S. passport and OCI). About 30 minutes later, he called me to the counter and informed me that we would all be getting our ILR. He sent me down to the payment counter where I paid with a credit card. After another small wait of maybe ten minutes, the case worker called me back to the counter to collect my documents.
It was in general a very good mood all around, though the wait was at times long and it did get a bit crowded in the waiting area for about an hour. Cardiff does not have a facility for doing ILR endorsements so they had to send our passports off to Sheffield for that purpose. We got them back with the endorsements 3 days later by special delivery. After we got home from the appointment that day, I verified on the UKBA website that in fact my wife did not have to have that particular dependency visa for any length of time at all. She only had to have been living with me for the previous 2 years. We provided plenty of evidence to this effect; most powerfully perhaps the lease signed by us both 2 years earlier and a separate letter from our letting agent specifically stating that my wife had moved in January 2008.
One additional thing to note; I was called on the phone twice by someone from the UKBA to confirm our appointment several days in advance. In the first call, they emphasized that we should bring six separate pieces of evidence regarding my wife's proof of address. I'm glad they called. This isn't mentioned anywhere in the application or on the website.
Documents submitted:
1. 3 current passports
2. 1 former passport
3. 1 Overseas Citizenship of India booklet
4. 1 Set O application with applicable sections filled in.
5. 6 photographs, 2 of each applicant.
6. Copy of Home Office approval letter for my current employer for change of employment.
7. Copy of original Home Office approval letter for my first UK employer for employment.
8. Original Work Permit
9. Life in the UK Test Pass Notification Letters for both my wife and self.
10. 12 (all 2009) months bank statements.
11. 12 previous pay slips.
12. Marriage Certificate.
13. Birth Certificate for our daughter (born in the UK).
14. Letter from property leasing company confirming lease (addressed to both signers) with the attached lease contract and letters confirming tenancy.
15. Letter confirming current employment and further need for my services.
16. Employment contract with current employer.
17. Employment contract with previous UK employer.
18. Seven bank statements for my wife to our current home address.
19. Two enhanced disclosure forms (Criminal Records Bureau) checks for my wife listing current home address.
20. TV licenses statement for current address, listing 2008 and 2009 payment details.
21. Three gas statements from current provider (EON).
22. One gas bill from current provider (EON).
23. One electricity bill from current provider (EON).
24. One water statement from current provider (United Utilities).
25. One landline phone bill from current provider (British Telecom).
26. One mobile phone bill from current provider (O2).
27. Five P-60 forms from 2004-2005 to 2008-2009.
28. One P-60 form for my wife listing current address.
29. One UK Driving License for my wife listing current address.
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