First of all I'm new to this forum and I would like to thank all the members, moderators and gurus of the forum for their dedication and correct advice for people like us
Our experience in detail:
Our appointment was around 10 am.My Husband was the main applicant with myself and 2 children applied @ Solihull peo on 3 march 2014, the venue is opposite to john lewis and a 5 minute walk from touchwood mall. We parked our car in touch wood mall and just walked to the venue. Once we reached the office by 9.15 am. After the security type check in, we were asked to sit down and wait in the seating area . A nice lady came to us and asked us to fill a form and she gave a ticket number and told us to wait and we will be seen by another person and she also noted a phone number to give us a ring to let us know the result of the application
, We sat there waiting for around 30 minutes and then a lady came approaching us and asked us on which category are we applying for settlement and we said tier 2 general. she said ok and asked to give away all the docs +passports+application form everything , so we did and she told us to wait and will let us know if she needs anything else. We gave her three separate folders containing all the docs required
(which I have listed below). And we were nervously waiting for her, after 30-40 minutes she came out and asked us to come in and we were puzzled and confused looking at each other (Myself and hubby) and we went inside to our surprise she called us for Biometrics finger prints and photos were taken which took around 20 minutes, And again we were asked to wait at the waiting area and she told will let us know the results.
. So we were waiting in the seating area with our two very active kids who does not know about our tension and happily playing
After 10 minutes she came out and asked us to leave the building and they will call us regarding the decision.
. Then we left the building and went to touch wood shopping mall and were wandering about with tension and our heartbeats rising and then after 30 minutes we finally got a call from HO And person asked us to come and collect the docs and he told the happy news Congratulations your application has been approved and all four of us have got Our ILR
... Hurrah we jumped and smiled at each other and then went to office and a Nice lady was waiting with our docs and our Approval letter, We then thanked her and got our letters and docs and left the office with such a big relief....
Docs Submitted:
SET O Application form
Passports Main applicant +3 Dependents
BRP Cards Main applicant + 3 dependents
Employment Reference letter from employer mentioning SOC code, salary being paid more than soc code and needed for at least next 12 months.
Last one month Salary slip + 1 month Bank statement
LIUK Test certificate for Main applicant + spouse
Degree certificate for Main applicant + spouse
University letter stating the degree was taught in English for both Main applicant and Dependent
Absence proof:
Self covering letter mentioning absences+ Deputation letter where it states the employee is entitled to take 22 working days leave with corresponding payslips and bank statements highlighting the salary
Note: We did not get any letter from the employer for absence as it was from previous employer.
Cohab docs:
Council tax bills for last two years(Joint name)
House agreement for last 2 years(joint name)
Bank statement for last 1 yr (Joint name)
Electoral registration card (Joint name)
Payslips for spouse last 1 yr (myself)
P60 for last 2 yr (Spouse)
Utility bills in My husband name for latest year
Marriage Certficate
Children Birth certificate for both
Extra Docs which we took but not submit were
Last 4 yr P60
Payslips and bank statements for last 1 yr
Home office ref letter which was for (tier2 ICT to TIER 2 Gen ) last yr Feb 2013 at the same old Solihull peo
Overall our experience was very good, We did not have any interaction with the Case worker.And the process took around 2.5-3hrs totally.
FYI
I have listed the absences for my husband
2009- 22 days( vacation)
2011-30 days(vacation)
2013= 76 days(Went to Back home to serve notice period ) while serving notice period back home, he was not paid in UK but only back home and we submitted the payslips and bank statements for this period) along with self covering letter.
Once again thanks a lot guys and so sorry for the long post.
Feel free to ask any questions
Happy to help
Thx
B