ILR Success (Croydon) - 544 days out of UK
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:11 pm
Today we got our ILR, my wife and son with one application and my two daughters with separate over 18 applications.
Interestingly, we had been to Solihull PEO on 31st to apply and were told to make a postal application as the office had no resources to consider complicated cases like mine. We thought it over and decided to try at Croydon as it is a much larger outfit. To our surprise we could book appointments on 3rd September for the 6th. We were expecting slots will be available only after 3-4 weeks.
We were lucky that our papers were seen by a very competent case worker. I had filed all the documents pertaining to the days out of UK in a file and handed it over to her. No unnecessary questions were asked. We were asked to wait for 90 minutes and exactly after that time informed that we are getting the ILR.
Now to the details of our case – Came to UK in September 2006 on a five year work permit, Changed to HSMP in September 2007, extended the visa as Tier 1 (G) in September 2009, valid till Sept 2012. I started my limited company in October 2007. I am an engineer and work in the Oil & Gas plant design. I had to make 18 visits to the UAE and one to Malaysia for the contracts we had signed on with a client in middle-east. Total number of days on business was about 460. I also had paid holidays of about 90 days spent in visits to India and the Europe.
The papers we submitted in the days out of UK file:
- A personal letter from me stating my company had grown in three years of operation, in terms of revenue. I made a mention that the company had contributed £48,000 as corporation tax to the exchequer. Pointed out that all business visits were to a third country and not to the domiciled.
- A letter in my company’s letter head listing the absence and confirming that I continued to be on the payroll and contributed NIC without any break in service.
- A letter from the company’s accounting firm confirming the above
- Importantly, a letter from my client confirming that our company had executed the contracts mentioned by me and that of my presence in their premises with dates.
- Invoices raised by our company for my services at the client’s overseas office
- Bank’s credit note for the payment received for these invoices
I had also enclosed other routine stuff – pay slips, dividend vouchers, bank statements, P60s etc.
I hope I have covered all the salient points. Though it is not directly connected, I will mention a side-issue. Our second daughter is starting her Law degree course this year. We were very anxious that we have our ILR on 1st September, the cut-off date for deciding her fee status. ILR on or before 1st Sept, would have made her status ‘home student’ and resulted in a saving of about £ 45,000 over the next three years. Now we plan to write to UKBA to confirm that we were eligible for ILR on31st August, but were unable to obtain it due to limitations at Solihull. I know it is a long shot, but we will give it a try! I will be thankful if any of the boarders could share with us similar experiences on this front.
For ILR seekers with long business absences, I hope my case gives hope and I will respond to any queries you may have.
Interestingly, we had been to Solihull PEO on 31st to apply and were told to make a postal application as the office had no resources to consider complicated cases like mine. We thought it over and decided to try at Croydon as it is a much larger outfit. To our surprise we could book appointments on 3rd September for the 6th. We were expecting slots will be available only after 3-4 weeks.
We were lucky that our papers were seen by a very competent case worker. I had filed all the documents pertaining to the days out of UK in a file and handed it over to her. No unnecessary questions were asked. We were asked to wait for 90 minutes and exactly after that time informed that we are getting the ILR.
Now to the details of our case – Came to UK in September 2006 on a five year work permit, Changed to HSMP in September 2007, extended the visa as Tier 1 (G) in September 2009, valid till Sept 2012. I started my limited company in October 2007. I am an engineer and work in the Oil & Gas plant design. I had to make 18 visits to the UAE and one to Malaysia for the contracts we had signed on with a client in middle-east. Total number of days on business was about 460. I also had paid holidays of about 90 days spent in visits to India and the Europe.
The papers we submitted in the days out of UK file:
- A personal letter from me stating my company had grown in three years of operation, in terms of revenue. I made a mention that the company had contributed £48,000 as corporation tax to the exchequer. Pointed out that all business visits were to a third country and not to the domiciled.
- A letter in my company’s letter head listing the absence and confirming that I continued to be on the payroll and contributed NIC without any break in service.
- A letter from the company’s accounting firm confirming the above
- Importantly, a letter from my client confirming that our company had executed the contracts mentioned by me and that of my presence in their premises with dates.
- Invoices raised by our company for my services at the client’s overseas office
- Bank’s credit note for the payment received for these invoices
I had also enclosed other routine stuff – pay slips, dividend vouchers, bank statements, P60s etc.
I hope I have covered all the salient points. Though it is not directly connected, I will mention a side-issue. Our second daughter is starting her Law degree course this year. We were very anxious that we have our ILR on 1st September, the cut-off date for deciding her fee status. ILR on or before 1st Sept, would have made her status ‘home student’ and resulted in a saving of about £ 45,000 over the next three years. Now we plan to write to UKBA to confirm that we were eligible for ILR on31st August, but were unable to obtain it due to limitations at Solihull. I know it is a long shot, but we will give it a try! I will be thankful if any of the boarders could share with us similar experiences on this front.
For ILR seekers with long business absences, I hope my case gives hope and I will respond to any queries you may have.