First of all thanks to this amazing and extremely helpful discussion board. The information on this board is absolutely amazing, accurate and better than what an expert legal service can provide.
I applied for ILR on 23rd Feb at Croydon PEO. I have been on HSMP + Tier 1 (General) Migrant (2 + 3 years). HSMP approved in Sep 2006 hence came under HSMP – Judicial Review policy, arrived in UK March 2007. Total absences 49 days in 5 years.
ILR Application SET (O) for Main Applicant (Female) + 4 Dependants (Spouse+3 Children) Under HSMP-JR 5 Years (Non-Biometric).
• 1:30 pm, appointment.
• 2:57 pm, our token no. called to attend the case worker
• Case worker precisely and specifically asked us to only provide photocopies (apart from the Passports) and he doesn’t need to see the originals.
• He asked us to provide him only:
• Only the current passports (original),
• Only 3 months bank statement,
• Only 3 months pay slips and if we have any P60’s (did not ask for 5 years or any specific duration).
• Employment letter
• 3:37 pm, case worker without leaving his desk granted us ILR, no questions were asked at all.
• 3:50 pm, case worker finished his work on his system (inserting our details I guess) asked us to wait for the collection of our passports.
• 4:34 pm, we collected our passports with the Settlement /Indefinite visa sticker on (non-biometric).
• 4:40 pm, we left the building.
As it happened:
• Appointment at 1:30 pm in PEO Croydon, arrived at Home office 12:50 pm.
• All 5 of us including children arrived for appointment. I did call Croydon enquiry office and asked them about our children as they go to school, do they need to come? There was no accurate and confident answer from the operator advising us that if the appointment letter says bring all dependants then you have to bring all dependants and they are not in a position to deny that note in appointment letter. So we decided to take our children with us. There were few families who brought their school age kids with them.
• 12:55 pm, we all gone through usual airport style security check, belts, watches, bracelets, mobile phones even the jackets we were wearing gone through the scanner. Staffs were very friendly and jolly especially with the kids. No queues at all.
• 12:55 pm, after the security check there was a queue of about 3 couples waiting as only one window was open out of 4 on the ground floor just after security.
• 1:00 pm, one UKBA staff turned up and asking if all of us are for bio-metric postal applications. I raised my hand by saying no I am not; I am for ILR-SET (O).
• He asked me to show the application form then he directed only us to pass through the queue and go to the next door where there were two windows opened.
• 1:04 pm, we went to the available window; again staff behind the counter was very friendly. He asked us (me & my husband) in which category we are applying. I said for ILR under HSMP-JR, he then asked when you got your HSMP. I said in Sep 2006, now he asked us to give him the application form and all the passports to asses the application. My husband had some jokes with him and he laughed. After assessing our application he registered our application by providing the token no. suggesting us to go to the first floor to pay the fee. He then told us that there was no need to bring the children with you in your case (non-biometric). He told us with a smile on his face that your case is very straight forward and all you need to show some bank statements showing your economic activity. We were very relieved from his comments and headed to the first floor.
• 1:15 pm, we were directed to the first floor where 3 payment counters were open and 2 were busy. So we went straight to 3rd counter where again a very nice lady greeted us. She checked fee details on page 3 and said wow you are paying £4050 and asked us how we are paying. When we showed her NatWest debit card the lady informed us that for more than £1000 transactions on NatWest card they have to call NatWest bank to get the authorisation of the payment. We were not expecting this as she said that when she calls the bank they will ask you the password you created when you first opened the account. It was worrying then my husband reminded me some password options we normally select. And luckily the first password was on target when I spoke to the bank staff so our £4050 transaction gone as smooth as like £5 transaction. After the payment we were given the payment receipt and advised that please don’t loose this as case worker will ask for it. The lady advised us to stay on the first floor and directed us towards the seating area to wait there until our token no. called.
• 1:24 pm, we sat in the seating area opposite the 24 case worker windows operating only 3 when we arrived in the hall, bear in mind our appointment was for 13:30 pm.
• 1:24 pm, there were at least 60 people waiting as I counted on the board updating when ever some one called.
