ILR Success in July 2011 at Solihull
Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:55 pm
Was granted ILR recently. I had booked my appointment at Solihull, Birmingham. The staff there are very friendly and helpful. I would advise everyone to go to Solihull itself after my experience.
First let me explain my case:
1. I have been working for the same employer ever since I first came to the UK. I was initially on work permit and then switched to Tier-1 in 2009.
2. My total absences were 132 days. 60 days were paid annual leave and remaining 72 days was one single absence when I had to go back to India after my end of assignment in the UK. I came back to UK after those 72 days and continued in the same project. Please note that during this period I was not paid here in the UK (I was paid in India). Also I did not have any residential links in UK like owning/renting house, paying bills etc. Only my bank account was active during those 2.5 months when I was back in India. So this was a slight concern for me as there was a break in UK employment. But I guess since it was less than 90 days it did not matter.
3. My other concern was gaps in the 'Valid Until' date and 'Valid from' date in 3 of my work permit extension visas. There were gaps of 45, 30 and 40 days in my work permit visa extensions. Example: if my work permit was valid till 20-Dec-2007, then the valid from date of the next subsequent work permit extension was 05-Feb-2008. And there were such gaps in 3 work permit extensions. My guess is that the work permit extensions were filed late by my employer. Anyway no issues were raised about this as well so I guess it's not an issue.
Documents Carried:
I did not want to take any chances and hence carried a lot of stuff which was not required. Anyway have mentioned everything below:
1. Application Form (with 2 recent photos in a sealed envelope)
2. Passport
3. Birth Certificate
4. Print of the appointment letter
5. Print of the Points Calculator Self-Assessment
6. 12 months original bank statements
7. 12 months pay slips (attested and stamped)
8. Life in the UK pass letter
9. All P60 Forms
10. All work permit letters/Tier-1 approval letter/Tier-1 application receipt letter
11. Original Bachelor Degree Certificate
12. UK payslips for the months when I had taken paid annual leave (just in case I was asked to prove that I was paid during those months)
13. A letter from my client company to verify that during those 72 days I worked from India for the same project (just in case the case worker wanted to know the reason for absence during those 72 days)
14. All official letters received from my employer right from date of joining in UK. I also managed to get a reference letter from them stating my start date in the UK, assignments worked on and that they would continue to employ me (personally I believe this is not needed at all if you are applying for ILR from Tier-1, but still carried it along)
15. Tenancy agreements/2-3 utility bills for each house that I had rented in the UK
16. Main covering letter and supplementary notes for each relevant section (4,5,6,9A-A,9A-B,9A-C,9A-D,9A-E)
When I reached there, was asked to show the application form. They confirmed that it was the right one and the latest version. After that had to undergo the normal security check (like the ones done at airports). Was then issued a ticket number.
At around 9:45 my ticket number was called and I had to go to a counter where I met the case worker. He was also very friendly. He asked me to pass on the application form and passport to him. He quickly skimmed through the application form. Next he asked for bank statements/payslips. He was impressed that I had highlighted the salary credit entries in the bank statements and the gross pay, net pay and expenses in my payslips. And finally he asked for the Life in the UK pass letter. He used to go away for some time in between, maybe he was asking someone else to verify the documents provided. Not sure.
But that was it. No other documents asked. No questions about the absences, gaps in work permit dates etc. Thus only documents I actually submitted were:
1. Passport
2. Application Form
3. Life in the UK pass letter
4. 12 months UK payslips (attested and stamped)
5. 12 months original bank statements
After 15 minutes (around 10), he said he was happy to grant settlement and asked me to proceed to make the payment which was at the next counter. I made the payment of £1350 by Debit Card (Visa).
After making the payment I was asked to come back and meet him. He told me that a CRB check would be done and if that goes fine then I would get my passport with the ILR visa.
Now starts the best part.
