I wanted to share my experience with my ILR approval on the 13th of June 2015 [From Tier 1 (General) to ILR] along with my wife.
Just a brief overview of my stay in the UK, I have been in the UK since Feb 2005. I got the Tier1 (General) in June 2010 under the rules before April 2010 for three years of validity i.e. until June 2013. My wife joined me in the UK as my dependant in March 2012 on Tier 1 (general) dependant visa. We got our extension together in June 2013 until July 2015. So in my case I was lucky that my wife came in before July 2012, meaning she had to stay for 2 years in the UK in order to be eligible for ILR. Although I could have applied for ILR (Long residence) in Feb 2015 I opted for the Tier 1 (General) 5 year as it was recommended and case is more smooth as long as you have a clean record.
This was the first time I tried the Premium service for obvious reasons (same day decision), our appointment was at 12pm on the 13th of June 2015. Following are the documents I had prepared for submission.
SET (O) Application form ILR
Main applicant supporting evidence (Documents)
2 x Passport (covering 5 years)
2 x Passport photos
1 x BRP
12 month Pay slips (I am full time employed NOT self employed)
12 month Bank statements matching the pay
Letter from employer confirming the payments (Basically I needed this as my Payment dates on the payslip were not the same compared to the actual payment of salary)
P60 from last 4 years (I could not find for 2010-2011)
MSc Degree (Uni of Portsmouth) although not required as I was on Tier 1 (general)
Life in the UK test pass confirmation letter
An excel sheet regarding all absences from the UK in the last 5 years (257 days)
A letter from my employer confirming all absences were either work related or annual leave (paid)
PHOTO COPY all the documents
Dependant
2 x Passport (covering 5 years)
2 x Passport photos
1 x BRP
BA Degree (Uni of Bedfordshire)
Life in the UK test pass confirmation letter
Cohabitation (maximum 2 years required)
Tenancy agreements covering 2 years
Bank statements of my wife
Credit card statements of myself (we did not have a joint account then so matched the dates and I use paperless bank statements)
NHS registration letter
DVLA Drivers Licence
Marriage Certificate from Pakistan in English of course
Home office letters (e.g. previous extension for Tier 1 (general) in 2013 for both
The biggest issue for us was we did not have our names written together on any documents/letters beside the Tenancy agreement. HO generally do not require such evidence as long as you can provide letters, documents, matching same dates/months but with individual names. But I would recommend to provide as much as possible.
So once you arrive at the HO office building (mine was at Croydon), go through the security airport style. Register yourself by showing the Payment sheet and appointment letter, they handover a Token number. Basically afterwards its all about the token number. Make sure to be alert to all the announcements being made.
Once your token is called, they will register your application with your names, address and verify ID with Passport and BRPs. Then you are asked to divide your documents in two (one for originals, one for Photo copies) They provide transparent folders in which you can insert your documents. A sticker is put one the folder(s) with token number and these are handed back to you. Afterwards wait again to be called by the token number.
Upon the second call, you go through Biometrics, Photo and document submission. Once done its all about waiting for a decision
In our case we got a phone call (private/unknown number) from our case worker after 3 hours of submission. She was asking for more Cohabitation evidence, and after 1 minute into the call she realised she did not check all documents properly, instead of apologising she kept on asking do you have any other letter to show cohabitation? my answer was please go through all the documents submitted I believe it strongly shows enough evidence to prove cohabitation. She said she will get back to the case and in case of further queries get back to me.
At this stage my wife got nervous and I had to give her my support that everything will be fine, just do not worry. We waited for a further 2 hours before I token was called. The walk from the waiting are towards the collection counter was nerve racking but at the end we had a positive news
that our ILRs have been approved and we shall receive the BRP within 7 working days.Before you leave the building please make sure all originals have been returned to you.
All the best to you all
Regards
Mr. Khan (Khastaa)