Immigrationboards.com

hi everybody,
I went to liverpool peo on 6th August for my ilr application. I am on tier1 visa. Arrived on 26 oct 2007 on hsmp visa. I am working for somebody and self employed as well.
When I arrived at PEO for my appointment, after security check at reception where they check all documents before payment, the lady asked me am i working for somebody or self employed ? I told her...both. Then she asked me do i have a company...i told her "No, I am a sole trader, a free lancer." She makes a phone call then. Then she said "It is highly unlikely they would be able to give me a decision today. Maybe they will give me a decision today or not. Its upto the cw. So do i want to proceed. ?" Now after going to liverpool, spending money on hotel and transport and taking days off from work...i had to go for it.
I gave them all of my payslip from my job, all bank statement, accountant letter confirming my gross income from my employment and net income from my self employment, business accounts prepared by my accountant, tax return for last year, ni contribution bill, all invoices. My cw looked confused. She asked me that she cant see the net income from my self employment going to my bank account. I tried to explain her that i receive gross income in my account and my actt calculates my net income after deducting all expenses. The cw is still confused. Then she said she has to pass my file for further check. She print out a letter which tells me the same thing. Is this normal? Why ukba dont train their staff properly?
Any idea abt this 'further enquiry' ?

the cw didnt give me any time scale. she said another team is going to look after my case....i.e. "Further Enquiry". And its upto them. I had only 75 days of absence. The only problem was she dont understand the self employment documents.

What do they really do in "Further Enquiry" ?
And how long does it take ?

Apart from Croydon (which is the Head Office of UKBA and also have more senior/level 7 case workers than any other PEO), the case workers in other small PEOs are either not senior enough or not fully trained to handle complicated applications (especially when they have to deal with self employment).

They happily process and approve the applications where applicants are employed with one or two employers as all they need is 12 pay slips and 12 bank statements from each employment. But they are not very comfortable in dealing with self employment applications. That’s why I always advise self employed applicants to try and get a slot for Croydon PEO.

One of my friends had an appointment in Cardiff PEO couple of months ago and he got a call from the PEO a week before his appointment and the UKAB staff asked him that they will only accept his application if it is straight forward and if he is employed (not self employed). I myself found it bit weird but this is true. My friend didn’t want to take any chances and he cancelled his Cardiff appointment and managed to get another appointment in Croydon PEO and got his application approved without any problems.

This doesn’t mean that other PEOs don’t process/approve self employment applications at all. We have seen several success stories on this forum where people were employed + self employed and had no issues in getting ILRs in those PEOs.

bish2roy wrote:hi everybody,
I went to liverpool peo on 6th August for my ilr application. I am on tier1 visa. Arrived on 26 oct 2007 on hsmp visa. I am working for somebody and self employed as well.
When I arrived at PEO for my appointment, after security check at reception where they check all documents before payment, the lady asked me am i working for somebody or self employed ? I told her...both. Then she asked me do i have a company...i told her "No, I am a sole trader, a free lancer." She makes a phone call then. Then she said "It is highly unlikely they would be able to give me a decision today. Maybe they will give me a decision today or not. Its upto the cw. So do i want to proceed. ?" Now after going to liverpool, spending money on hotel and transport and taking days off from work...i had to go for it.
I gave them all of my payslip from my job, all bank statement, accountant letter confirming my gross income from my employment and net income from my self employment, business accounts prepared by my accountant, tax return for last year, ni contribution bill, all invoices. My cw looked confused. She asked me that she cant see the net income from my self employment going to my bank account. I tried to explain her that i receive gross income in my account and my actt calculates my net income after deducting all expenses. The cw is still confused. Then she said she has to pass my file for further check. She print out a letter which tells me the same thing. Is this normal? Why ukba dont train their staff properly?
Any idea abt this 'further enquiry' ?

the cw didnt give me any time scale. she said another team is going to look after my case....i.e. "Further Enquiry". And its upto them. I had only 75 days of absence. The only problem was she dont understand the self employment documents.

What do they really do in "Further Enquiry" ?
And how long does it take ?

bish2roy

I'm in the same boat .
I appeared before PEO in solihull, selfemployed sole trader. The CW had no idea what she was asking me. I was given the same reason, that CW is not trained. I applied by post because solihull dont take fees at all if they cant handle applications same day.

They should actually reimburse the expenses for travelling & the harassment they cause to families.

Further Enquiry --- should be nothing may be they'll try to ensure that you actually worked as a freelancer by contacting your clients. i.e. May Be.

Also what i've observed is only self employed with ltd. company structure is processed same day in any PEO. I bet even if you had been to croydon they would've struggled to give you decision same day.

Were your Biometrics done or not ?