Croydon PEO - ILR approved (HSMP JR - permanent / ltd co)

[goldfish]

My ILR application was approved this morning at Croydon PEO. I was originally issued with an HSMP visa in Jan 2006, meaning I am in scope of the HSMP JR (4 years to ILR). I had an absence of more than 90 days, so had to start counting my years for ILR from when I returned to the UK (June 2010).

Visa details:
- Tier 1 (General) - HSMP JR
- Expires 15 June 2014
- Day I booked the appointment 10 April (the first day appointments for today were available)
- PEO appointment 8:00am 22 May

I was really pleased I had an early appointment because the PEO was very quiet when I arrived and was much busier when I left. I'm not sure if it makes a difference to the processing times, but I entered the building at 7:35 and was leaving at 9:15 (1 hour 40 mins) - see more detail below.

PEO Process and Timelines

07:15 Arrived at Croydon PEO. There were already a few people waiting on the footpath outside and taking shelter in the phone boxes outside the building - there was a cold breeze this morning! and the PEO was not open yet.

07:35 Allowed into the building. There were about six people ahead of me but some were sent in different directions inside the building. Make sure you have printed your booking email as well as payment slip (the payment slip doesn't show the date, time, or booking number). I was sent to security for PEO bookings (to the right after entering). I did not have to wait to go through security. We were then escorted upstairs in the lifts to the PEO area.

It is very well-organised inside the PEO and although the UKBA officers were quite strict and focussed on their tasks, they were also quite understanding when I was anxious about the progress of my application - see below for details of my adventures! You will go to several different stages, each with a separate counter, as the application is processed: (1) Payment and preliminary checks; (2) Registration; (3) Biometrics and document handover; and (4) Collection. There are different officers at each stage. You don't see the caseworker until the end where they return your documents (although even then I'm not sure if it was the caseworker).

07:40 Payment and preliminary check. The officer asked for booking number (this is on the booking email), payment receipt, application form, and passport showing current visa. I was then given a number (102) which was used throughout the processing. There were two applications ahead of me: 100 and 101. I was told to sit on the bench nearby wait until my number was called to go through to registration. Some people who had arrived for 08:40 appointments were told it was too early for them to start their applications being processed.

There are big screens throughout the processing area and in the café that show what numbers are up next. 100 and 101 were showing and were called to go to registration, then 103 and 104 came up on the screen. I went back to the counter to find out what happened to 102. Apparently my application had been put into the wrong queue. The officer took me in person to a registration counter.

07:50 Registration. The officer took the relevant details from the application form and entered them into the computer. There was some confusion with me because I said I was on HSMP (JR) visa which they call Tier 1 (General). Also, one of my previous visas had been issued with the wrong expiry date (Feb 2014) and was later re-issued by UKBA to have the correct expiry date (Jun 2014). This caused some discussion between the UKBA officer and a supervisor figuring out what details should be put onto their system. I was given a plastic envelope to put my documents in and the documents were given back to me. I had quite a few documents plus photocopies of everything so I was given three plastic envelopers and a big elastic band to hold them together.

08:10 Biometrics The registration officer took me to biometrics - signature, fingerprints, and photo. The biometrics officer collected all the documents from me and put them on a shelf behind her.

08:16 Waiting in the café! It's quite a nice area with airport-style long rows of seats as well as café-style tables and chairs. It was quite empty when I arrived. There are screens around displaying the stage of each case number e.g. Biometrics, Case Under Consideration, ... My number (102) was not displayed. After a case that went to biometrics after me started showing as "Under Consideration", I started to get quite anxious. I was concerned that because my case had been put in the wrong queue, maybe the documents hadn't been given to a caseworker. I asked one of the officers standing in the café what was happening and she said sometimes the numbers didn't show up, but I could go back to the enquiries counter to check this so I could be sure myself. I really appreciated her understanding. I went back to the enquiries counter and they checked for me and said it was been considered by a caseworker, but my number would not show on the screen because it was being sent through each stage manually. The first cases started to appear in "Documents Ready for Collection" just after 09:00.

