ILR HSMP JR) Approved - Croydon PEO - 3yrs 11mnths 10days

Just wanted to share my experience with this great forum.

Got my ILR approved today at Croydon PEO 2 June. My Initial HSMP and Entry Clearance approved May 2005 and I arrived UK 22 June 05. Was a 1 + 4 group, so still had about 11 months to go on the visa

Appointment was for 10am arrived around 9.30am and I received passports with visas at 4.15pm. Will give details later to fill what happened in between. In truth the process was of course long but neverthless smoothless. I have been in employment basically from a few days after arriving have changed employers once with a few days gap in between.
I supplied the following documents

Passports (2 for me, one expired, and one for spouse)
4xP60s
April and May 09 payslips - She asked for these cause the last P60 covers up to end of March. (i had a lot of the payslips from 2005 but kept them with me)
2xletters from employers (she didnt explicitly ask for them i passed them on to her together with the P60s and payslips)
Bank Statements - 3months for Current a/c, and 2 by savings a/c. I obtained these from the bank on Saturday, they really look like a internet printout on bank headed letter and they stamped but not signed.

I had mortgage statement, a couple of bills, marriage cert. These were not asked for and so i kept them.

Was not really asked many questions, Can I have your form? Passports? Do you have proof of employment? and i think that was it.

I cant thank members on this forum enough for their input and of course those who supported the all important judiciary review. Thanks Guys.

thanks for sharing your experience... did you wife accompanied with you to PEO and have you booked a slot which covers both you and dependant ?

f2k wrote:April and May 09 payslips - She asked for these cause the last P60 covers up to end of March.

Do you think it would cause a problem if you did not have some past payslips ? Or is it only important to have last 3 months complete ? What do you reckon ?

Hi,

I am applying for ILR in july under HSMP ILR JR. During my HSMP period, I changed one employer.

My question is:
Do we need to provide employer letter from present employer or all the employers for the past 4 or 5 years duration of our stay in UK while applying for ILR?

I got experience certificate from my first employer when I left that company. Is this sufficient or do I need to provide letter from present and past employers issued in the last few days before the ILR appointment?

Regards
Raghu

raghu2627 wrote:Do we need to provide employer letter from present employer or all the employers for the past 4 or 5 years duration of our stay in UK while applying for ILR?

Also a variation of this question - will employer letters issued mid-term + P45/P60s from the same employer do the thing ..

itsme wrote:thanks for sharing your experience... did you wife accompanied with you to PEO and have you booked a slot which covers both you and dependant ?

Yes wife did accompany me but was not needed, all questions were directed to main applicant and about main applicant. In a way it was good to have someone to talk to whilst there but i wouldnt advise on taking young children as they will get bored and you will spend the rest of the day trying to get them to sit down, not run around, stop crying etc etc

I booked an appointment with dependent, when i got the appointment late last week, it was really luck as it seems someone had cancelled

Sten wrote:

f2k wrote:April and May 09 payslips - She asked for these cause the last P60 covers up to end of March.

Do you think it would cause a problem if you did not have some past payslips ? Or is it only important to have last 3 months complete ? What do you reckon ?

I dont think it would be a problem. As i said i had with me most of the payslips since 2005 but with several missing but she didnt even ask for them. My intentions were to give her the P60s plus the last 3 payslips and it seems that was enough. I did have employment letters as well but they did not mention anything about earnings, just confirmation of employment, start date and finish date, that i left because i resigned and the other start date and that i am still their employee, job title as well.

To be honest i dont know if you need to supply letters from all or any employers. I would get whatever i can get hold of and take it with me cause the other thing is different officer might ask for more. Give them as much as you can but keep it simple

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience. Were you interviewed in the morning and had to wait all afternoon for your passport? Are you allowed to leave the building at all? I'm asking because I have an afternoon appointment in July, and now I'm wondering if I should change it to morning because if the delay is that long, maybe it can't be done the same day.

bani wrote:Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience. Were you interviewed in the morning and had to wait all afternoon for your passport? Are you allowed to leave the building at all? I'm asking because I have an afternoon appointment in July, and now I'm wondering if I should change it to morning because if the delay is that long, maybe it can't be done the same day.

You have to wait or comeback to collect your passports with the stamp. it can take about an hour or longer ( i guess it depends when you start counting or rather when the officer sends them for printing), I left at about 12.30, it seems she still had some work to do after she finished speaking to us, typing stuff and probably doing checks, i guess she went for lunch as well before concluding and sending passports for printing. i came back around 2.30 and went to the lady dealing with my case and she said go to floor 1 to wait for passports. waited for an hour and a half.

The best appointment in my view is 9.00am so you wont get caught up in any delays from previous appointments. Actually when i left there was a couple who were told that their passport would be ready around 6pm and they couldnt leave cause they dont let pple back into the building after 4pm

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll try to move my appointment.

Glad it seems to be a straightforward process.

For the new HSMP JR scheme for ILR isn't it necessary to pass life in the UK test?

as long as you have your documents in order and there are no issues with absences then it could be 3-4 hour process.

tomisa LIUK not required, please see form.

As my friend ia not able to get an appointment,she wants to go through UK-WP.Can anyone please let me know if they are good and if u have any experience through them?

I thought it is right that I should add that the staff were friendly thats those i was dealt with and even those i could see through the windows assessing other applicants. The system is a bit beauracratic as you would expect.

