ILR Success - My experience at Birmingham PEO

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Congratulation friend

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience, very helpful.

One question, when did you take your life in UK test?

Thank you Sushil-ACCA & netacct.
I took my life in UK test in Dec 2008.

anandsun wrote:Then she said that as I had switched to HSMP in 2007, she will need the P 60 for April 2008 - which I had with me and duly handed over to her.

Does this mean they didn't ask you for P60 from previous years? Did you have to show them just one P60?

So my advice is if possible, take an appointment at Solihull as it is less busier, people are really polite - unless you meet the Asian guy at counter 5 and you wont lose money!!!

What does the above mean? Is it best to avoid this person? I assume we don't have a choice on who processes our application?

Thanks for a very informative post.

anandsun wrote:
Then she said that as I had switched to HSMP in 2007, she will need the P 60 for April 2008 - which I had with me and duly handed over to her.

Does this mean they didn't ask you for P60 from previous years? Did you have to show them just one P60?

Yes, just one P60. ironically, I did not have any other P60s

So my advice is if possible, take an appointment at Solihull as it is less busier, people are really polite - unless you meet the Asian guy at counter 5 and you wont lose money!!!

What does the above mean? Is it best to avoid this person? I assume we don't have a choice on who processes our application?

Nothing to be scared of. We dont have an option on who we get at the counters. All I meant was, he isnt as polite as the others - but nothing to lose sleep on.

Anand, thanks for that prompt reply!
This give me some hope...I have only the last 3 years' P60 with me.

Hi global gypsy,
You will need proof of economic activity for the whole period you were on HSMP. So if you were on HSMP for the last 5 years, then ensure you carry payslips / bank statements for the remaining 2 years. I carried 60 payslips and 60 bank statements - just in case.

Wish you all the best.
Cheers,
Anand

anandsun wrote:You will need proof of economic activity for the whole period you were on HSMP.

Then hardly anyone on HSMP will get ILR in 5 years as most of the HSMP come here without a job and then start searching.

Well netacct,
Are you telling me, asking me or mocking me? Shame if its the latter as if you have more information, sharing that would have been more useful.

Economic activity doesnt mean having a job, but rather having atleast a bank account. And how long would you be jobless even if you had come on HSMP - as you would have applied for extension that would need payslips, etc.

All I mentioned was "good to have documents". Obviously there will be exceptions.

anandsun wrote:Well netacct,
Are you telling me, asking me or mocking me? Shame if its the latter as if you have more information, sharing that would have been more useful.

I am not mocking you....just asking

because lots of people including me are confused on this...

i even send an email to HO asking same but no concrete answer

Hi netacct,
I am not sure what your situation is, but it seems highly unlikely that HO will refuse ILR on the basis of not having P60s or payslips for all 5 years on HSMP. Perhaps seniors could shed more light on this. If you are currently on HSMP, not utilising public funds and are able to support yourself financially - I think that should suffice. But as I said, I'm not an expert and other suggestions are welcome.

Cheers,
A

Hi Anand,
Congratulations on getting your ILR. I have my appointment at PEO Brimingham in 2 weeks time. Just confirming with you is it the Dominion Court, 41 Station Road, Solihull the correct address for PEO ?
And does any one know any car park near by please.
Thanks

anandsun wrote:Hi netacct,
I am not sure what your situation is, but it seems highly unlikely that HO will refuse ILR on the basis of not having P60s or payslips for all 5 years on HSMP. Perhaps seniors could shed more light on this. If you are currently on HSMP, not utilising public funds and are able to support yourself financially - I think that should suffice. But as I said, I'm not an expert and other suggestions are welcome.

Cheers,
A

You also need to be in employment at the time you make your ILR application. This is one of the conditions for settlement after HSMP stay.

Hi herts

Just confirming with you is it the Dominion Court, 41 Station Road, Solihull the correct address for PEO ?

Thats correct. The post code is B91 3RT.
Cheers,
Anand[/quote]

Thanks skuk and anand for your replies

netacct wrote:

anandsun wrote:Well netacct,
Are you telling me, asking me or mocking me? Shame if its the latter as if you have more information, sharing that would have been more useful.