I had not added my wife as a dependant on the ILR application because as per the rules she was not yet eligible. She is currently on a Tier-1 dependant visa which is valid till March 2012. She came to UK in Jan 2010 and hence would complete her 2 years only in Jan 2012. So as per advice given to me, we had decided to apply for spouse visa for her using FLR(M). She had also booked her appointment on the same day at 13:30 (she could not have applied with me, as FLR-M is application of visa for dependant of a person who has ILR and I was applying for ILR which could also possibly have been rejected). Hence as advised we had booked a separate appointment for her on the same day keeping at least 4.5 hours gap.
After I made the payment and went back to the case worker, I told him about my wife's case. He was very kind and agreed to do her case as well and sent a call for her. My wife joined me at the case worker's counter. She was asked the below documents:
1. Passport
2. Marriage Certifcate
3. For the new english language requirement, she gave her original bachelor degree certificate and print of the points calculator assessment with detailed steps of how to find the degree on the points calculator. (Please note that No Naric certificate was shown). We proved her Indian bachelor degree was equivalent to UK degree as it was on the points calculator and hence recognised by NARIC.
That's it. He did not ask anything else. He said he was happy to grant her also spouse visa under FLR(M) and asked us to make the payment. Again I made the payment of £850 by Debit Card (Visa). He then asked us to wait outside. He told my wife that she would be called in some time for the Biometric requirements.
We waited outside for about 20-25 minutes. She had the Biometric appointment then which finished in 5 minutes. And then when we were sitting and waiting the most unexpected thing happened. 2 case workers came to us. They told us that they saw my wife's case and in their opinion there was no need to apply for FLR(M). They said that my wife could continue to stay till Jan 2012 and then apply for ILR directly. I told them that I had thought about this but home office advisors told me to apply for FLR(M). They said that the home office guys had given me wrong information. They go by the guidelines and this scenario is not there in the guidelines and hence because they were not sure they might have given me the advice to apply for FLR(M). The case workers told me that there was absolutely no probelm for my wife to continue till Jan 2012 and then apply for ILR. And guess what they refunded £850!!!
I then got my passport (with the new visa stamped) and documents submitted. And we happily left the office at around 11:45.
So was a great day at Solihull.
First let me explain my case:
1. I have been working for the same employer ever since I first came to the UK. I was initially on work permit and then switched to Tier-1 in 2009.
2. My total absences were 132 days. 60 days were paid annual leave and remaining 72 days was one single absence when I had to go back to India after my end of assignment in the UK. I came back to UK after those 72 days and continued in the same project. Please note that during this period I was not paid here in the UK (I was paid in India). Also I did not have any residential links in UK like owning/renting house, paying bills etc. Only my bank account was active during those 2.5 months when I was back in India. So this was a slight concern for me as there was a break in UK employment. But I guess since it was less than 90 days it did not matter.
3. My other concern was gaps in the 'Valid Until' date and 'Valid from' date in 3 of my work permit extension visas. There were gaps of 45, 30 and 40 days in my work permit visa extensions. Example: if my work permit was valid till 20-Dec-2007, then the valid from date of the next subsequent work permit extension was 05-Feb-2008. And there were such gaps in 3 work permit extensions. My guess is that the work permit extensions were filed late by my employer. Anyway no issues were raised about this as well so I guess it's not an issue.
Documents Carried:
I did not want to take any chances and hence carried a lot of stuff which was not required. Anyway have mentioned everything below:
1. Application Form (with 2 recent photos in a sealed envelope)
2. Passport
3. Birth Certificate
4. Print of the appointment letter
5. Print of the Points Calculator Self-Assessment
6. 12 months original bank statements
7. 12 months pay slips (attested and stamped)
8. Life in the UK pass letter
9. All P60 Forms
10. All work permit letters/Tier-1 approval letter/Tier-1 application receipt letter
11. Original Bachelor Degree Certificate
12. UK payslips for the months when I had taken paid annual leave (just in case I was asked to prove that I was paid during those months)
13. A letter from my client company to verify that during those 72 days I worked from India for the same project (just in case the case worker wanted to know the reason for absence during those 72 days)
14. All official letters received from my employer right from date of joining in UK. I also managed to get a reference letter from them stating my start date in the UK, assignments worked on and that they would continue to employ me (personally I believe this is not needed at all if you are applying for ILR from Tier-1, but still carried it along)
15. Tenancy agreements/2-3 utility bills for each house that I had rented in the UK
16. Main covering letter and supplementary notes for each relevant section (4,5,6,9A-A,9A-B,9A-C,9A-D,9A-E)
When I reached there, was asked to show the application form. They confirmed that it was the right one and the latest version. After that had to undergo the normal security check (like the ones done at airports). Was then issued a ticket number.
