My ILR was approved at Liverpool PEO on Friday, 1st March.
I applied with my wife (Didn't include my son (born in UK) who is eligible for British Citizenship).
Here is a description about my PEO experience.
We had our appointment at 9AM on 1st March.
Arrived at the office around 8.20AM, the doors were opened only at 8.30AM.
We went in after security check, and got the first token for the day for PEO service
Around 8:45, my token number was called for initial check up.
The lady asked me whether I completed 5 years, I mentioned to her that I am applying under following clauses: - (I got my EC on 27-3-2008 and entered UK on 27-4-2008)
1. Based on the Guidance for “Indefinite leave to remain – calculating continuous period in UK”, for including my 31 days of delayed entry to UK
2. Applying with in 28 days before the end of my qualifying period of 5 years for ILR.
She told that is fine and asked for the Passports & Life in UK pass certificates.
I signed the declaration about PEO appointment and went back to the waiting area.
My token was called again at 9AM for payment.
Again the lady went through my passports and took the payment page in the application form.
Payment made through my credit card and got a new token number this time.
Caseworker called my token number around 9:10AM.
She asked me to hand over only the below documents
1. SET (O) application form
2. Current & Previous passports for me and my wife
3. Life in the UK test pass notification letters for me and my wife
She asked me to wait for few minutes.
Got next call in 5 minutes and this time she asked me to hand over evidence for Previous Earnings Assessment for the 12 month period (my period was from 13-2-2012 to 12-2-2013).
I am working as a IT Conusltant with my own Limited Company. I receive my remuneration by way of a salary plus dividend package.
I provided her below documents (along with photocopies) : -
a. Personal bank statements showing payments made to me - 12
b. Pay slips - 10
c. Dividend vouchers - 4
d. Business bank statements showing the payments made to me - 12
e. Letter from accountant confirming the exact amount received - 1
f. Invoices generated during the earning period - 12
She asked me about the invoices.
I told her they are proof of client billing, but then she wanted to know whether the invoices will help her to assess my earnings.
My CW was very serious and I was feeling bit nervous at this moment.
She asked further why am I submitting invoices if it doesn't help her to check my exact income.
This time I told her, "I think the invoices are not required, I will take it back".
She gave it back and told me to go for biometrics when the token is called.
I went back to the waiting area (I am sure my BP was high this time) with all the remaining documents and a confused face.
Got biometrics done in another 15 minutes and went back to the CW to hand over the passports + Biometric letter.
This time I told her, "Sorry about the confusion regarding the invoices earlier".
She told me that is OK, and she require some more time to go through my documents.
She called me again at 9:50AM to tell that she is fine with the documents but they have an IT issue with biometrics.
She further told me she can't give an approval letter unless the biometrics details come in to her system.
I got more confused this time (I haven't even given my cohabitation docs, company docs or any P60s until this time), so I asked her whether she need any more documents.
She smiled this time and told " Everything is fine from your side, I am waiting for Biometric details to come to my system. It might take some time, if you want you can go out and come back".
She returned all the original documents to me.
I said thanks to her and went back to the waiting area with a smile on my face first time on that day
I never expected to get a decision in such quick time (she only took 40min overall).
Around 10:20, she called me on my mobile and asked to come back to office.
We were still inside the PEO office and went to her immediately.
She told me that IT issues are resolved, but our biometric details are not getting transferred to their servers. (this happened only for me, my wife and another applicant).
We were given an option to give biometrics once again or to wait for some more time to resolve this.
We opted to give biometrics one more time and this time it got through successfully.
Around 10.45, she called me again to hand over the approval letter with passports.
So we were out of PEO office before 11AM.
If not for the IT issues, we could have come out by 10AM
Other than the above mentioned documents, I carried below documents with me (in my case these were not required, but another CW might have asked for it).
1. P60s from previous financial years showing my economic activity and personal earnings as a Highly skilled migrant - 5
2. Documentary evidence of cohabitation with marriage certificate
a. Tenancy Agreements – 2
b. Council Tax bills – 8
c. Water bill – 1
d. Annual Credit card statement – 1
e. Orange mobile phone bills – 2
f. Company House appointment letter – 1
g. UKBA letter regarding Tier-1 Extension approval – 2
3. Company related documents
a. Company Incorporation certificate
b. VAT registration certificate
c. Company Annual Report
d. Company Tax Return form CT600 - 2
e. Corporation Tax Acknowledgement of company tax return from HMRC - 2
f. Consulting agreement with client
The overall experience was quite good with Liverpool PEO.
From my experience, I felt that it is better to keep all documents ready, but don't give all documents in one go.
Caseworkers know what they want, so only give those documents.
Please let me know if you need any further info.
Regards,
Anoop.