I am not mocking you....just asking

because lots of people including me are confused on this...

i even send an email to HO asking same but no concrete answer

true very confusing. What about contractors on hsmp they prob have gaps in employment and not be employed at the time they apply for ILR but are able to support themselves without any public funds. also someone with permanent employment may lose his job just before his ILR is due what will he do?

Congrats mate on your successful application.
One question please. When you said you tried to pay through your company card. That mean you are a contractor? or selfemployed?. So they asked only one p60 (latest) nothing else?

Rgds,

G

Hi goodmans,

I am not a contractor. My company offerred to pay for my application and I had carried a credit card with the company name on it...

They asked me for the P60 dated Apr 2008 as I was on HSMP from Aug 2007.

Cheers,
A

Thank you for sharing the events in detail. I understand you initially were on workpermit and then switched to HSMP to complete your 5 years. You went in the 28 days earlier than the 5 years

Could you share the list of documents you took with you please?

Did you need to request for any fresh letters from the employer ?



[quote="anandsun"]Hi Everyone,
I went for a premium service appointment for ILR yesterday. I called up 6 weeks in advance and booked for the 2nd April. I wanted to book for an earlier date as I didnt want to pay the new fees and did not know when the changes were being effected. However the earliest I got was for the 2nd Apr and only Birmingham had slots. So though I am from London, I decided to take up the Birmingham appointment rather than wait for a Croydon one.

I arrived on 2nd Oct 2003 into the UK on a WP and switched to HSMP in Aug 2007.

I booked the train tickets on nationalrail.co.uk well in advance and got a real cheap deal for the travel and return journeys to Solihull. My appointment was at 2 PM and I reached Solihull at around 1245, had lunch and then made my way to the PEO. The PEO is a 5 minute walk from the train station. I did not have my reference no handy, but that doesnt matter. They will match your name if you have an appointment. As soon as I entered, airport style security checks were performed. The security officer checked by SET (O) form, and passport and asked me to take a seat saying they will issue me a token in a couple of minutes. He asked me to switch my mobile off. I had a laptop with me which they kept with security and handed me a token to collect while going out.

After waiting for about 5-6 minutes, they gave me my token number. I noted that they were issuing the tokens only 2 or 3 at a time - maybe depending on how many counters were free at that point in time. In my case, 2 of us were issued tokens and the other individual got called to the counter almost immediately after the token was issued. I had to wait for about 15 minutes before being called to the counter. The lady at the counter was very polite and asked me for my SET(O) form, passport and photographs first. She clipped the photographs to the application form. I had attached a separate sheet for list of absences which I duly pointed out to her, upon which she asked me how many days I had spent outside the UK. I had only spent 110 days (nights out only) which was well within the allowed limit. So she seemed not worried about it. I had attached a detailed excel sheet with exact dates, passport numbers (as I had 3 different passports - one lost passport - in that period) and the page numbers of the stamps.

I had a lost passport case so she said that she will have to check if they have the information on the lost passport in their systems - which they had. Although she pointed out that had they not had the information on the lost passport, they would consider 5 years from the time they had records - which would have been April 2004 anyway (when I entered the UK on my new passport) - so I was covered in all aspects. When I told her that, she seemed impressed and said "smart"

Then she said she will do some checks and asked me to be patient for a few minutes. I was a bit nervous with these checks as there was one instance where I was not sure whether my previous employer had sent in my FLR for WP extn on time. But apparently her checks came out fine and she made a lot of notes from the system.

After about 5 - 7 minutes of silence, she asked me for the Life in UK test pass notification and the last 3 months' payslips. I had put everything in order with sticky notes at the top of each document indicating the month and year. She was pretty impressed and said I was very organized .

Then she said that as I had switched to HSMP in 2007, she will need the P 60 for April 2008 - which I had with me and duly handed over to her.

After another 2 minutes of silence where she was checking the documents, she said that she had to check something at the backend and will be back shortly. Once she came back in about 3-4 minutes, she said I will be granted ILR Today. She put the SET(O) form, Passport, photographs, payslips and P60 in a folder, handed it over to me and asked me to pay the amount at the cashier. All this lasted not more than 25 mins.

