First of all I would like to thank everyone here on this website which provides invaluable information and has helped me every time I made an application.
My application for settlement was based on 2 years HSMP starting 2007 and 3 years Tier 1. I included my wife in the application but not my 2 children because there were born in the UK and would know qualify for naturalisation having had my settlement. This would definitely save me money and hassle.
I booked an appointment at Sollihul PEO because I couldn't stand the wait for a postal application. Our visa was about to expire on 17 of April so we got our appointment on 28 March.
My documents were as below, there are some useful information here which ofcourse can be found on this website if you have time to search through
1- Up-to-date Application form for me and my wife.
My wife had 3 point on her licence for speeding so we included this under convictions and we provided the counterpart of her licence showing the endorsements. The caseworker asked if this was a penalty that we received through the post we answered yes and that was it.
reference:page 6, fixed penalty notice
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary
2- Bank statements. The day before our appointment I realised that one of the statements was missing so I only included 11 bank statements which was enough to score the points we needed, in other words you dont need an exact 12 month you only need to score the point for a maximum of 12 month period.
my salary was paid to a different account to the one I use on a daily basis, so my bank statements only showed my salary entering the account and exiting the same day , balance usually is zero .... this confirms that you do not need to show any maintenance funds. I was not asked a single question about this .
reference: ( you cannot score points for your English language ability or your maintenance (funds) when you apply for settlement.)
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... nt/points/
3-payslips showing 11 moths hence i only had 11 bank statements.
She calculated my salary for the 11 months period and asked me if there was any expenses refunds, I said yes but I had already deducted these from my total. She carried on with her calculation and then checked my claimed total which was less than hers having not included my expenses claims.
4- I had P60s for the last 5 years but didnt have 2012 one, she asked for 2011 one.
5-Cohabitation documents, we had documents covering random dates like joint bank statements, Gp registrations, Tenancy agreement , Utility bills. These spanned back to 2007 but didnt cover the whole period month by month. Caseworker only selected a few.
6- 2 photographs each
7-my previous home office letters confirming HSMP and Tier 1 applications.
8- current and old passports.
9- life in the UK certificates
That was it , the whole process took less than 10 minutes she then asked me if I had photocopies of the documents I said no she replied ''ok I have to do it'' and advised me to go the cashier and pay the fees. When I came back she asked me to come back after 1.5 hours to collect my documents , I then asked her'' does that mean my application is successful'' she replied ''yes ofcourse , everything is fine''
After that we were called to have our biometric information registered.
2 hours later I had a call from the caseworker saying she need to have my passport to check something. I handed my passport to security and waited anxiously . 10 minutes later he handed back my passport and the original documents and congratulated me on my ILR. He advised me that we should receive our biometric residence permit card in 7-10 days.
Our police registrations state that we are now exempt from registering with the police but we could keep our certificates.
Today we have indeed received our cards which are valid for 10 years.
It states settlement , indefinite leave to remain, on the remarks sections its empty ie no restrictions
I am going now to apply for Naturalisation for my 2 children.
Hope this was helpful and if you have any queries feel free to ask.
Regards