I have now successfully received my ILR and the advice on this forum has been very helpful. I wanted to share my detailed experience of the process to give back to the community. Note this is my personal experience only and based on the regulations currently in place.
I applied for ILR after being on a tier 2 visa (General) from 2013 with 2 employers.
Timeline:
Application submitted on 21st March, paid for the super priority option.
I went for the appointment at Sopra Steria on the morning of 26th March.
I received an email same day in the afternoon from caseworker to confirm leave has been granted.
Letter and biometric card received in post on 29th March.
Fees I paid:
Application fee: £2389
Biometrics: £19.20
Super priority option: £610
Total: £3018.20
I did not use an immigration adviser firm as their fees were too high but you need to assess if they are worth it depending on how complex your circumstances are.
I went to the set(O) form on the home office website and you have to create an account. You can save your application and come back to edit before you submit.
I filled in the questions in the online form, submitted it, paid the fees and it provides a checklist of documents required based on the answers you gave. I found this very helpful rather than the old paper forms.
It provides a link to Sopra Steria and again you have to create an account. I selected the appointment date and time and you get an appointment confirmation email with a QR code. You need to print and take this to your appointment.
It is also advisable that you scan and upload your documents on the Steria account before your appointment. Otherwise you can take your hard copy documentsu and they will scan and upload for you.
Documents I was asked to produce and which I scanned and uploaded on the Steria account:
1. Passport (cover page only which contains your details and photo)
2. Life in the UK test pass notification letter.
When you pass the test, you receive a stamped letter from the test centre, so keep this safely.
3. Most recent pay slip
My employer does not provide monthly paper payslips, so I called HR and asked them for a hard copy on company letter head, signed and dated by the HR manager. I then scanned this document.
4. Most recent 1 month bank statement
I went to my local branch and asked them to print out 1 month of transactions on the bank headed paper, then asked them to date stamp and sign each page. Note: this needs to be the bank account where your salary is paid in.
5. My UK degree certificate to prove level of English
6. Current biometric permit
I scanned both front and back
( note only the most recent biometric permit is needed)
7. I was asked to provide “evidence conditions were met”
I was not sure about this question as I reasoned that the fact that I was granted rhe tier 2 visa obviously meant that I must have met the conditions.
Since I had it handy, I provided the Certificate of Sponsorship letter I received from my current employer at the time they applied for my tier 2 visa to show that conditions such as market resident test conditions had been met. If you do not have this letter, I would not worry too much as your biometric card should be sufficient, at least for tier 2. Cant comment on the other visas.
8. Current employer letter to confirm employment
Again this has to be on company headed letter, signed by an HR professional and dated. It must include:
a.you are still required for the employment in question for the foreseeable future,
b.the nearest applicable SOC code which best describes your employment
c.your current rate of pay (this should be given in the same format as given in the codes of practice, for example hourly rate or yearly salary), and
d.confirmation that this is at or above the appropriate rate for the job as stated in the codes of practice for Tier 2 sponsors.
9. Absence letter from current and previous employer.
These letters took the longest for me to receive. Contact your employers at least 1 month before your intended application date and chase daily.
My absences were recorded in the form of a table for each absence:
Date left UK
Date returned to UK
Days out of UK
Country visited
Reason
For business travel, my employer asked me for approvals from my line managers at the time so keep these emails handy or any records from the travelling systems.
For annual leave, they just need to include a statement that these absences were in line with your annual entitlement and normal working pattern.
Note: My current employer provided confirmation of employment and confirmation of absences on the same letter so no need to request 2 separate letters from your employer.
The new appointment process at Steria has already been very well described by below but happy to provide any additional details.
general-uk-immigration-forum/ukvcas-sup ... 67745.html
Overall I found the process relatively straightforward. As long as you get all your documents using the official guidelines, ILR from tier 2 is simple. Happy to provide any additional details or any things I may have left out here. Ask your questions
Cheers
Ram
