Post
by um103 » Fri May 30, 2014 3:53 pm
I would like to thanks all the members of this forum and for the advice and experiences they share .
I applied for My ILR yesterday at PEO Sheffield and my details are :
Tier 1 Gen
Salaried Employee
Myself and Spouse as dependent (My 2 year old daughter was born in UK so didn’t applied for her )
Absences less than 85 days in 5 years
Experience:
My appointment was at 1:30 but I got Sheffield at about 12:45 , there is a private car park on bridge/corporation street which is managed by RCP parking and charge £1 for an hour or £3.50 for a day. Parking ticket can be bought online but it doesn’t guarantee the parking space but car park is never full anyway so I bought it form the pay and display machine in the car park but remember to take correct change as it don’t give any change.
PEO building is literally 3 mins walk form the car park and we entered the building at about 1pm . first thing you come across when you enter is the airport style security scanners and staff who were very helpful. And once you clear security the PEO is on your left hand side behind the glass wall. PEO area is very small as compare to what I had in my mind but it is newly refurbished . Went straight to the reception desk which is the first desk on the bank of 8-9 desks in that row and the only difference between reception desk and other desks is the small reception sign hanging from the ceiling. Lady on the desk checked my booking ref number but my name was not on the list so she went check the details on a different system and came back saying that my name is on the calendar but not on the list which is a bit odd but that’s not a problem and she will proceed. She asked for the application form and quickly checked few pages and then wrote my name and visa category and ticked few boxes on her coloured checklist which they use for case registration. Then she asked for the passports , pictures and all the supporting docs and photocopies. And at the end she asked that when were the pictures taken ? and my answer was 6 months ago and she said that she cannot accept these and as per the guidelines photographs should not be more than 28 days old and advised me to get new photographs form the photo booth near the security area on the main entrance. She said that she will book the case in the system so if I bring the photos later on then its fine and issued me the token number .
She didn’t even looked at the photos so I could have use those again as well but then I thought that its better safe than sorry and spent £10 for both of our photos and gave it to her later on her desk.
As waiting area is quite small and there were about 4-5 families each with few kids (one with 6 kids) and a couple of other attendant who were on their own but I still manage to get some space for myself and Mrs . My token number was up on the screen as awaiting case registration and . I could see the 2 guy sitting next to the reception desk entering other cases to the system and scanning documents like passports and various bank statements and letters but did not see mine so it could have gone straight to the offices inside.
After about an hour I was called for Biometrics at 2:30pm and during that time few caseworkers came out with the decision letters and some families left so PEO was very quiet. After the biometrics we came back to waiting area again and then at about 3:30 a case worker came out and gave me the approval letter and apologised for the delay as there were some system issues and also thanked for the photocopies.
Overall the process was very smooth and all the staff was treating everyone professionally and politely.
Documents Submitted :
SET(O) Application form
Letter form employer x 1
LIUK Certificates x 2
English Language Requirement proof
Bank Statements x 12
Pay Slips x 12
HMRC 5 year employment history with salary details
3 months bank statements for Maintenance funds (Although it was not needed)
Cohabitation documents x 12 (Joint Bank Statement , NHS Card, Polling Card , Last ukba letter , previous travel insurance certificate , health insurance certificate from employer for both myself and Mrs.)
I was a bit worried that I only had cohabitation documents from last 6-7 months only for my Mrs but no questions asked and looks like documents came back as I submitted as the paper clips and the order I placed the document in the clear file stayed the same.
I also had a points assessment letter and uk absences letter but again don’t think they were required.
Do’s and Don’t’s:
1: I will advise you to take a book or a magazine with you to read as you are not allowed to use your mobiles in the building and have nothing else to do.
2: If you have young kids then take an activity book with colours etc to keep them busy as for them there is nothing else to do.
2: Also take some snacks or drinks , there was a coffee machine but was out of order. Still water is available for free.
3: Make sure your photographs are less than 28 days old and if you want to go with it then don’t tell the lady on the reception that its over 28 days.
4: Do not take too much stuff with you like baby pram etc , I only had a bag with me with all the documents in it and another small shopping bag with snacks and baby milk , didn’t took pram as its just few mins walk which was a good decision because there was no space to park it anyway in the waiting area as it’s not that big and few other attendants with young kids have their pram parked in the way .
At the end I again want to thanks for everyone who shared their experiences and advised other members and good luck for future.
Thanks,
Umar