• 2:00 pm, an announcement was made apologising people waiting for their appointment/collection of their passports saying that due to the operational reasons we (UKBA) are running 2 hours behind in dealing with the appointments. No one was pleased to hear that especially the families with young kids.
• 2:57 pm, our token no. called, me and my husband approached to the counter where we mate with a Srilankan / Indian (male) case worker aged around 45 +. He was very calm and greeted us nicely with a very little smile on his face.
• My husband introduced me as a main applicant to him and asked him if he can stay with me at the counter which he had no problem what so ever.
• He precisely and specifically asked us to only provide photocopies (apart from the Passports) and he doesn’t need to see the originals.
• He asked us to provide him only:
• Only the current passports (original),
• Only 3 months bank statement,
• Only 3 months pay slips and if we have any P60’s (did not ask for 5 years or any specific duration).
• Employment Letter
• Any bills on our names, did not ask for any specific duration(Council tax + Gas & Electricity bills provided)
• My husband was very disappointed as he prepared the whole case for me and gathered all the paper work but nothing was asked. Bear in mind we had loads of documents covering last 5 years on both of us names. At one time my husband even asked the case worker do you need to see the marriage certificate but again case worker wasn’t interested at all and said no.
• Case worker entered every one’s passport details on his computer one by one and returned one photograph of each of us after scanning on to his system. Where as he stick one photograph of each of us against our names on the application form.
• 3:30 pm, we were still sitting in front of the case worker as he was continued to insert details on his system and I was very nervous as no questions at all were asked so far in reference to application or against the employment history. And he did not leave his seat at any time since we were in front of him.
• 3:30 pm, case worker crossed his hands gesturing towards me that it’s all over, I was still blank and had no impression on my face than he thumped up to me suggesting that every thing in hand, Again no questions were asked so far.
• 3:37 pm, case worker provided us a peace of paper to read. And that was it, ILR was granted by the case worker without leaving his chair in one go, no questions were asked. It was like he was waiting for us to come and get the ILR.
• We were relieved with the stress and were thankful to the case worker and he said don’t worry and just calm down.
• 3:50 pm, case worker told us that it’s all done; he already showed us earlier the paper confirming the grant of ILR. Now we have to wait for the collection of our passports and he said it won’t be too long as you can’t leave the building any way as its coming 4 pm and the home office doors closed and no one can come back in after 4 pm. He mentioned that on the second floor there is a coffee and snacks shop if we would like to go and enjoy some time. And we certainly gone to the second floor bought some stuff for kids, two lovely cappuccinos and chocolate doughnuts for ourselves and just enjoyed the time even though we were in home office for 4 hours.
• 4:34 pm, our token no. called for the passports collection, the lady behind the counter handed us our passports with the Indefinite/Settlement visa sticker on it and a home office covering letter issued by the case worker on every one of our names individually stating the grant of the extension of the visa with some leaflets along with it. She advised us to carefully check all the details on visas before we leave the building. Around 60+ people were still waiting in the hall most of them were for their first call to the case worker.
4:40 pm, after checking carefully the details we left the building with big smiles on our faces. Happy days……..
I am sure my husband will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Good luck to every one and God Bless You All.
The documents we carried with us…..
1- Form SET (O)
2- Passports x 5 People (5 current + 4 previous)
3- Bank statements (Main applicant + my husband’s - covering 4+12 months)
4- Payslips (Main applicant + my husband’s covering - 12+12 months payslips)
5- P 60’s (Main applicant + my husband’s covering - 3 years+5 years)
6- Employer Letters (Main applicant + my husband’s covering - 5 years+5 years)
7- Two Pictures of each applicant
8- Home office previous extension letter + HSMP initial application approval letter
9- House mortgage/Land Registry letter+4 years mortgage statements on husband’s name
10- Council Tax Bills covering last 5 years on both of us names
11- Thames Water Bill on husband’s name covering last 5 years
12- Gas bills on husband’s name covering last 5 years
13- Electricity bills on my name covering last 5 years
14- TV licence on my husband’s name covering last 5 years
15- Election Polling cards on both of us names individually covering last 3 years
16- Marriage Certificate + Children’s birth certificates
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