Length Of Time - SET(m)

Hi, I have been reading through this forum and quite shocked as to how long one must wait for their ILR to be issued. I was down at my local council today as they authorise the application before they send it off. They charge £61 for their service.

All was in order but my only concern was that we have to send our (girlfriend who is British and me, South African) passports with the application and I was advised
that I may not get the passports back for sometime. We are due to go on holiday end of Jan 2010 so I've had to hold back on sending the passports and application for now
as I was unsure if we would get them back in time?

As I have an ancestral visa with an extended visa, no criminal records, no dependants, no public funds etc, could my ILR be returned before the end of Jan?

The other option is to hold onto the application and passport and send it through after we're back from our hols but then would the laws be changing on ILR requests
including the extortionate costs!!?

Could go for to a PEO for same day service if ur absolutely sure ur 100% squeaky-clean. Costs an extra £200 tho.....

£1020, remember when it was free?!!

Authorisation from the local Council for SET(M) applications? Are you sure you're not confusing this with the National Checking Service for British Citizenship?