IELTS Results not in time for Set(O) Appointment

[nicojsmith]

Hi there,

I am new to the forum and would really appreciate your help with a fairly urgent query. My wife and I are applying for ILR under SET(O) - Tier 1 General. We have opted for the premium service and our appointment is on Thursday the 17th of April at 9am.

We are fairly confident that we have all the required docs ready (still have to review though). The problem we have is that we wrote the IELTS exam this past Saturday as proof of English proficiency, and the results will only be available on Thursday the 17th (online at 9am and certificates available for pick up at 10am).

As you can see, we won't have the certificate available at the time of the appointment, but we will be able to show, maybe via a screenshot on our phone, that we have passed the test when it becomes available at 9am.

The reason for writing the test only now is that when I did the test first time round 5 years ago I received the results immediately and wrongly assumed that will be the case again. I have unfortunately lost my certificate - hence writing the test again.

We have tried to reschedule the appointment but there is nothing available before our visa expires on the 2nd of May.

Is it worth the risk going to the appointment without these certificates and just confirming via a screenshot for example? ANY suggestions/help will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

[uday2509]

Hey,

Showing the results over the phone not acceptable, I am sure you will find another date nearest to your place.
do one thing when you search for appointment just tick the 3 PEO's and don't select any time frame and click search, this will bring up new appointment slots.

lemme know how it goes.

All the best,
Uday

[nicojsmith]

Hi Uday,

Thanks for your quick reply, much appreciated. Unfortunately nothing comes up in London, but there are some slots available in Liverpool.

The other reason for having reserves about re-scheduling the appointment is that there's a possibility that we'll have to pay the new PEO fees, as we made the booking before the new fees kicked in in April but as this will be seen as a "new" booking we'll have to pay +- £400 extra.

Is there no possibility that the caseworker will check the results online anyway? Or maybe there is a facility in the building where we can print out the results?

Thanks,

[smartkhan]

Better safe than sorry. Either lose all money without producing IELTS results or re-schedule new appointment. Choice is yours.

Good Luck.

[digitanium]

Too much risk of attending without having your original cert at hand. Personally, I wouldn't but then again as far as I can see, all appointment slots are taken up to 17th May, unless there are cancellation cases.

[nicojsmith]

Thanks for the response all.

I have, by some miracle, just managed to locate my original IELTS test certificate I did way back in 2008. Will a copy of this suffice, or will they ask for the original (original is still in South Africa)? Also, is this still valid? I read somewhere that the result is only valid for 2 years?

Lastly, my wife will still need proof of her certificate. Will it reduce the risk if I have a test result (as the main applicant), but my wife (as the dependent) doesn't? Do you have any suggestions for test centers that provide test results on the same day?

Lastly, I found the following statement on the gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/english-language): You’ll need to provide a certificate confirming your qualification or ensure that your online results can be viewed by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) - meaning test results online might be sufficient?

Apologies for the many questions, just want to make sure we reduce the risk as much as possible before going. Thanks again.

[pichon]

I personally wouldn't risk it and reschedule it even if it costs more money if I were you. When I did FLR (M) two years ago in Glasgow, I saw many people getting their applications refused because they did not have proof of English proficiency. You would think common sense would suffice, but it isn't, and the risk of not getting it right is too great. You would end up losing more money by risking it. I still don't know whether you would have to pay more by rescheduling it.... I'd be interested to know this.

And IELTS's validity period is TWO years.

And I just checked and more slots have become available in a number of peo offices.

[smartkhan]

You could use the old expired IELTS test report for your ILR application. It's confirmed by UKBA and many people have used it to get ILR. This forum is full of such cases. Do some research. But you still need one for your wife. Her application will be refused straight away.

[flygirl]

The appointment system is worked up in a funny way.
If you book as a couple, there are no Croydon dates, but if you do it individually, lots of dates come flying out of nowhere.
Maybe it's something they'll fix... It could be a glitch from the weekend upgrade.
Or maybe it's done on purpose, I don't know.

[nicojsmith]

I've done some research on this forum and elsewhere and it seems I can use my old IELTS results - that's one out of the way. I've also found the following statement on the gov.uk website regarding documentation required re the IELTS test results: (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -tests.pdf):

For tests taken before 6 April 2013:Test report form

For tests taken on or after 6 April 2013: no documents required (Scores must be verified using the Cambridge English online system
using name, date of birth and passport number)

I'm going to do some more digging, but this looks like they'll verify the results themselves online, which is perfect. If anyone is aware of this change and can confirm its validity please chip in. I'll let you know what I find.

[sunnycambridge]

Can you please share your experience?

DId CW accepted online result and verified or you have to change date due to certificate?

