Hi all,
We were granted ILR on 11th march - Solihull PEO. This is after losing our court of appeal case on the 1st of march. And after I (as a dependant) received a removal letter from the home office. We live in Surrey and purposely avoided croydon PEO
After making our 1st application on 21st June 2011 and after many many failures, we were approved today. We did not go with any consultant or solicitor - all by ourselves. Infact, over the last 4 weeks, we met 7 consultants including solicitors, shelling out over a thousand pounds just for consultation, just to be politely refused - because they were doubtful we'd get thru. I finally made my mind and went ahead - had a tough time convincing my hubby. I received the removal letter on 7th march and my hubby did not
I was pretty confident we'd make it - had a proper covering letter and more than enough documents. Prepared my husband thoroughly. This might help ppl under similar circumstances.
The dates are as below, on the 1st of march, we were refused permission to appeal at the court of appeal.
We went in at 11.15. Ticket given at 11.45. Called in to meet caseworker at 1.15 pm. Not a very polite lady but very professional. She asked for our passports and application. Even before she could ask us, we told her that we are applying as overstayers. One weird look. The visa expiry date was 21 June 2011. She was checking something on the system. We told her we were covered under section 3C until 1st of march and applying now within 28 days of overstaying. She asked us 'what evidence have you got to prove that you had valid remain until 1st of march'. We had not received any formal notification from court of appeal or homeoffice citing refusal but had taken printouts from the tracker list on court of appeal website. We told her we were covered under 3C as:
1. Our 1st ILR app was made before the expiry of leave
2. Decision was made after expiry
3. Right of appeal given and we made appeal at the right time
4. We had 2 out of time appeals - but this is allowed if tribunals accept
And under section 3C, we have valid leave until our case is finally determined. She said she'll be back in few mins and came back after 20 to 25 mins. Terribly nervous period. She came back, did not say a word, asked for docs one by one - Work permit, employer letter, life in uk, bank statements, Cohab docs - she asked for just council tax, nhs cards, polling card docs. That's it - she asked us to go to payment counter n then wait for biometrics. We asked her if we can take it as accepted. She told us she's satisfied with the application. We were too scared to be excited. We came out at 2.30, other formalities done and approval letters were given at 4.45 pm.
Always be optimistic, never ever give up, do some ground work, better to do things on your own - and of all, never lie to your wife. I did not know of my hubby's conviction till we got our first refusals - this was a love marriage. I could not apply for a good job, was working in a bank as a project manager in India before coming to uk. Wherever I went for interviews, I was asked for the visa, they were not willing to take me on board without a visa confirmation. After a point, we were financially so down that I went for a restaurant job, the first day of work, I had tears in my eyes when I was cleaning the tables. Not because I found it a demeaning job but looking at my condition. I'm so relieved now.. Wish you guys luck.. Thanks to this forum.