Started outside in the queue waited 30-45 minutes
Went thru airport style security and waited another 30-45 before speaking to the 1st staff member. this was on the ground floor. This is were they assess whether you have completed tthe correct form and they check your passports as well to make sure you arrived 4/5 years ago and confirm your appointment reference number. here you get a ticket and go to 1st Floor to pay, this relatively straightforward. Then you go to 2nd floor were your case will be assessed and then back to floor 1 to wait for your passport stamping.

So my thoughts are that they are not out to fail you so dont go in a aggressive mood hoping to 'show' them. Just try to remain calm and to explain things clearly when required.

Another thing when you get there is 2 queues outside 1 for those with premium appointments for assessment and another for those going for biometrics only. the biometrics move much quicker but dont mind that cause they go to different windows once inside

f2k wrote:This is were they assess whether you have completed tthe correct form and they check your passports as well to make sure you arrived 4/5 years ago and confirm your appointment reference number.

What is this 'appointment reference number' you refer to?
I booked (over phone) my PEO appointment for next month, but they didn't give me any reference number. Was I supposed to get one?

global gypsy wrote:I booked (over phone) my PEO appointment for next month, but they didn't give me any reference number. Was I supposed to get one?

Yes, a 6-digit one.

If they've taken your mobile number, you should receive a text 24 hrs before appointment, it should probably have this number.

Or you will better be calling them and confirm you time and name, so they can find it for you.

Thanks for that. They never mentioned this when I booked the appointment!
My PEO appointment is on a Monday. I wonder if they will be sending this text message to me the previous Friday itself?

What happens if for some reason you don't have this number when you get to the PEO office?

global gypsy wrote:Thanks for that. They never mentioned this when I booked the appointment!
My PEO appointment is on a Monday. I wonder if they will be sending this text message to me the previous Friday itself?

What happens if for some reason you don't have this number when you get to the PEO office?

As Sten says its a 6 digit number, mine started 477xxx. I checked my phone and the text message doesnt have the number, maybe you sould try calling the call centre to get the number so you wont get stuck at the HO

sorry duplicate

How early can we call and get the reference number?
I don't understand why they didn't provide me this number when I made the booking. And they never mentioned it either.

I wonder what else one needs to be aware of! Reading thru some of the other threads, it seems there's a lot of leeway as to what documents one needs to take, days outside the UK etc. etc.

To elaborate...
For e.g. SET(O) document says bring along last 3 months' payslips. But some have been asked for last 1 years' payslips plus all P60s. Still others have been told they need to show payslips since their last HSMP renewal.
Another classic one is where the guy at the entrance misplaced someone's photos! And the person at the counter refused to process their application.
Etc etc.

To be honest, I am getting really paranoid about the whole process. Seems one has to take just about all documents possible, plus perhaps multiple sets of photos and keep them in various pockets so that they don't lose them! Also maybe carry enough cash just in case their card machines don't work. Aargh!

All for a good cause, I guess.

I think the person you spoke with was just sloppy. I got a reference number and the woman specifically asked for my mobile number so they could text me a reminder.

You can call anytime their lines are open and ask about your appointment, they should have access to this information.

global gypsy wrote:How early can we call and get the reference number?
I don't understand why they didn't provide me this number when I made the booking. And they never mentioned it either.

I wonder what else one needs to be aware of! Reading thru some of the other threads, it seems there's a lot of leeway as to what documents one needs to take, days outside the UK etc. etc.

To elaborate...
For e.g. SET(O) document says bring along last 3 months' payslips. But some have been asked for last 1 years' payslips plus all P60s. Still others have been told they need to show payslips since their last HSMP renewal.
Another classic one is where the guy at the entrance misplaced someone's photos! And the person at the counter refused to process their application.
Etc etc.

To be honest, I am getting really paranoid about the whole process. Seems one has to take just about all documents possible, plus perhaps multiple sets of photos and keep them in various pockets so that they don't lose them! Also maybe carry enough cash just in case their card machines don't work. Aargh!

All for a good cause, I guess.

global gypsey, dont get too paranoid. of course can awfully wrong but more often than not they go alright. my advice is carry whatever you can get hold of in terms of evidence (payslips, p60s, letters from employers etc). there is not much you can do about stuff you dont have. don worry too much about the horror stories that you have had

global gypsy,

dont sweat if they havent give a you ref. number. just call them again and mention your full name / DOB / mobile number and tell them you've booked appointment and ask for reference number. also i've heard someone from forum that he forgot his ref. number at PEO, but the officials are able to locate it. if you still have time, just call them and get it. also before 24 hours of appnt. they will text you as a remainder.

I called them on Friday and they gave me the reference number.
Thank you for your tips.

I am thinking of re-booking an appointment at a non-Croydon centre. This is because of the fact that my case may be a bit tricky...
I was on a 4-year WP from Jan 2005, then switched to HSMP from March 2006. I was away from the UK mid-Feb to end-April 2006, which is when I applied for HSMP from home country. I was on long leave (unpaid) from my employer, and when I got back to the UK didn't resume that job, but instead applied for another job. Depending on how it's interpreted, this period could be treated as a break or a continuation of my stay. I am not sure how Home Office have recorded this in their records. (I did an SAR to find this out, but HO response didn't provide much useful information!)
Given this, I am a bit concerned that I could end up spending >£1000 and return home empty-handed, esp if I go to Croydon. I understand other centres do an initial assessment and only if you are eligible do you make the payment.
Am I getting worried for no reason?