09:10 My number was announced (it didn't display on the screen, they just called it out). I went to collect my documents and was *VERY* excited to find out that my ILR had been granted.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for your help!


Documents

For most of my ILR qualifying period, I was employed by my own limited company. Since October 2013, I have been employed by a large corporate. I brought documents covering the whole qualifying period.

I took the following documents plus photocopies of everything (including photocopies of my passports). Note that because I was applying under HSMP JR, these are not necessarily the same documents that would be required under the points-based scheme.

I also printed and attached a checklist to my application form showing the documents to support each requirement - similar to the list below. I put a coloured post-it flag with the matching number from the checklist onto my documents to make it easy for the caseworker to find them. Sometimes the same documents were used in more than one category so had multiple flags on them.

A. EVIDENCE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
1. P60s (2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013)
2. Letter of current employment (letter on letterhead with original signature stating I was employed, job title, salary, employed since date x)
3. Personal bank statement showing salary received (these covered the whole 4 year period and I circled the salary payments in pencil)
4. Payslips from current employer (7 payslips, these were printouts of electronic payslips so I had them signed by my manager and provided his name and job title)

B. EVIDENCE OF AVAILABLE FUNDS
5. Personal bank statements (same as 3 above)

C. OTHER DOCUMENTS PROVIDED
Application form (I enclosed a spreadsheet showing my absences with columns: Departure date, Departed from airport/station, Return date, Returned to airport/station, Days ex departure/arrival, Destination, Purpose, Page number in passport with destination arrival stamp, Page number in passport with UK return stamp)
Passport photos x2 with name on back
Current passport
Previous passports x2
HSMP original issue letter and extension letters

I also provided the following documents in a separate checklist called "Supplementary Documents (If Required)". The caseworker didn't take the photocopies of these so I don't think they used them.

SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENTS

D. ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY (these were additional documents covering the period that I was employed by my limited company)
EMPLOYER: [Limited Company Name]Salary
6. Personal bank statement showing salary received (same as 3 above, these covered the whole 4 year period and I circled the salary payments in pencil)
7. Business bank statements showing salary paid (salary payments circled in pencil)
8. P60s (2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013) (same as 1 above)
9. HMRC tax assessments showing earnings (these are copies of self-assessment returns provided by calling HMRC)

Dividends
10. Personal bank statement showing dividend received (same as 3 above, dividend payments marked with a post-it flag)
11. Business bank statements showing dividend paid (same as 7 above, dividend payments marked with a post-it flag)
12. Dividend vouchers showing gross dividend and tax (stamped and signed by accountant)
13. HMRC tax assessments showing dividends (these are copies of self-assessment returns provided by calling HMRC, the dividends are shown on these documents whereas they are not shown on the P60s)

Evidence of management of company (for claim of dividends)
14. Companies House certificate stating company registration, sole directorship, and 100% shareholding (you can get this from Companies House, it costs about £25)
15. VAT registration certificate
16. Business bank statements showing HMRC electronic VAT payment (same as 11 above, I listed the dates of VAT payments in my document checklist)
17. HMRC letter stating AO and PAYE numbers
18. Employer payslip book showing AO and PAYE numbers
19. Business bank statements showing HMRC electronic NI payment (same as 11 above, I listed the dates of the NI payments in my document checklist)
20. HMRC letter stating Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)

Evidence of engagements through employer [limited company name]
21. Engagement statement from client 1 [name] (covering [dates]) (this was a letter stating that "goldfish was engaged via company [limited company] from dates x to y")
22. Engagement statement from client 2 [name] (covering [dates])

[hsr1972]

Congratulations ..........Could you please tell us did you provide any absence Evidence from employer or any Self absence letter as you are saying you are absence for 90 days. Kindly share us the information. Is it mandatory to provide Absence letter if you are within 180 days ?

cheers
hsr72

[goldfish]

For HSMP JR the absence evidence is not required, so apologies I can't help with this one.

[Shumailakamran]

Hi,

Is there any funds requirements for ILR?