FLR(M) success, my experience of Liverpool PEO & thank y

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend (US citizen) and I (British citizen) went to Liverpool PEO today for our appointment to apply for the FLR(M) Unmarried Partners visa. We got it and we're over the moon! As promised in an earlier thread, I'm posting this for others to read about our experience and hopefully what they might experience from a premium appointment. Before I go into it I need to thank those on the board that shared their ideas, gave advice and replied to my posts. Without your advice and tips our application would have been weaker and I'm sincerely grateful for your input. You know who you are!

Our appointment in Liverpool was at 11.00am, but we got to Reliance House (the PEO in Liverpool) at 10.20am to go through security. We parked in The Capital car park, which wasn't cheap (£10 for 9 hours!) but was very, very close to Reliance House and is worth considering if you want the day to be as hassle-free as possible. Check out http://www.thecapitalcarpark.com/ for more about the car park.

1. Clearing security - 5 minutes

We walked into the building and immediately went through security. We had to remove anything metal on us and put all of our items in a tray and collect them on the other side of the scanning machine. Just before we had to put our items in the tray a friendly member of UKBA staff asked to see our appointment confirmation.

2. Reception area / first document check - 10 minutes

We were then guided to a desk and a lady checked what we were applying for and told us to go through to the first waiting area and be seated until we were called forward by another person. We sat in front of the counter and behind the glass they quickly looked through our application to check it was all filled in and had a look at our passports to make sure they were in order. Once again, the member of staff who saw us was friendly and professional.

3. Cashier counter - 5 minutes

We were told to go upstairs and to the cashier counters where we paid for our application and were given a receipt and a number. We were told to wait in the waiting area, which was in the same room as the cashier counters, until the number we had been given was called out. This room also has the counters you're called to by the immigration officers to go through your application. There were probably about 30 or so people in there when we arrived.

4. Waiting and being bored - 1 hour, 15 mins

At this point we were thinking this was really fast and easy. Obviously we were wrong. We waited well over an hour for our number to be called, which sucked because both of us were too nervous to read a book and wouldn't have been able to concentrate on it!

5. Having our application looked at by the immigration officer - 20 minutes

We were called over to one of the windows and sat in front of it, with the immigration officer who would go over our application on the other side. Our immigration officer was friendly, chatty and an absolute pleasure to deal with. I say this because I know that isn't always the case and we must have lucked-out on that front. As she was so friendly, our nerves were immediately calmed and both of us began to relax a little. She asked us a few questions about our jobs, how long we'd been together and general things (she actually worked them into a conversation and I didn't realise until after that's what she was doing!) She checked our passports and 'started' the case (as she described it) by entering some details into her PC. She then asked us to give her the evidence we had to show we'd lived together for two years and proof of our finances. Being the cautious person I am we'd brought 99 items over the two years linking us to the same addresses. The lever arch file we brought was actually too big to slide to her under the counter and she had to walk round to take it off of us! She told us she would check the documents while my girlfriend had her biometrics sorted, and that we should come back to her once that had been done.

6. Biometrics - 15 minutes

We then went to the biometrics area and my girlfriend was asked to sign a form and then had her fingerprints scanned and a picture of her face taken. Once more the staff were friendly and helpful.

7. Waiting again - 20 minutes

We went back to our immigration officer and she told us she was looking at the documents but would be finished very soon. We were told to sit in the waiting area but this time didn't have to spend quite so long in there.

8. Back to the immigration officer and decision time! - 15 minutes

When we were called back to her desk, the immigration officer told us that everything was fine and our application had been accepted. She gave us the letter to show this was the case and told us that my girlfriend's identity card (proof of the visa) would arrive in the post within 3-5 working days. She also answered a few questions we had and gave us some good advice (which was to get a letter from my girlfriend's boss when we apply for ILR to show that her job requires travelling a few times a year as the next immigration officer may wonder why she's out of the country every now and then.)

And that's it, we were sent on our merry way and back out into the real world. I've heard from others that immigration officers they dealt with were not very friendly, so I think we were lucky in this aspect. Every member of staff there acted politely and professionally and the whole process (minus the waiting) was smooth, straightforward and not the big, scary thing I had built up in my mind. Hopefully others will find this useful, but do bear in mind this was for a straightforward FLR(M) Unmarried Partners visa, was at Liverpool PEO and is only one account of an experience at this office. From what we experienced, Liverpool PEO was excellent.