ILR success (WP + Tier 1) - Nov2011
Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:33 pm
I have been on WP for 3.5 years, (with 2 companies - intra company transfer), and on Tier1 for the last 1.5 years(had my tier1 rejected once).
I had only 3 p60 and 2 p45s from last 5 years. I was not feeling confident about this. So I used a service to generate my duplicate p60 2 days prior to my appointment date. They send me an email within 30 mins of submission and also posted the hardcopy of my p60 with next day delivery. The p60 is generated based on the tax reference code, NI and figures from my payslip during that period.
The extra p60 boosted my confidence. I also got last 5 years bank statements from hsbc, just in case...
On the previous day, made sure that all documents are arranged in a folder and indexed so that I dont have to go hunting when asked for something. Having a printer/scanner/photocopier was very useful. Also do a last minute check on UK BA website to check if the form in question is updated or not. In that case, UKBA would expect the latest form to be used. I had one doubt since I was applying 28 days prior to my initial visa issue date not first uk arrival date(since I came to uk within first 3 months of visa issue date). And this decision was based on the service officer's opinion when I called to book an appoinmtn and asked them for one, as early as possible.
On the day, arrived 30 minutes early. Went to initial check desk. The lady scared me a little my asking some questions - do you have all your p60s? Did you have any breaks from work whilst on wp? where you absent for more than 90 days continously? Since you were on wp, its more important to verify wp related documents in your case, do you have them all? did you have tier1 rejection? All these questions scared me a bit. But later she praised me for my score on life in the Uk test and the situation lightened. But again she said, these are questions you can expect from your case worker, later on.
It is important not to loose your confidence at this stage and to be positive since a negative remark from your side may not do you any good. But if you think, there is something that needs to be absolutely revealed, then do so. Otherwise, just be positive. This is my opinion. For example: If you had a 3 months break in between, but during this time you were on Leave without pay, but was still employed, there is not need to mention this if you can prove later, IF ASKED, that you were employed during that time, but without pay. But any break more than 3 or 6 months, if found, may be a problem, not sure of this though.
After that you go inside and pay. I had rung my bank to inform them about this huge transaction and the exact amount, so that payment goes through. And it did.
After that, we were given a token and after to wait. When our turn came up, the officer/caseworker asked on my tier documents first - payslips, bankstatements, employer reference letter with a table showing basic, bonus, gross for last 12 months(she pointed out that my start date for that employment was missing, but said that is fine), etc. She also asked to calculate the total number of days(in and out of UK- it was 120 for me). Then she asked me about my previous employers during wp. And was happy with my 2 p45s. She did not ask for my p60s. After the first 15 minutes, we started feeling more confident and she made us relaxed. At that point, we knew that things were going well. She then demanded cohabitation proof from last 2 years for my dependent. We only had documents from last 1.5 years and she said that is fine. After all that, she said our application is approved and we can collect our stamped passport from another counter when our token is called out. I could not believe what I heard. We were delighted and very happy.
Hope this was useful. Good luck!
I had only 3 p60 and 2 p45s from last 5 years. I was not feeling confident about this. So I used a service to generate my duplicate p60 2 days prior to my appointment date. They send me an email within 30 mins of submission and also posted the hardcopy of my p60 with next day delivery. The p60 is generated based on the tax reference code, NI and figures from my payslip during that period.
The extra p60 boosted my confidence. I also got last 5 years bank statements from hsbc, just in case...
On the previous day, made sure that all documents are arranged in a folder and indexed so that I dont have to go hunting when asked for something. Having a printer/scanner/photocopier was very useful. Also do a last minute check on UK BA website to check if the form in question is updated or not. In that case, UKBA would expect the latest form to be used. I had one doubt since I was applying 28 days prior to my initial visa issue date not first uk arrival date(since I came to uk within first 3 months of visa issue date). And this decision was based on the service officer's opinion when I called to book an appoinmtn and asked them for one, as early as possible.
On the day, arrived 30 minutes early. Went to initial check desk. The lady scared me a little my asking some questions - do you have all your p60s? Did you have any breaks from work whilst on wp? where you absent for more than 90 days continously? Since you were on wp, its more important to verify wp related documents in your case, do you have them all? did you have tier1 rejection? All these questions scared me a bit. But later she praised me for my score on life in the Uk test and the situation lightened. But again she said, these are questions you can expect from your case worker, later on.
It is important not to loose your confidence at this stage and to be positive since a negative remark from your side may not do you any good. But if you think, there is something that needs to be absolutely revealed, then do so. Otherwise, just be positive. This is my opinion. For example: If you had a 3 months break in between, but during this time you were on Leave without pay, but was still employed, there is not need to mention this if you can prove later, IF ASKED, that you were employed during that time, but without pay. But any break more than 3 or 6 months, if found, may be a problem, not sure of this though.
After that you go inside and pay. I had rung my bank to inform them about this huge transaction and the exact amount, so that payment goes through. And it did.
After that, we were given a token and after to wait. When our turn came up, the officer/caseworker asked on my tier documents first - payslips, bankstatements, employer reference letter with a table showing basic, bonus, gross for last 12 months(she pointed out that my start date for that employment was missing, but said that is fine), etc. She also asked to calculate the total number of days(in and out of UK- it was 120 for me). Then she asked me about my previous employers during wp. And was happy with my 2 p45s. She did not ask for my p60s. After the first 15 minutes, we started feeling more confident and she made us relaxed. At that point, we knew that things were going well. She then demanded cohabitation proof from last 2 years for my dependent. We only had documents from last 1.5 years and she said that is fine. After all that, she said our application is approved and we can collect our stamped passport from another counter when our token is called out. I could not believe what I heard. We were delighted and very happy.
Hope this was useful. Good luck!