[nicojsmith]

Hi all,

I thought I'll update you on our experience with our ILR appointment, specifically relating to my wife's IELTS results which didn't arrive on time.

We decided not to change the date for our appointment as this would have cost an extra +- £400, and based on what's on the UKBA website, online results are accepted. The plan was to provide the cw with the relevant details for him to confirm the results himself online. We also called the college where my wife wrote her IELTS 3 time to confirm the results will be available online at 9am the morning of our appointment (the appointment was also scheduled for 9am).

We arrived at 8:45, did the necessary security checks and registration and had to wait around 10mins for our biometrics to be taken. After that our file was handed over to the cw (we never saw the cw). We were told to wait in the coffee/waiting area and if the cw needs more info he'll call us. This was around 9:30. I immediately went online on my phone to check whether the results were available and to my shock there was nothing on the college's website. I then called the college and they told me that a mistake was made - the results will only be released online the following day!

At around 9:45 the cw called and said that all was in order except for my wife's IELTS results (he tried to verify online but obviously nothing was available). I explained the situation to him and asked him whether he is willing to call the College to verify the results directly with them over the phone - to my surprise he agreed. Unfortunately, after around 10mins the cw called back and said there was no answer. He then explained that he's happy for me to get the results from the college and verbally tell him what my wife's mark was out of 10 (he didn't even ask for the individual scores) - without the need for ANY proof.

I called the college but they explained that it's against protocol to provide results over the phone or email. After begging/pleading/yelling for what seemed like hours they agreed to send the results via mail. We then called the cw back and gave him the mark. He happily accepted this.

Our experience with the college was not a good one, for obvious reasons. But with regards to the Home Office, they were extremely professional and friendly, and even made a concession by allowing us to provide the IELTS results verbally over the phone. It's possible that due to the fact that all our other docs were in order they were happy to compromise on this one detail, but it was still very kind of them to do so. I think as long as all your info is in order you should be fine - they recognize the fact that we've paid a LOT of money for the appointment and am not "out to get you".

Any questions/more info needed just give me a shout.

Cheers,

[FireballXL5]

Hi all,

I thought I'll update you on our experience with our ILR appointment, specifically relating to my wife's IELTS results which didn't arrive on time.

We decided not to change the date for our appointment as this would have cost an extra +- £400, and based on what's on the UKBA website, online results are accepted. The plan was to provide the cw with the relevant details for him to confirm the results himself online. We also called the college where my wife wrote her IELTS 3 time to confirm the results will be available online at 9am the morning of our appointment (the appointment was also scheduled for 9am).

We arrived at 8:45, did the necessary security checks and registration and had to wait around 10mins for our biometrics to be taken. After that our file was handed over to the cw (we never saw the cw). We were told to wait in the coffee/waiting area and if the cw needs more info he'll call us. This was around 9:30. I immediately went online on my phone to check whether the results were available and to my shock there was nothing on the college's website. I then called the college and they told me that a mistake was made - the results will only be released online the following day!

At around 9:45 the cw called and said that all was in order except for my wife's IELTS results (he tried to verify online but obviously nothing was available). I explained the situation to him and asked him whether he is willing to call the College to verify the results directly with them over the phone - to my surprise he agreed. Unfortunately, after around 10mins the cw called back and said there was no answer. He then explained that he's happy for me to get the results from the college and verbally tell him what my wife's mark was out of 10 (he didn't even ask for the individual scores) - without the need for ANY proof.

I called the college but they explained that it's against protocol to provide results over the phone or email. After begging/pleading/yelling for what seemed like hours they agreed to send the results via mail. We then called the cw back and gave him the mark. He happily accepted this.

Our experience with the college was not a good one, for obvious reasons. But with regards to the Home Office, they were extremely professional and friendly, and even made a concession by allowing us to provide the IELTS results verbally over the phone. It's possible that due to the fact that all our other docs were in order they were happy to compromise on this one detail, but it was still very kind of them to do so. I think as long as all your info is in order you should be fine - they recognize the fact that we've paid a LOT of money for the appointment and am not "out to get you".

Any questions/more info needed just give me a shout.

Cheers,

Well done! Your story suggests that the people at UKVI can be both efficient and decent when they try!

But goodness me...a totally opposite experience to mine. We had more than enough documents with us for our PEO appointment in mid-April but they still kept our application back for "further enquiries" for no apparent reason whatsoever. We're still waiting now over 6 weeks later for this 'same day service'.

So bizarre that sometimes they'll accept people who don't have all the documentation on the same day yet hold back others for months for no apparent reason!

Anyway, well done but rest assured that you were very lucky indeed. Enjoy your freedom.