ILR SET(O) Success

[Ducky11]

Hi All,

I just got back from a successful ILR appointment at Croydon & thought it would be helpful if I put together a review. My appointment was this morning at 08:00 & the type was ILR SET(O). I previously had a Tier 1 general.

Firstly, I would like to thank all those who replied to the many topics which I started, even with the most basic questions. They were all extremely helpful & put me at ease. I sincerely appreciate that as I know that the outcome would have been quite different without your help.

DOCUMENTS
Passport & BRP
Completed Application Form - I had a lot of questions regarding this, the answers for which are all here - http://www.immigrationboards.com/indefi ... 53917.html
Passport photos - I took many spare ones
1 year Bank Statements - I now bank with HSBC but prior to that I was with NatWest so my statements for the past 9 months were HSBC & the 3 months prior to that was NatWest. I had the originals which I receive in the post monthly + I called HSBC & asked them to send me statements, which arrived after about 2-3 days & looked identical to the originals except that they had “duplicate” stated on top. I also went to a HSBC branch where they printed statements for me & provided a cover letter stating that they are authentic & that I have maintained the required balance. They did NOT stamp this though. Unfortunately I don’t know which of these 3 sets of statements they used as they took all of them.
Payslips - Most of my payslips were printed online & stamped & signed by employer & on company letter-head with contact details.
Employer Letters & statement of earnings - I got 3 letters from my employer, all stamped & signed & on company letter-head with contact details. (1) Letter stating that my payslips are authentic (2) Letter stating my start date, position & gross annual salary (3) Letter stating my gross pay to date.
5 year statement of earnings from HMRC - Instructions on how to get this - http://www.immigrationboards.com/indefi ... 54017.html
LITUK Test pass certificate
University degree certificate & letter stating that the course was taught in English
Land registry document which proves that I own a property

Please note that I am sure that some of the documents which I have stated above are not required, but I wasn’t taking any chances as I tend to be quite paranoid. Please remember to take copies of EVERYTHING, including your passport.

I arrived at around 07:10, which was a bad idea because they don’t open the doors until around 07:25 so I had to wait out in the cold. When they did open the doors I was the 1st one in so security, the first counter, the document submission & biometrics were all done within about 15 minutes.

Regarding the document submission – I had a massive package with about 200 pages of documents in it. I had neatly arranged these with paperclips & post-it notes specifying what each of them was. They didn’t ask for each document separately but just took my entire envelope & did the segregation themselves. Hence I am not sure exactly what document they used & which ones they didn’t.

Following that I walked over to East Croydon station, picked up a newspaper, came back & had breakfast in the canteen (the sausage roll is NOT great), read my paper & at about 09:45 (1.5 hours since biometrics) my number was called out for collection.

That was it. I would like to say that all the staff in the building from the security guard to the case workers are extremely helpful & friendly. I have no complaints whatsoever (besides the sausage roll). I would recommend carrying some spare change/cash with you in case you have to use the on site photocopiers or passport photo booths.

All in all a very smooth & problem free experience.

Thank you again for all your help.

Cheers,
Ducky

[MK123]

Congrats Ducky.