ILR - Concerns about documents. What can be done?

[craven821]

I'm a British citizen and my wife is a foreign national and she is about to apply for ILR after living in the UK for almost two years.

We have a few concerns about "Section 10 - Documents."

We didn't know that we had to keep old documents going back two years as evidence of living together. I've only recently read the ILR rules as my wife's spousal visa is about to expire.

We simply don't have twenty documents from five different sources spread over two years.

We have some documents dating back 24 months but not the required amount.

What makes it harder is that we rent from a management company that provides all bills under one monthly charge (e.g. rent, water, electricity, land line).

My wife an I both work in respectable jobs. We have been together as a couple for nine years and married for three years.

Can anyone advice us on what else we can do to clear section 10.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Craven

[Cosmopol]

My wife an I both work in respectable jobs. We have been together as a couple for nine years and married for three years.

I assume the payslips from your jobs would have the home address on them, or is it not the case?

Ultimately, if you have a bona fide case where you can show that there would have been no way for the two of you to present the docs required, and show everything else you have, a case worker may accept the arguments outlined in your cover letter and grant the status.

Perhaps another alternative is to visit a PEO and have a face-to-face dialog about why you will not be able to show any more docs.

[whirly]

We simply don't have twenty documents from five different sources spread over two years.

We have some documents dating back 24 months but not the required amount.

What makes it harder is that we rent from a management company that provides all bills under one monthly charge (e.g. rent, water, electricity, land line).

Craven

If I were in your place, I would give them as much evidence as possible, and good explanations for whatever is missing.

- Can you order past monthly statements from your bank? The bank might charge you, but it seems like a small price to pay for ILR. It would help if you had a joint account, and statements show both names and your address.

- I know the SET(M) form says that they do not accept internet statements, but print out whatever you can (in my case, they took a few internet statements without even commenting - but we had more than enough other docs as well.)

- Anything else: TV licence? Mobile phone bills? Gym membership???

- Include anything else you can dig up to show that you were living together, or at the very least, married to each other.

Like Cosmopol suggested, applying in person might help...

[Casa]

It's always safer to apply by post if you don't have an absolutely straightforward application. A PEO is there simply to check that all the required documents are there, and they don't have the authority to deal with any applications that need further consideration or explanations.
Apply by post, sending all the available documents with a covering letter explaining that your rent is inclusive of certain bills. If you have car insurance, TV licence, home contents insurance, letters from your doctor, dentist, hospital or medical cards enclose these, even if they aren't in joint names. Look for anything that shows proof of your address.
If you are applying by post, you should be given the opportunity to explain further if it's required. Life in the UK test passed?