At around 9:45 my ticket number was called and I had to go to a counter where I met the case worker. He was also very friendly. He asked me to pass on the application form and passport to him. He quickly skimmed through the application form. Next he asked for bank statements/payslips. He was impressed that I had highlighted the salary credit entries in the bank statements and the gross pay, net pay and expenses in my payslips. And finally he asked for the Life in the UK pass letter. He used to go away for some time in between, maybe he was asking someone else to verify the documents provided. Not sure.
But that was it. No other documents asked. No questions about the absences, gaps in work permit dates etc. Thus only documents I actually submitted were:
1. Passport
2. Application Form
3. Life in the UK pass letter
4. 12 months UK payslips (attested and stamped)
5. 12 months original bank statements
After 15 minutes (around 10), he said he was happy to grant settlement and asked me to proceed to make the payment which was at the next counter. I made the payment of £1350 by Debit Card (Visa).
After making the payment I was asked to come back and meet him. He told me that a CRB check would be done and if that goes fine then I would get my passport with the ILR visa.
Now starts the best part.
I had not added my wife as a dependant on the ILR application because as per the rules she was not yet eligible. She is currently on a Tier-1 dependant visa which is valid till March 2012. She came to UK in Jan 2010 and hence would complete her 2 years only in Jan 2012. So as per advice given to me, we had decided to apply for spouse visa for her using FLR(M). She had also booked her appointment on the same day at 13:30 (she could not have applied with me, as FLR-M is application of visa for dependant of a person who has ILR and I was applying for ILR which could also possibly have been rejected). Hence as advised we had booked a separate appointment for her on the same day keeping at least 4.5 hours gap.
After I made the payment and went back to the case worker, I told him about my wife's case. He was very kind and agreed to do her case as well and sent a call for her. My wife joined me at the case worker's counter. She was asked the below documents:
1. Passport
2. Marriage Certifcate
3. For the new english language requirement, she gave her original bachelor degree certificate and print of the points calculator assessment with detailed steps of how to find the degree on the points calculator. (Please note that No Naric certificate was shown). We proved her Indian bachelor degree was equivalent to UK degree as it was on the points calculator and hence recognised by NARIC.
That's it. He did not ask anything else. He said he was happy to grant her also spouse visa under FLR(M) and asked us to make the payment. Again I made the payment of £850 by Debit Card (Visa). He then asked us to wait outside. He told my wife that she would be called in some time for the Biometric requirements.
We waited outside for about 20-25 minutes. She had the Biometric appointment then which finished in 5 minutes. And then when we were sitting and waiting the most unexpected thing happened. 2 case workers came to us. They told us that they saw my wife's case and in their opinion there was no need to apply for FLR(M). They said that my wife could continue to stay till Jan 2012 and then apply for ILR directly. I told them that I had thought about this but home office advisors told me to apply for FLR(M). They said that the home office guys had given me wrong information. They go by the guidelines and this scenario is not there in the guidelines and hence because they were not sure they might have given me the advice to apply for FLR(M). The case workers told me that there was absolutely no probelm for my wife to continue till Jan 2012 and then apply for ILR. And guess what they refunded £850!!!
I then got my passport (with the new visa stamped) and documents submitted. And we happily left the office at around 11:45.
So was a great day at Solihull.