I did so. One point to be noted during the payment is that if you are paying by credit / debit card, they only accept it if your name is on the card. I tried to use my company's card, but as that did not have my name on it, I had to use my personal credit card. Payment was done and they asked me to be either seated or return in 45 mins.

I chose to venture out and return in about 45 mins. After searching for a bit, I found the central Library in Solihull, where they provide guest logins to use the itnernet free of charge. I used the internet for 30 mins by which time, it was almost an hour up and time to return to the PEO.

I made my way to the PEO expecting to wait for another hour or so. From previous posts on this forum I expected to wait for 2 to 2.5 hours in total. This time for entering in, there were no security checks. And as soon as I entered in, immediately my ticket number was called - to my surprise. They handed me my passport stamped with "Indefinite Leave to Remain" along with a letter and some informative notes and asked me to check if everything on the stamp was correct. I checked it, put the documents back in my bag and walked back to the train station to get my train back home.

I entered the PEO at 130 pm and was out at 345 pm - and had got an ILR in 2 hours 15 mins.

I was really surprised at how many few documents were required in the end. I was over prepared, over organized and had tons of documents with me and was expecting problems over my lost passport and delayed application for FLR. Fortunately none of that happenned and I sailed through smoothly.

Its definitely worth the £950 as it saves you 8 - 10 weeks of tension (application by post). Also, comparing with the other posts on this forum, I found that in Birmingham, they charge the fees only after the decision is made, which is quite useful in case your application isnt successful - atleast you dont lose the money. And Solihull isnt that far by train from London. So my advice is if possible, take an appointment at Solihull as it is less busier, people are really polite - unless you meet the Asian guy at counter 5 and you wont lose money!!!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone on this forum as you have contributed in one way or the other in my successful application.

Here's wishing all aspiring ILR applicants all the best and I do hope you find this post useful.

Regards,
Anand[/quote]

Hi jazzmann,

I understand you initially were on workpermit and then switched to HSMP to complete your 5 years.

Thats correct.

As I have mentioned in my post, mine is a lost passport case. So to cover the period on my lost passport, I went in after completing 5 years in UK on my new passport. Effectively, I went to the PEO 5 years and 6 months since I first entered UK. If you consider my new passport, I went in 12 days before I completed 5 years.


Below is a list of documents I took with me:
1) Bank statements for all 5 years - each properly marked with sticky notes.
2) Payslips for all 5 years - each properly marked with sticky notes.
3) Latest P60
4) Life in UK Test Pass Notification
5) All HO letters related to WP extn & HSMP approval - with an excel spreadsheet detailing tenures on each visa.
6) Latest Utility bill & Council Tax bill.
7) Previous employer's letter - showing my work experience.
Current employer's letter dated within the last month stating any business trips, my position in the company and that the current employment is for an indefinite term.
9) Completed SET(O) form
10) List of absences neatly put in a separate excel sheet with details such as the page no of the stamping, etc.
11) 2 Photographs - taken at home in a white background and printed off at Asda.

I was over prepared - I did not need any of the above except 3 payslips, 1 P60 and life in UK.

Cheers,
A

[quote="anandsun"]
Then she said she will do some checks and asked me to be patient for a few minutes. I was a bit nervous with these checks as there was one instance where I was not sure whether my previous employer had sent in my FLR for WP extn on time. But apparently her checks came out fine and she made a lot of notes from the system.

Hi anandsun,

Thanks for your information and congrats for getting ur ILR. My question is..did you have any gaps in ur visa issue dates? i.e. did any of ur FLR visa stamped on ur passport after the previous one has expired? I heard previously that someone was refused ILR at PEO because of gaps in FLR stamps even though he made all application in time.

Thanks alot for sharing your experience with HO

Hi lboro,
Thank you.
This particular instance that you have quoted - I had a gap of 28 days between the visa stamping date and previous visa expiry date. However since the FLR application was sent before my visa expired, this is not considered as a GAP.