Some councils have fewer resources or high demand. My local made me wait 6 weeks for my ceremony, but at least once the approval letter has been received you can relax knowing it's all on 'cruise control' to the finish line!

Hi,

Indefinite Leave to Remain isnt a visa; its the end of visa restrictions for the holder.

Basically, once you hvae it you can take any employment you wish, start a business, even go on the dole if you so desire

P60's and/or payslips from the 1st employer would also show the period you worked for them.

Hi there, While some of the folk here are experts in immigration (admins and moderators), the bulk of us are just carousing louts who have been or are going through the process and are willing to share our experiences, good or otherwise. I dont think anyone here actually works for the Home Office, t...

Hi champion, What you describe sounds like any normal life really, but you do raise a good point. Everyone should check with Experian and/or Equifax periodically to see if any adverse report has been stuck to your name. It only costs £2 a time, and I checked with both before applying for naturalisa...

Regarding your first question, your P60's along with bank statements will be fine. I didnt include my employment contract with my ILR application either and had no problems. I really doubt that photocopies would be a problem either - they will show all the relevant numbers and the Home Office will h...

Yeah, exactly the same. I think whats new is they look to be making HSMP the *only* kind of work permit available.

music - first of all, congrats! The approval letter you received is not unusual. Depending on how your local council operates the approval letter contains either an instruction for you to contact them, or to wait until they contact you. In your case the Home Office will have already sent a letter to...

Yeah, that was a bit over the top :-/ They have been tightening up on immigration recently, what with extending the period until ILR may be reached, doubling fees etc. The bbc news page this morning has more about the Aussie-style points scheme the politicos have been mooting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/...

Interesting question, and although legally a naturalised Brit is a Brit by any and all measures, as you go smaller by locality you find perceptions are based on your upbringing and specifically whether or not you grew up there. I was born in South Africa and now live in Scotland. All four of my gran...

Hi CstrM8, The approval letter came from Liverpool HO, and no he didnt receive an acknowledgement letter - that was actually pretty unusual, almost all timeline posts here show an ack date. You'd think the application fee would cover recorded (or even 1st class) postage wouldnt you? He applied as an...

My son's naturalisation timeline. Application submitted through : NCS Brighton Date of submission or posting : 16 March 2007 Criteria : ILR+1 Date of debit of debit/credit card : 26 March 2007 Date of receipt of acknowledgement : None Date of receipt of approval : 16 April 2007 The Home Office got h...

Sorry, you only get one shot at the 2-year working holiday. I've yet to hear of any exceptions. But perhaps you would qualify under a different visa category - student or hsmp?

The time quoted will be 'end to end', from the day the Home Office recieves the application to when the decision letter leaves their door.

6 months tho? It was 4 just recently... have average times increased?

All four children clearly came to the UK on a settlement visa as minors, so yes I would think you can include them all.

This is just my theory, but as good as any seeing as no-one outside the Home Office really knows.. I think there is a list of nationalities which automatically incur the entire gamut of external checks, which, political niceties aside is easy to understand. In addition to this list I reckon they hav...

And you've posted this in several forums. What would you want with an FBI fingerprint card???

Indeed you are, a 5 year work permit will carry you all the way to ILR.

Using either would still mean the documents are sent away to Passport Services so I think they are probably equally secure.

Just make sure you have photocopies of everything before you put it in their hands!

Nope

Im from South Africa, also a high TB country. When I arrived at Heathrow with a work permit in my grubby paw back in 2001 I also had to undergo the medical. It took about 5 minutes, they just did a basic chest x-ray and nothing else. But it was 6am so there was no queue - she may have a longer wait ...

My son applied in mid-March and 10 days later they still hadnt taken the dosh from his debit card. So he phoned the NCS, who gave him a Home Office number to call - he called them and it turned out someone had got his bank details wrong. After giving the correct account details over the phone the fe...

But if you come into Manchester airport late on a Sunday evening you can usually take your pick as theres a good chance no immigration staff will be manning *either* queue

They give it to you at the end of the ceremony.

virtual-writer

You can use any NCS youre prepared to travel to, but I guess at this time most of them will be under pressure from applicants trying to beat the fee increase.