Thanks to the wealth of knowledge on these forums and the advice from the lovely moderators I successfully got my spouse leave to remain approved at Croydon PEO/PSC yesterday. So here is my experience, document list and tips for others if it might help you as well.
I switched from Tier 2 Gen and was not working since Dec and me and my wife only moved in together after our wedding last week so we didn't have much cohabitation history. So I was worried it may cause complications/questions if they thought I was desperate to stay and married for that reason blah blah. It didn't and was really straightforward!
EXPERIENCE:
1) My appointment was at 8.50am and I was done by 11am! Early appointments = no queue and quicker result. We parked right opposite at the Whitgift car park right opposite HO on Wellesley road.
2) Arrived at entrance at 8.35 and the guard let us into a premium appointment entrance room and 5 mins later we cleared airport style security to go up to the 3rd floor where the PSC is.
3) We went to reception where the lady checked the payment sheet and form and passport and told us to wait for case registration in the café.
4) 10 mins later we went for registration and the man took down all details and documents and put them in a plastic bag. This took 15-20 mins.
5) We then waited 5 mins and then went in for biometrics which took just 5-10 mins. We were then told we can go out for 2 hours if we wish and they would call us if ready so we went to the nice shopping centre across the road looking for home stuff (if I get to stay) and suitcases (if I had to leave UK)! Also a cheeky McD breakfast
6) Around 10.45 we decided to head back. Security took longer this time. We went to desk 44 to ask if ready and this emotionless guy nodded and brought over my pile of stuff and said "It was approved. Check these BRP details and sign the form." My wife squealed and the guy thought we were weird for being happy.
7) The lifts were cordoned off all the time and we had to use stairs each time! Maybe they want to make sure you're disabled or not and make you sweat more?
I never once saw/spoke to a caseworker and only spoke to a human for maybe 10 mins total.DOCUMENT LIST:
I ONLY PROVIDED ORIGINALS IN ONE PILE as I don't believe in making their job even easier when I pay them £1500 already. Plus think of the trees! And it was a good idea because I could see from the order of pile returned which documents they took out for photocopying (I've called these out below) so I'd suggest only copy these if you must. Or just make these tax funded public servants do it for you as that's their job right?
My documents were sectioned as below each separated with a coloured A4 divider sheet specifying which documents are provided to meet specific Appendix FM rules followed by those documents in that very order.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION SECTION INDEX
(See detailed document list on coloured dividers preceding each section)
A. IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS
B. RELATIONSHIP REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS (incl. shared financial responsibilities + cohabitation)
C. FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS (Cat A)
D. ACCOMMODATION REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS
E. ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS
A) IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS:
(to meet requirements of Immigration Rules R-LTRP.1.1, E-LTRP.1.2 - 1.4, E-LTRP.2.1 - 2.2 under Appendix FM)
1. Applicant's current passport
2. Applicant's previous passport
3. Applicant's BRP card
4. Sponsor's current UK passport
B) RELATIONSHIP REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS:
(to meet requirements of Immigration Rules E-LTRP.1.5 - 1.12 under Appendix FM, FM-SE and FM 2.0)
1. Marriage Certificate - COPIED
2. Wedding ceremony and evening reception photographs (x8)
3. Photographs together throughout the relationship (x36)
4. Letter of introduction + ID from sponsor’s parents
5. Letter of introduction + ID from applicant’s parents
6. Facebook Messenger chat screenshots Jan ‘15 – Jan ‘16 (x10)
7. Email correspondence – personal (x6) + travel bookings (x5)
Shared Financial Responsibilities / Cohabitation intention:
8. Joint council tax bill (showing cohabitation commencement date)
9. Joint bank account statement
10. Car insurance policy showing sponsor as named driver on applicant’s policy
C) FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS (Category A):
(to meet requirements of Immigration Rules E-LTRP.3.1 - 3.2 under Appendix FM, FM-SE and FM 1.7)
1. Sponsor’s employment reference letter - COPIED
2. Sponsor’s contract of employment - COPIED
3. Financial requirement fulfilment calculation Excel sheet - COPIED and defo used
4. Sponsor’s payslips covering period Aug ‘15 – Jan ‘16 (x6) - COPIED
5. Sponsor’s bank statements covering period 20 Jul 15 – 10 Feb 16 (salary paid in pages have been tabbed) - COPIED only salary paid in pages
D) ACCOMMODATION REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS:
(to meet requirements of Immigration Rules E-LTRP.3.4 under Appendix FM and FM 1.7A)
1. Applicant's property ownership Title Register and Plan
2. Applicant’s latest annual mortgage statement - COPIED
3. Applicant’s (pre-cohabitation) council tax bill - COPIED
4. Applicant's utility (water) bill - COPIED
E) ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT DOCUMENTS:
(to meet requirements of Immigration Rules E-LTRP.4.1 under Appendix FM/FM-SE)
1. Applicant's UK taught master’s degree certificate - COPIED
2. Applicant's UK taught bachelor’s degree certificate
Happy to answer any questions
