First of all thanks alot to everybody and this forum who helped me through the application process. I got my ILR approved yesterday at croydon. It was a very quick and smooth process.
My appointment was at 10am. I reached croydon at about 9am and saw the UKBA building on Wellseley road and went in. Unfortunately that building was not Lunar house and was called Electric house. I went in and got the token and waited for my turn. After sitting there for about half an hour, i noticed that none of the other people there had visa application docs with them. I checked with another guy and he said this is not lunar house. My bad. I rushed back and went to the main road. and reached lunar house around 9:50 am. A bit worried that i am late. We were asked to wait outside the security section. At about 10:10am, the security people called us in and we went through airport style security.
Then I got the token and proceeeded to payment section. Immediately after making the payment my token number was announced for biometric details. The lady asked about my Marital status and the address where i want the BRP to be posted. As my permanent address and correspondence address were different. She asked why you have a different correspondence address and i told her that its my work address and nobody would be at home to collect the post. She was fine with that.
Immediately after finishing that, my token was called again for biometric details. This time i gave my biometrics details and handed over all the documents to them. He asked to give my mobile number so that they can contact me if they need anything.
I came back and sat in the waiting lounge for about half an hr and then decided to go out. After about 1 hr of document submission i got a call from ukba again confirming about the address where they would send my biometric card. After 5-10 mins of receiving that call around 12:15pm i got another call saying that my documents are ready for collection. I asked if everything was ok and they said yes all good. Please come and collect the docs.
I rushed back to the ukba office and collected my documents from the specified counter. They handed me all the documents with the approval letter saying ILR is granted and BRP will reach in about 7 working days. I checked all the documents. They only kept application form, employer letter of absences and the photocopies with them. Rest all the documents were returned.
Below are my case details.
EC date on HSMP. 19th May 2008
Date entered the UK on HSMP: 28-06-2008
Converted HSMP to Tier 1 (General) in April 2010
Tier 1 General expiry: 19th May 2013
Total Uk absences: approx 145 days. longest absence was 22 days
I am self employed working in a Limited company setup of which i am the director.
Documents submitted
1- Application form inc. passports
2- 2 * Photographs
3- Life in the UK Test certificate
4- Letter of absences from previous employer ( July2008-July 2010). (That company was acquired by another company. But the new company issued this letter without any delays. [:D])
5- Letter of absences on my company letterhead signed by myself confirming absences
6- Printout from Points calculator (optional i think)
7- Letter from company accountant confirming total salary and dividends received from company
8- print out from ICAEW website confirming that the Accountant is registered with ICAEW
9- 12 Payslips (Min tax free salary)
10- 10 Dividend vouchers (Signed by myself/director)
11- 12 months Personal Bank statements (Showing separate salary and dividend payments made each month)
12- Personal Income Tax return
13- Self assesment Tax return
14- 12 months Business Bank statements (showing business activity and salary and dividend payments) (the paper clip was still in place so i assume they didnt even look at them.
)15- 5 years P60
16- HMRC letter showing employment history of 5 years
17- VAT certificate
18- Letter of Incorporation
And photocopies of all the documents above.
I also had another folder containing extra docs which i didnt submit but carried with me.
Those were
1- HSMP letter
2- TB certificate
3- Degrees
4- Company annual accounts
5- Company Invoices
6- Company UTR number letter
etc.
Once again thanks alot for everybody's help. My wife arrived in the UK as Tier 1 General Dependant in March and has only completed 2 months in the UK. Her visa is also due to expire soon and i am now converting her visa to FLR(M). I will post those questions in relevant forums.
If you need any help from me regarding your application, i would be more than happy to help.
Take care