Created the below mail for my friends. Thought It might be helpful to some of the memebers here. This forum has helped me immensly during my ILR process. So if this can act as a small payback, I will be happy.
Preparation
1. Booking An Appointment ( if you want to Finish it in a day)
Go to (https://apply.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/iapply.portal), Create an Account and Search for ILR appointments. Appointments are pretty easy to come by and we don't need to pay upfront. It's easy to cancel & reschedule as well
Important things to Note :
a. Always go for the early appointment (8:00-8:15). At this time, there is not much queue and you get called very fast. I could see that by afternoon, there is more waiting time
b. You don’t need to take the dependents with you. We all went together but they never asked for the dependents.
c. You can get a Saturday appointment on some of the months.
2. Selecting the Correct Form (SET(O) for us).
Go to the Above link and click on ‘Find Forms’ and answer the questions and you’ll get links to the form and the guidance
Important things to Note :
a. They keep changing the version of the form, so always make sure the day before that you are applying on the correct form.
b. There is only one form to fill, no separate forms for Dependents.
c. Payment Can be made by Card/bankers Draft – I went for bankers Draft.
d. Out of the 42 pages, there is only about 22 pages to fill for us. (Tier1 + WP to ILR)
3. Take 2 Photographs each for you and dependants. (in line with the UKBA Photographic evidence, most of the studios are aware of it). Please write the full name behind each photograph.
4. Documents Required (All Original - Listing in the order they asked me)
a. Life in UK Pass Certificates
b. Last three months’ payslip to prove maintenance funds
c. Salary Slips for last 12 months ( Signed by Director)
d. Letter from Employer Confirming that Salary Slips are genuine. – This was not needed.
e. Letter from Employer Confirming the salary received (as our payslips can’t be printed on company letterhead)
f. Original bank Statements with matching payments Underlined.
g. Letter from Employer Confirming employment and the fact that you are needed for the foreseeable future
h. All visa related letters you have received (they only asked me for the letter for first work permit)
i. Birth Certificate of your Child.
j. Proof for 5 years stay in UK – 5 P-60’s. As I didn't have the original for two of them (my old employer) , I called up HMRC and asked for an Employment History Letter covering my whole stay here. Got it in two weeks’ time – They only looked at the copies.
k. Proof of co-habitation : Letters addressed to both of you in the last two years. 4 or 5 letters will do. I also kept P-60/P-45 for my wife and had all our lease agreements as backup – He only looked at the letters.
l. Information on all your trips outside UK in Last 5 years ( main applicant only). It shouldn't cross 180 days. – I wrote it in the application form and also took a printout on word to calculate the total days.
Important things to Note :
a. Wherever there are no Originals, Try to get a supplementary evidence. They can’t reject the application, but they can put it on hold till the evidence arrives.
b. Have Photo-copies ready for all the documents and offer them after they have checked the originals. It saves them a lot of work, which means they will be pleased & you don’t have to worry about the photo copy machine going down in their office.
c. Keep all documents in the order such that the latest documents are on top.
d. Clip together the related documents as mentioned above.
Appointment Day
1. Reach the Office with a print out of the appointment reference. (you’ll also get it as an SMS the day before) and the security will let you in. It is advisable to go 45 minutes before your appointment time
2. You’ll go to a waiting area where you have to wait till you are called for security check ( max 5-10 min wait)
3. After security check, you’ll join the queue for initial check. (10-15 mins for us) . The person will check your application & life in UK certificate. If everything is fine, they’ll ask you to go and do the payment
4. Payment is on Floor 1, (one minute wait). You pay and get a receipt.
5. Once payment is done, you go and wait for your number to be called ( 2 mins for us, the time increases as the day progresses. Hence better to go for first timeslot)
6. The person will ask for the payment receipt & Form and will then go through a 45 minutes process of checking documents (very little interaction with us, boring & tense times !)
7. After 45 minutes he/she will tell you how it went and will say that there is a routine security request done for you. You’ll have to wait 30 minutes on the waiting area till this comes back.
8. After 30 mins, your number will be called again and they’ll say that the query is fine. Will tell you the time to come back and collect your passports ( 1hr 30mins for us). You can step out have food/shop and come back.
9. Once you are back after the stipulated time, go to counter number 22 and ask for your passport, It will mostly be ready.
Important things to Note :
a. Verify all of your full name on the ILR Stamped. Name will be written twice on the visa stamped.
b. Answer to the point to the person verifying the documents.
c. Best Place to park is the Whitgift shopping centre right across the street. You can come out of parking and use the underpass to reach the Visa Office.
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